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Live Streaming with Nginx and the RTMP module

Kaltura CE includes the kaltura-nginx package, which is compiled with the Nginx RTMP module.

Nginx RTMP Configuration

The paths to the configuration files for kaltura-nginx vary depending on rather you use the Deb or the RPM package.

For deb, the main file is here:

/opt/kaltura/nginx/conf/nginx.conf

For RHEL:

/etc/nginx/nginx.conf

rtmp {
    server {
      listen 1935; # Listen on standard RTMP port
      chunk_size 4000;

        # This application is to accept incoming stream
        application kLive {
          live on; # Allows live input from above
          dash on; # create DASH fragments and manifest
        # Sets MPEG-DASH playlist and fragment directory
          dash_path /var/tmp/dashme; 
          hls on; # create HLS fragments and manifest
          hls_cleanup on;
          hls_sync 100ms;
          hls_fragment 2s;
        # Sets HLS playlist and fragment directory
          hls_path /var/tmp/hlsme/;
     }
   }
}

IMPORTANT NOTE: when balancing between nodes, the hls_path and dash_path directives must point to directories that are shared between the Nginx nodes

Creating a Live Stream Entry

To create the Kaltura Live Entry that will make use of the HLS stream, go to to KMC->Upload->Live Stream Entry.

For Live Stream Type, select Manual Live Stream URLs, provide a meaningful name for the entry, for example My Live Test, and input http://$YOUR_NGINX_HOST:$NGINX_PORT/hlsme/$DESIRED_STREAM_NAME.m3u8 in the "HLS stream URL" text box.

Streaming

Streaming can be done using various tools. A very basic FFMPEG CLI command to stream is:

ffmpeg -re -i /path/too/your/video/file -c copy -f flv \
"rtmp://$NGINX_HOST:$PORT/kLive/$DESIRED_STREAM_NAME"

In addition, one can make use of the OBS Studio which is FOSS and makes use of the FFMPEG libs. Any other tool capable of streaming using the RTMP protocol should work.

Testing playback

Now, all that's left is playing the stream. Go to KMC->your Live Stream Entry->Actions->Preview & Embed, select your HTML5 player from the list and hit play:) In the same view, you will also find the HTML code needed to embed the player onto external websites.

Additional Nginx RTMP configuration

An important next step is to restrict publishing access [and perhaps playback too, depending on your needs]. To that end, see https://github.com/arut/nginx-rtmp-module/wiki/Directives#access

Nginx's RTMP module - Kaltura API integration (requires Kaltura CE 14.4.0 and above)

Using the Nginx RTMP module exec hooks, we now support auto provisioning a Kaltura Live entry upon initiating an RTMP stream. A VOD recording of the stream is automatically uploaded as a separate entry once the streaming session concludes. The VOD entry name will be a concatenation of the stream's original name and the string '-VOD'.

Kaltura entry auto provisioning

When streaming, the following params must be passed to the Nginx RTMP endpoint:

partner_id

partner_secret: the partner's ADMIN secret

service_url: the Kaltura endpoint WITHOUT the protocol (http[s])

nginx_endpoint: the Nginx hostname

is_ssl: set to 'true', 'y' or 1 if the connection is to be done over SSL

entry_name: the Kaltura live entry name

For example:

$ ffmpeg -re -i /path/to/vid/file -c:v copy -c:a copy -f flv -rtmp_live 1 \
 "rtmp://$NGINX_HOST:$NGINX_RTMP_PORT/kLive/$STREAM_NAME?partner_id=103&partner_secret=somesecret&service_url=$KALTURA_ENDPOINT&nginx_endpoint=$NGINX_HOST:$NGINX_PORT&entry_name=my_entry&is_ssl=true"

By default, $NGINX_RTMP_PORT is 1935. For SSL, $NGINX_PORT is 8443, otherwise, it's 88. All these defaults may be changed during the kaltura-nginx configuration phase.

Adaptive bitrate support

This can be accomplished by using ffmpeg to transform the source stream into 4 separate streams, each with a different bitrate. The configuration is disabled by default as the operation is CPU and RAM intensive. If you opt to enable it, ensure you have sufficient HW resources.

To enable, edit /etc/nginx/nginx.conf [RPM] or /opt/kaltura/nginx/conf/nginx.conf [deb], uncomment the exec /opt/kaltura/bin/ffmpeg block under application kLive and reload the daemon.