Skip to content
Wowza Video
/
/
/
Deliver WebRTC streams fo...
Last updated

Deliver WebRTC streams to viewers for HLS playback using the Wowza Video REST API

Learn how to use the Wowza Video REST API to deliver WebRTC streams to viewers through a CDN for playback over HLS.

Before you start

You should be familiar with the following concepts:

  • API authentication methods. We use JSON web tokens for API authentication. See Authentication for more information.
  • Environment variables. We use environment variables for the API version and your JWT in the cURL API request examples in this topic to make it easier for you to copy, paste, and run commands in your Terminal or Command Prompt window. If you don't set environment variables for these values, you'll need to manually enter the correct values in the code samples throughout this tutorial. See Tools for testing the API for instructions.

You should choose between the following two workflows:

Live stream workflow

Live stream workflow

1. Create a live stream

Create a live stream that receives a WebRTC source by sending a POST request to the /live_streams endpoint.

You can use the following sample request, making sure to:

  • Set encoder to other_webrtc.
  • Set aspect_ratio_height to 1280. This is the recommended value for WebRTC streams.
  • Set aspect_ratio_width to 720. This is the recommended value for WebRTC streams.
  • Set broadcast_location to the region that's closest to your video source.
  • Set delivery_method to push. Wowza Video doesn't supportpull or cdn connections for WebRTC.
  • Change any values unique to your broadcast, using the API reference documentation as a resource. See the Endpoint Reference button below.

Sample request

Endpoint Reference

curl -X POST \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${WV_JWT}" \
-d '{
   "live_stream": {
     "aspect_ratio_height": 720,
     "aspect_ratio_width": 1280,
     "billing_mode": "pay_as_you_go",
     "broadcast_location": "us_west_california",
     "delivery_method": "push",
     "encoder": "other_webrtc",
     "name": "MyWebRTCStream",
     "transcoder_type": "transcoded"
   }
}' "${WV_HOST}/api/${WV_VERSION}/live_streams"

Sample response

The response includes:

  • An id for the live stream you'll use in the next step.
  • source_connection_information you'll use in the next step to configure the WebRTC publish page.
    • sdp_url, application_name, and stream_name.
  • A url in the hosted_page object. You'll give this to your viewers to watch the stream.
{
   "live_stream": {
     "id": "1234abcd",
     "name": "MyWebRTCStream",
     ...
     "encoder": "other_webrtc",
     ...
     "source_connection_information": {
       "sdp_url": "wss://[subdomain].entrypoint.video.wowza.com/webrtc-session.json",
       "application_name": "app-30zl5349",
       "stream_name": "32a5814b"
     },
     ...
     "hosted_page": {
       "enabled": true,
       "title": "Hosted player page",
       "url": "https://player.video.wowza.com/qa/g7xr79xw/player.html",
       "sharing_icons": true,
       ...
        }
   }
}

2. Start the live stream

Before you can connect to the stream through the WebRTC publish page in the next step, you need to start the live stream. You'll need the [live_stream_id] returned in step 1.

Endpoint Reference

curl -X PUT \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${WV_JWT}" \
"${WV_HOST}/api/${WV_VERSION}/live_streams/[live_stream_id]/start"

3. Publish the WebRTC stream

With the live stream started, you can now configure the WebRTC publish page as the source of the stream.

  1. Go to wowza.com/webrtc/publish and grant access to your camera and microphone when prompted.

    info

    The WebRTC hosted publish page is supported on the latest versions of Chrome and Safari, as well as Edge version 79 and later.

    WebRTC public publish page

  2. Click the Settings button on the upper-right corner of the page.

  3. Specify the following settings:

    • SDP URL – The sdp_url from the WebRTC source_connection_information object.
    • Application Name – The application_name from the WebRTC source_connection_information object.
    • Stream Name – The stream_name from the WebRTC source_connection_information object.
    • Audio Bitrate – You can leave Audio Bitrate set to the default value, 64.
    • Video Bitrate – You can leave Video Bitrate set to the default value, 3500.

  4. Close the Settings dialog box to apply your changes.

  5. To change which microphone to use, click the arrow next to the microphone icon.

  6. To change the video source, click the arrow next to the video camera icon. To share your screen, select Screen Share.

    info
    • The video source can't be changed after the broadcast is started.
    • Screen share functionality isn't supported on mobile devices or Safari.

  7. Click Publish.

5. Test the connection

Now that you have configured your source, you can fetch a thumbnail that shows a frame of the playing stream to visually confirm the stream is playing. You'll need the [transcoder_id] returned in step 1.

Endpoint Reference

curl -X GET \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${WV_JWT}" \
"${WV_HOST}/api/${WV_VERSION}/transcoders/[transcoder_id]/thumbnail_url"
info

Alternatively, you can use the playback_url to configure the stream for playback in an HLS-compatible player. The URL is returned in a request to fetch stream target details. See the API reference for more information about these endpoints.

6. Stop the transcoder

To avoid incurring additional billing charges, remember to stop the transcoder after the stream broadcast is over.

Endpoint Reference

curl -X PUT \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${WV_JWT}" \
"${WV_HOST}/api/${WV_VERSION}/transcoders/[transcoder_id]/stop"

More resources

Previous page
Next page