Linux/Unix Installation - Storm Streaming Server

Storm Streaming Server includes a user-friendly script-based installer for Unix/Linux systems, which works in both GUI and console environments. Additionally, DEB and RPM package installers are available from the download page.

If you don't have the installer yet, please visit our Download page.

Installer Steps (GUI Mode)

The installer will now guide you through the following steps:

1. Accept the Software License
   In the first step, you must accept the software license agreement.
   
2. Enter the License Key
   In the second step, you will be asked to enter the program license key. If you don’t have a license, you can leave this field blank. A developer license will be assigned instead, which allows up to 5 concurrent streams and a total of 10 viewers.
   
   If you have a commercial or non-commercial license for Storm Streaming Server, you can view it on this page: https://www.stormstreaming.com/my-products
   
3. Provide Username and Password for Storm Control Panel
   In this step, you need to provide the admin username and password for Storm’s web-based Control Panel.
   
4. Choose Installation Location
   In the fourth step, select the directory where the application will be installed.
   
5. Optional Settings
   In the final step, you can select a few additional options:
   1. Create a desktop shortcut
   2. Open Storm Control Panel
   

Installer Steps (Console Mode)

If you manage your server via SSH or simply don't have a GUI, the console mode might come in handy. Just add -c as an additional parameter to the installer script.

                            
./storm_streaming_server_unix_aarch64_3_0_0.sh -c
                        

The rest is identical to the GUI counterpart.

Basic Configuration

Now that the Storm Streaming Server application is installed, go to the installation folder you specified in step 3. There are a few things to configure here:

1. JVM Configuration

   In the file Storm storm-streaming-server.vmoptions, you'll find JVM options that define, among other things, how much RAM should be allocated to the application. The default file content is:

                                       
   -server
   -Xmx16g
   -Xms4g
   -XX:+UseG1GC
   -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=100
                                   

   The -Xms and -Xmx parameters define the minimum and maximum amount of RAM available to the application. You should adjust these values to match your hardware resources. For example, to allocate a maximum of 128 GB and a minimum of 32 GB, change the values to:

                                       
   -Xmx128g
   -Xms32g
                                   

2. VHost Configuration

   The socket configuration for Storm Streaming Server is located in the file config/preferences.xml. By default, it includes the following block:

                                       
   <VHosts>
   	<VHost host="127.0.0.1" isSSL="false" port="1935">
   		<Protocols>RTMP</Protocols>
   	</VHost>
   	<VHost host="127.0.0.1" isSSL="false" port="8080">
   		<Protocols>HTTP, WEBSOCKETS</Protocols>
   	</VHost>
   </VHosts>
                                   

   This defines two sockets listening on 127.0.0.1 (localhost). Port 8080 handles HTTP and WebSocksts connections, and port 1935 handles RTMP. For more information about VHost configuration, including how to enable SSL support, please refer to our VHosts guide.

Managing the Service

You can access the web-based control panel of the application using the 'Strom Control Panel' shortcut. Alternatively, you can open it directly in any web browser at: http://127.0.0.1/cpanel (the IP address and port may vary depending on your VHosts configuration).

Since the application operated as a service, it’ll be started automatically with the system. Below you’ll find basic commands:

• To check the Storm Streaming Server (service) status:

                                      
  systemctl status storm-streaming-server
                                  

  
  
• To stop the Storm Streaming Server:

                                      
  systemctl stop storm-streaming-server
                                  

  
  
• To start the Storm Streaming Server:

                                      
  systemctl start storm-streaming-server
                                  

  
  
• To restart the Storm Streaming Server:

                                      
  systemctl restart storm-streaming-server
                                  

  
  

At this point, a simple control panel is also available by default at (unless you modified VHOost): http://127.0.0.1:8080/cpanel

FFMPEG Installation (optional)

If the console shows a message about missing FFMPEG (required for stream transcoding), you can specify its path in the config/preferences.xml file. The configuration is found in the <Transcoder> block, like this:

                            
<Transcoder>
	<FFMPEG>
		<Path>/opt/homebrew/bin/ffmpeg</Path> <!-- optional -->
		<Command>-re -nostdin -i {SOURCE_INPUT} -vsync 1 -vcodec libx264 -preset:v {CPU_USAGE_PRESET} -vf scale={OUTPUT_WIDTH}:{OUTPUT_HEIGHT} -tune {TUNE} -g 30 -fflags nobuffer -probesize 32 -analyzeduration 0 -b:v {VIDEO_BITRATE} -acodec aac -b:a {AUDIO_BITRATE} -async 1 -f flv {STREAM_OUTPUT}</Command>
	</FFMPEG>
	<TranscodeTaskLimit>5</TranscodeTaskLimit>
    <!-- remaining block -->
</Transcoder>
                        

If FFMPEG has been added to the environment variables, you can leave the Path field empty — unless you want to explicitly specify which binaries should be used.

Depending on your operating system, you can use the following command to install FFMPEG via your default package manager.

• Debian / Ubuntu (apt)

                                      
  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install ffmpeg
                                  

  
  
• Arch Linux / Manjaro (pacman)

                                      
  sudo pacman -Sy ffmpeg
                                  

  
  
• macOS (Homebrew)

                                      
  brew install ffmpeg
                                  

  
  
• FreeBSD (pkg)

                                      
  sudo pkg install ffmpeg