Installation - Ant Media Server

Ant Media Server runs on Linux and requires Java 17. This guide covers installation on Ubuntu, CentOS, and other Linux distributions.

System requirements

Before installing Ant Media Server, ensure your system meets these requirements:

Minimum requirements

Operating System: Ubuntu 18.04+, CentOS 7+, or compatible Linux distribution
CPU: 2 cores (4+ cores recommended for production)
RAM: 4 GB (8+ GB recommended for production)
Disk Space: 10 GB free space
Java: OpenJDK 17
Network: Open ports 5080 (HTTP), 5443 (HTTPS), 1935 (RTMP), 5000-65000 (UDP for WebRTC)

Recommended production requirements

CPU: 8+ cores
RAM: 16+ GB
Network: 1 Gbps connection
Storage: SSD with 100+ GB

Resource usage scales with concurrent streams. For high-traffic deployments, consider cluster mode for horizontal scaling.

Installation on Linux

Quick installation

The fastest way to install Ant Media Server is using the official installation script:

# Download the latest release
wget https://github.com/ant-media/Ant-Media-Server/releases/latest/download/ant-media-server.zip

# Extract the archive
unzip ant-media-server.zip
cd ant-media-server

# Run the installation script
sudo bash install_ant-media-server.sh

The installation script will:

Create an antmedia user and group
Install files to /usr/local/antmedia
Configure systemd service
Set up log directory at /var/log/antmedia
Start the service automatically

The default installation directory is /usr/local/antmedia. All commands in this guide assume this path.

Installation with options

You can customize the installation by starting the server with specific options:

cd /usr/local/antmedia
sudo ./start.sh [OPTIONS]

Available options

-g

boolean

default:"false"

Use global (public) IP in network communication

-s

boolean

default:"false"

Use public IP as server name

-r

boolean

default:"false"

Replace candidate address with server name

-m

string

Server mode: standalone or cluster

-h

string

MongoDB or Redis connection string (e.g., mongodb://username:password@host:port or redis://username:password@host:port)

-l

string

License key for Enterprise Edition

-a

string

TURN/STUN server URL (e.g., stun:stun.l.google.com:19302 or turn:turn.example.com:3478)

-j

string

default:"-Xms1g"

JVM memory options (e.g., -Xms2g -Xmx8g)

-c

number

default:"75"

CPU limit percentage (server reports high resource usage above this threshold)

-e

number

default:"75"

Memory limit percentage (server reports high resource usage above this threshold)

Example configurations

sudo ./start.sh -j "-Xms2g -Xmx8g"

Systemd service configuration

Ant Media Server runs as a systemd service. The service file is located at /lib/systemd/system/antmedia.service.

Service management

# Start the service
sudo systemctl start antmedia

# Stop the service
sudo systemctl stop antmedia

# Restart the service
sudo systemctl restart antmedia

# Check status
sudo systemctl status antmedia

# Enable auto-start on boot
sudo systemctl enable antmedia

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u antmedia -f

Environment variables

You can configure JVM memory options by editing the service file:

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/antmedia.service

Modify the JVM_MEMORY_OPTIONS environment variable:

[Service]
Environment=JVM_MEMORY_OPTIONS=-Xms4g -Xmx16g
Environment=JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk-amd64

After modifying, reload and restart:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart antmedia

Always ensure Xms (initial heap) is less than or equal to Xmx (maximum heap). Setting Xms equal to Xmx can improve performance by avoiding dynamic heap resizing.

Server configuration

The main configuration file is located at /usr/local/antmedia/conf/red5.properties.

Key configuration options

# Server identification
server.name=
server.licence_key=

# HTTP/HTTPS ports
http.host=0.0.0.0
http.port=5080
https.port=5443

# RTMP configuration
rtmp.host=0.0.0.0
rtmp.port=1935

# Resource limits
server.cpu_limit=75
server.memory_limit_percentage=75

# Logging
logLevel=INFO
nativeLogLevel=ERROR

# Network settings
useGlobalIp=false

Common configuration tasks

Change HTTP/HTTPS ports

Edit /usr/local/antmedia/conf/red5.properties:

http.port=8080
https.port=8443

Restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart antmedia

Configure resource limits

Adjust CPU and memory thresholds to prevent resource exhaustion:

server.cpu_limit=80
server.memory_limit_percentage=80
server.cpu_measurement_period_ms=1000
server.cpu_measurement_window_size=5

These settings prevent the server from accepting new streams when resources are constrained.

Enable global IP for NAT environments

For servers behind NAT or load balancers:

sudo ./start.sh -g true -s true

Or in red5.properties:

useGlobalIp=true
server.name=your.public.ip.address

Enable SSL

SSL/TLS is required for WebRTC in production. Ant Media Server includes a built-in SSL configuration script.

Automatic SSL with Let’s Encrypt

cd /usr/local/antmedia
sudo ./enable_ssl.sh -d yourdomain.com -e [email protected]

This script will:

Install Certbot if not present
Obtain certificates from Let’s Encrypt
Configure Ant Media Server to use the certificates
Set up automatic renewal

Manual SSL configuration

If you have your own certificates:

# Copy your certificates to the conf directory
sudo cp fullchain.pem /usr/local/antmedia/conf/
sudo cp privkey.pem /usr/local/antmedia/conf/
sudo cp chain.pem /usr/local/antmedia/conf/

# Set ownership
sudo chown antmedia:antmedia /usr/local/antmedia/conf/*.pem

# Update red5.properties
sudo nano /usr/local/antmedia/conf/red5.properties

Verify these settings:

http.ssl_certificate_file=conf/fullchain.pem
http.ssl_certificate_chain_file=conf/chain.pem
http.ssl_certificate_key_file=conf/privkey.pem

Restart the service:

sudo systemctl restart antmedia

After enabling SSL, access the dashboard at https://yourdomain.com:5443

Cluster mode

For high-availability and scaling, you can run Ant Media Server in cluster mode using MongoDB or Redis.

Prerequisites

MongoDB 4.0+ or Redis 6.0+
Multiple Ant Media Server instances
Load balancer (recommended)

Configuration

Set up MongoDB or Redis:

# Example MongoDB connection string
mongodb://username:password@mongodb-host:27017/antmedia

# Example Redis connection string
redis://username:password@redis-host:6379

Start server in cluster mode:

sudo ./start.sh -m cluster -h "mongodb://admin:password@mongodb-host:27017/antmedia"

Verify cluster status:

Check the dashboard or use the REST API:

curl http://localhost:5080/rest/v2/server-status

All servers in the cluster must use the same database connection string and license key.

Post-installation verification

After installation, verify everything is working correctly:

Check service status

sudo systemctl status antmedia

Expected output:

● antmedia.service - Ant Media Server
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/antmedia.service)
   Active: active (running)

Verify ports are listening

sudo netstat -tlnp | grep java

You should see:

Port 5080 (HTTP)
Port 5443 (HTTPS)
Port 1935 (RTMP)

Access the dashboard

Open your browser:

http://your-server-ip:5080

Check logs

# Application logs
tail -f /var/log/antmedia/antmedia-error.log

# Service logs
sudo journalctl -u antmedia -f

Test streaming

Use the pre-installed LiveApp application:

# Publish a test stream with FFmpeg
ffmpeg -re -f lavfi -i testsrc=size=1280x720:rate=30 \
  -f lavfi -i sine=frequency=1000:sample_rate=44100 \
  -c:v libx264 -c:a aac -f flv \
  rtmp://localhost/LiveApp/test

Play the stream:

http://localhost:5080/LiveApp/play.html?name=test

Cloud deployment options

Ant Media Server is available on major cloud platforms:

AWS

Deploy on Amazon Web Services

Azure

Deploy on Microsoft Azure

Google Cloud

Deploy on Google Cloud Platform

AWS CloudFormation

For auto-scaling clusters on AWS:

# Download the CloudFormation template
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ant-media/Ant-Media-Server/master/cloudformation/antmedia-aws-autoscaling-template.yaml

# Deploy using AWS CLI
aws cloudformation create-stack \
  --stack-name antmedia-cluster \
  --template-body file://antmedia-aws-autoscaling-template.yaml \
  --parameters ParameterKey=KeyName,ParameterValue=your-key-pair

Check out the 5-minute auto-scaling guide for detailed CloudFormation setup.

Troubleshooting

Service fails to start

Check Java installation:

java -version
# Expected: OpenJDK 17

Verify log directory permissions:

sudo mkdir -p /var/log/antmedia
sudo chown antmedia:antmedia /var/log/antmedia

Check for port conflicts:

sudo netstat -tlnp | grep -E '5080|5443|1935'

Cannot access dashboard

Verify the service is running:

sudo systemctl status antmedia

Check firewall rules:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo ufw allow 5080/tcp
sudo ufw allow 5443/tcp

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=5080/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=5443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Check if the port is listening:

curl http://localhost:5080

WebRTC not working

WebRTC requires HTTPS. Verify SSL is configured:

ls -l /usr/local/antmedia/conf/*.pem

Open UDP ports for WebRTC:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo ufw allow 5000:65000/udp

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=5000-65000/udp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Configure STUN/TURN server in application settings:

sudo ./start.sh -a "stun:stun.l.google.com:19302"

High CPU or memory usage

Adjust resource limits in /usr/local/antmedia/conf/red5.properties:

server.cpu_limit=80
server.memory_limit_percentage=80

Increase JVM heap size:

# Edit systemd service
sudo systemctl edit antmedia

Add:

[Service]
Environment=JVM_MEMORY_OPTIONS=-Xms8g -Xmx16g

Reload and restart:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart antmedia

Next steps

Configure applications and stream settings
Set up adaptive bitrate streaming for optimal quality
Configure authentication and security
Monitor server metrics and performance
Integrate with your application using REST API

Getting help

If you encounter issues:

GitHub Discussions - Community support
GitHub Issues - Report bugs
Documentation - Comprehensive guides
[email protected] - Enterprise support

Get Started

Core Concepts

Deployment

Configuration

Streaming

Features

Security

Storage

SDKs

Operations

​System requirements

​Minimum requirements

​Recommended production requirements

​Installation on Linux

​Quick installation

​Installation with options

​Available options

​Example configurations

​Systemd service configuration

​Service management

​Environment variables

​Server configuration

​Key configuration options

​Common configuration tasks

​Enable SSL

​Automatic SSL with Let’s Encrypt

​Manual SSL configuration

​Cluster mode

​Prerequisites

​Configuration

​Post-installation verification

​Check service status

​Verify ports are listening

​Access the dashboard

​Check logs

​Test streaming

​Cloud deployment options

AWS

Azure

Google Cloud

​AWS CloudFormation

​Troubleshooting

​Next steps

​Getting help

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

System requirements

Minimum requirements

Recommended production requirements

Installation on Linux

Quick installation

Installation with options

Available options

Example configurations

Systemd service configuration

Service management

Environment variables

Server configuration

Key configuration options

Common configuration tasks

Enable SSL

Automatic SSL with Let’s Encrypt

Manual SSL configuration

Cluster mode

Prerequisites

Configuration

Post-installation verification

Check service status

Verify ports are listening

Access the dashboard

Check logs

Test streaming

Cloud deployment options

AWS CloudFormation

Troubleshooting

Next steps

Getting help