Skip to main content
Ant Media Server is an ultra-low latency live streaming engine that supports WebRTC (~0.5s latency), RTMP, RTSP, HLS, and SRT protocols. This guide will help you get started quickly.
1

Install Ant Media Server

Download and install Ant Media Server on your Linux system. The server requires Java 17 and runs on Ubuntu, CentOS, or other Linux distributions.For a quick installation on Linux, download the latest release:
wget https://github.com/ant-media/Ant-Media-Server/releases/latest/download/ant-media-server.zip
unzip ant-media-server.zip
cd ant-media-server
sudo bash install_ant-media-server.sh
The default installation path is /usr/local/antmedia. The installer will create an antmedia user and configure the service to start automatically.
Once installed, the server will start automatically. You can verify the installation by checking the service status:
sudo systemctl status antmedia
2

Access the web dashboard

After installation, access the Ant Media Server web dashboard to manage your applications and streams.Open your browser and navigate to:
http://your-server-ip:5080
For HTTPS access (after SSL setup):
https://your-server-ip:5443
The default HTTP port is 5080 and HTTPS port is 5443. These can be configured in /usr/local/antmedia/conf/red5.properties.
The dashboard provides access to:
  • Application management
  • Stream monitoring
  • Server settings
  • Live analytics
3

Create your first application

Ant Media Server comes with pre-installed applications: LiveApp, WebRTCApp, and live. You can use these or create your own.To create a new application using the REST API:
curl -X POST "http://localhost:5080/rest/v2/applications/{appName}" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json"
Or use the command-line script:
cd /usr/local/antmedia
sudo ./create_app.sh -n myapp
Application names are case-sensitive. The database name will be automatically created in lowercase format.
Each application includes:
  • Independent configuration in WEB-INF/red5-web.properties
  • Dedicated database (MapDB by default)
  • Custom context path
4

Publish your first stream

You can publish streams to Ant Media Server using multiple protocols:
# Using FFmpeg
ffmpeg -re -i input.mp4 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac \
  -f flv rtmp://your-server-ip/LiveApp/stream1

# Using OBS Studio
# Server: rtmp://your-server-ip/LiveApp
# Stream Key: stream1
For WebRTC publishing, you’ll need to use HTTPS. See the installation guide for SSL setup instructions.
5

Play your stream

Once you’re publishing, you can play the stream using different protocols:
<!-- ~0.5 second latency -->
<video id="remoteVideo" autoplay controls></video>
<script>
  const webRTCAdaptor = new WebRTCAdaptor({
    websocket_url: "wss://your-server-ip:5443/LiveApp/websocket",
    remoteVideoId: "remoteVideo",
    callback: (info, obj) => {
      if (info === "initialized") {
        webRTCAdaptor.play("stream1");
      }
    }
  });
</script>
HLS streams may take 10-15 seconds to start as segments need to be generated. WebRTC provides instant playback with sub-second latency.

​
Next steps

Now that you have Ant Media Server running:

​
Getting help

Documentation

Comprehensive guides and API references

Community Support

Ask questions and share ideas

GitHub Issues

Report bugs and request features

Enterprise Support

Get professional support for Enterprise Edition

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us