# Stream Sprout **Restream a video source to multiple destinations such as Twitch, YouTube, Owncast and Peertube** **Made with 💝 for Tux (Linux)

# Introduction Stream Sprout 🌱 is a simple, self-contained, and easy-to-use solution for streaming to multiple destinations such as Twitch, YouTube, [Owncast](https://owncast.online/) and [Peertube](https://joinpeertube.org/) 📡

It uses [FFmpeg](https://ffmpeg.org/) to receive the video stream from OBS Studio (or anything that can publish a RTMP stream) and then restreams it to multiple destinations; providing similar functionality as services like Restream.io and Livepush.io but without the need to pay 💸 for a third-party service or run something like nginx with the [RTMP module](https://github.com/arut/nginx-rtmp-module). Stream Sprout is configured with a simple YAML file and designed to be run on the same computer as your [OBS Studio](https://obsproject.com/) instance (it can be run remotely too) and does not require root privileges. There is no transcoding or processing of the video stream 🎞️ The stream is received and then restreamed to the destinations you configure without modification. Optionally you can also archive the stream to disk 💾 While the restreaming process is lightweight, **your bandwidth requirements will increase with each destination you add.** 📈 Ensure you have sufficient bandwidth to support the number of destinations you intend to stream to ⤴️ Stream Sprout is developed on Linux 🐧 and should work on macOS 🍏 or any other platform that supports `bash` and `ffmpeg` 👍️ ## Get Started - [Install](#installation) Stream Sprout 🧑‍💻 - [Configure](#configuration) Stream Sprout 🧑‍💻 - [Configure](#configure-obs-studio) OBS Studio 🎛️ - Start `stream-sprout` ⌨️ - Click the *Start Streaming* button in OBS Studio 🖱️ - Do you your thing 🎥 - Click the *Stop Streaming* button in OBS Studio 🖱️ - Ctrl + C to stop `stream-sprout` ⌨️ ## Installation ### Debian - Download the Stream Sprout .deb package from the [releases page](https://github.com/wimpysworld/stream-sprout/releases) 📦️ - Install it with `apt-get install ./stream-sprout_0.1.5-1_all.deb`. ### macOS Install the Stream Sprout requirements using `brew`: ```shell brew install bash ffmpeg ``` Now clone the project: ```shell git clone https://github.com/wimpysworld/stream-sprout.git cd stream-sprout ``` ### Nix & NixOS [![FlakeHub](https://img.shields.io/endpoint?url=https://flakehub.com/f/wimpysworld/stream-sprout/badge)](https://flakehub.com/flake/wimpysworld/stream-sprout) Stable releases of Stream Sprout are published to FlakeHub for Nix users ❄️ See the flake on FlakeHub for more details: - ### Ubuntu - Download the Stream Sprout .deb package from the [releases page](https://github.com/wimpysworld/stream-sprout/releases) 📦️ - Install it with `apt-get install ./stream-sprout_0.1.5-1_all.deb`. ### Docker & Podman #### Pull the container The Stream Sprout container image is available from the GitHub Container Registry. To pull the latest container image: ```shell docker pull ghcr.io/wimpysworld/stream-sprout:latest ``` Or if you want a specific version: ```shell docker pull ghcr.io/wimpysworld/stream-sprout:0.1.5 ``` #### Run the container The `stream-sprout.yaml` configuration file will be on the host computer so you need mount a volume to access it from the container. If you have already pulled the container image, you can run Stream Sprout with: ```shell docker run -p 1935:1935 -it -v $PWD:/data stream-sprout --config /data/stream-sprout.yaml ``` If you have not pulled or built the container image, you can run Stream Sprout with: ```shell docker run -p 1935:1935 -it -v $PWD:/data ghcr.io/wimpysworld/stream-sprout:latest --config /data/stream-sprout.yaml ``` - The `-p 1935:1935` part will expose the RTMP server port `1935` on the host computer. - If you have configured Stream Sprout to use a different port, you should change the port number here too. - The `-it` options will run the container in interactive mode. - The `-v $PWD:/data` part will mount your current directory `$PWD` as `/data` within the container, allowing you to access your files using the `/data` path. #### Build the container Build the Stream Sprout container image: ```shell docker build -t stream-sprout . ``` ### From source You need to have [FFmpeg](https://ffmpeg.org/) on your system. ```bash git clone https://github.com/wimpysworld/stream-sprout.git cd stream-sprout ``` ## Configure Stream Sprout Copy the [example Stream Sprout configuration](https://github.com/wimpysworld/stream-sprout/blob/main/stream-sprout.yaml.example) and edit it to suit your needs 📝 You can specify the configuration file to use with the `--config ` option. If you don't specify a configuration file, Stream Sprout will look for a configuration file in the following locations, in this order: - Current working directory `./stream-sprout.yaml` - XDG configuration directory `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/stream-sprout.yaml` (*Linux*) or `~/.config/stream-sprout.yaml` (*macOS*) - `/etc/stream-sprout.yaml` ### Server Here's an example configuration for the Stream Sprout `server:` section. ```yaml server: ip: 127.0.0.1 port: 1935 app: sprout key: "create your key with uuidgen here" archive_stream: false archive_path: "${HOME}/Streams" ``` The `server:` section is used to configure the RTMP server that Stream Sprout creates. - The default `ip` address is `127.0.0.1`. Use `0.0.0.0` to allow connections to any network interface. - If you remotely host Stream Sprout, use an IP address that is accessible by your computer that runs OBS Studio. - The default `port` for RTMP is `1935`, but you can use any port between `1024` and `65535`. - The default `app` name is `sprout`, but you can use any name you like. - Set `key:` to a secure value to prevent unauthorized access. Running `uuidgen` will generate a suitable value. The IP address, port, app name and key are composed to create the RTMP URL that you will use in OBS Studio. For example, `rtmp://ip:port/app/key`. If `archive_stream:` is `true` Stream Sprout will archive the stream to disk in the directory specified by `archive_path:`. If `archive_path:` is not accessible, Stream Sprout will fallback to using the current working directory. ### Services `services:` are arbitrarily named. **Just create an entry for each RTMP destination you want to stream to.** The example configuration includes entries for Trovo, Twitch, and YouTube but any RTMP destination can be added. ```yaml services: my-rtmp-destination: enabled: true rtmp_server: "rtmp://rtmp.example.com/live/" key: "my_super_secret_stream_key" ``` ### Twitch Here's an example configuration for Twitch. ```yaml services: twitch: enabled: true rtmp_server: "rtmp://live.twitch.tv/app/" key: "your_twitch_stream_key" ``` #### Ingest servers The example configuration uses the primary Twitch ingest endpoint, which is `rtmp://live.twitch.tv/app/`. If you want to optimize your stream latency, you can use a Twitch ingest endpoint closer to your location. A short list of recommended endpoints, based on your whereabouts, is available from [Recommended Ingest Endpoints For You](https://help.twitch.tv/s/twitch-ingest-recommendation). You can find a complete list of Twitch ingest endpoints from . #### Testing If you want to test streaming to Twitch without going live, you can use the `?bandwidthtest=true` query parameter. Add `?bandwidthtest=true` to the end of your Twitch stream key, this will enable bandwidth testing, which you can monitor using , and the stream will not go live on your channel. ### YouTube Here's an example configuration for YouTube. ```yaml services: youtube: enabled: true rtmp_server: "rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/" key: "your_youtube_stream_key" ``` ## Configure OBS Studio - Open OBS Studio - Go to `Settings` > `Stream` - Select `Custom` from the `Service` dropdown - Copy the server `url:` from your Stream Sprout configuration to the `Server` field: - `rtmp://127.0.0.1:1935/sprout` (*default*) - Copy the `key:` (if you specified one) from your Stream Sprout configuration to the `Stream Key` field ![OBS Studio Stream Settings](.github/obs-settings.png) ## Limitations - Stream Sprout does not support secure RTMP (RTMPS) at this time. - *At least I don't think it does, but I haven't fully tested it.* - https://superuser.com/questions/1438939/live-streaming-over-rtmps-using-ffmpeg - Each destination you add will increase your bandwidth requirements. ## References These are some of the references used to create this project: - https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/EncodingForStreamingSites - https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-protocols.html#rtmp - https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-formats.html#flv - https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-formats.html#tee-1 - https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/obs-studio-stream-to-multiple-platforms-or-channels-at-once.932/ - https://stackoverflow.com/questions/16658873/how-to-minimize-the-delay-in-a-live-streaming-with-ffmpeg - https://dev.to/ajeetraina/run-ffmpeg-within-a-docker-container-a-step-by-step-guide-c0l - https://github.com/jrottenberg/ffmpeg