YouTube RTSP automated scheduled live stream with Go2RTC

License - Apache License 2.0

• Tested on Ubuntu Server: 24.04.
• Version: 1.1.0.
• Blog post/Read more: https://ryanfitton.co.uk/blog/livestream-youtube-scheduler/

Prerequisites

• Docker: Used to run the go2rtc container. Tested on Docker version 27.5.1, build a187fa5.
• jq: Parses JSON output from curl responses.
• curl: For sending HTTP requests to the YouTube API.
• bash: Ensure the script runs in Bash (not sh or dash).
• crontab: For scheduling stream start via cron.
• date: GNU date with --iso-8601 support (already present on most Linux distros)
• You must have your YouTube account API v3 Client ID, Client Secret and Refresh Token for use in config.sh.

Setup:

Note the files in this repo expects your current user to have their home folder at /home/user. If this is incorrect, do a find and replace on this value accross all of these files.

1. Pull down the latest Go2RTC Docker image:

sudo docker pull alexxit/go2rtc

2. Create a config folder in your user's home folder (assuming /home/user):

mkdir ~/config

Alternatively you may be able to Git clone this repo: git clone git@github.com:ryanfitton/livestream-youtube-scheduler.git into your home folder.

3. Now create a config.sh file in this folder:

nano ~/config/config.sh

Upload the content's of config.sh from this repo into this file. This file will hold your config for YouTube API keys, and livestream feed schedules.

4. Now create a config folder to hold the stream config details for Go2RTC:

mkdir ~/config/go2rtc

And a go2rtc.yaml file:

nano ~/config/go2rtc/go2rtc.yaml

Upload the content's of go2rtc.yaml from this repo into this file.

5. Now create a livestream-youtube-scheduler.sh file in the home folder:

nano ~/livestream-youtube-scheduler.sh

Upload the content's of livestream-youtube-scheduler.sh from this repo into this file.

And make this file executable: chmod +x livestream-youtube-scheduler.sh.

6. Now create a scheduler-wrapper.sh file in the home folder:

nano ~/scheduler-wrapper.sh

Upload the content's of scheduler-wrapper.sh from this repo into this file.

And make this file executable: chmod +x scheduler-wrapper.sh.

7. Now schedule your cronjobs as Sudo:

sudo crontab -e 

You can use this as an example:

0 1 * * * /bin/bash /home/user/scheduler-wrapper.sh

This will run the scheduler at 01:00am each day, and will schedule livestreams of those specified in config.sh.

Configuring livestreams:

1. Firstly ensure your livestream sources are specified in go2rtc.yaml.
2. Then setup your schedules in config.sh:

Example:

stream1=(
  "STREAM=birdcam"
  "TIMEZONE=Europe/London"
  "VISIBILITY=private"
  "TODAY=$(date +"%Y-%m-%d")"
  "TITLE='Bird camera live feed for $(date +"%A %d %B")'"
  "DESC='Bird camera live feed for $(date +"%A %d %B"). Streamed 11:00 to 15:30'"
  "THUMBNAIL='/home/user/config/youtube_thumbnail_1280x720.png'"
  "START=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)T11:00:00"
  "END=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)T15:30:00"
)

This example will:

• "STREAM=birdcam" : This is the stream name defined in the got2rtc.yaml config.
• "TIMEZONE=Europe/London" : The timezone for the start/end date/time.
• "VISIBILITY=private" : The visibility for this livestream, use either: unlisted, public or private.
• "TITLE='Bird camera live feed for $(date +"%A %d %B")'" : The name used in YouTube for this stream.
• "DESC='Bird camera live feed for $(date +"%A %d %B"). Streamed 11:00 to 15:30'" : The description used in YouTube for this stream.
• "THUMBNAIL='/home/user/config/youtube_thumbnail_1280x720.png'" : The thumbnail to be used for the stream. Ideally should be 1280×720px.
• "START=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)T11:00:00" : The start date/time in ISO format for the stream, todays's date at '11:00 am'
• "END=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)T15:30:00" : The end date/time in ISO format for the stream, todays's date at '15:30 am'

Generating your YouTube keys:

1. Create a Google Cloud Project

   • Go to Google Cloud Console.
   • Click the project dropdown in the top menu and select "New Project".
   • Give your project a name and click Create.

2. Enable the YouTube Data API v3

   • In the Google Cloud Console, select your project.
   • Navigate to APIs & Services > Library.
   • Search for YouTube Data API v3.
   • Click it and then click Enable.

3. Create OAuth 2.0 Credentials

   • Go to APIs & Services > Credentials.
   • Click Create Credentials > OAuth Client ID.
   • Choose:
     • Application Type: Desktop App (or Web Application if applicable).
   • Click Create.
   • Copy your:
     • Client ID
     • Client Secret

4. Get a Refresh Token via OAuth 2.0 Playground

   • Open OAuth 2.0 Playground
   • Click the gear icon (⚙️) in the top right:
     • Check "Use your own OAuth credentials"
     • Paste your Client ID and Client Secret
   • In Step 1:
     • Scroll down to YouTube Data API v3
     • Select:
       • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube
       • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/youtube.force-ssl
     • Click Authorize APIs
   • Sign in with your Google account.
   • In Step 2:
     • Click Exchange authorization code for tokens
     • Copy the Refresh Token (note: this is only shown once)

5. Save Your Credentials

   • Save your credentials in config.sh