DARWIN STREAMING SERVER 2

Table of Contents

About Darwin Streaming Server

What's New in Darwin Streaming Server 2.0.1
Licensing
Documentation
Mailing List
Platform Support
Binary Packages
Building
Installation
Configuration and Testing
Modifying Configuration Files

 

About Darwin Streaming Server

QuickTime Streaming Server

QuickTime Streaming Server on Mac OS X Server lets you stream digital video on the Internet using industry-standard Internet protocols RTP and RTSP. Using QuickTime Streaming Server you can serve stored files (video on demand) or reflect live broadcasts to thousands of QuickTime 4 users. With its combination of industry-standard streaming protocols and cutting-edge compression technologies, QuickTime 4 delivers perfectly synchronized audio and video streams ideal for Internet video and live events.

Darwin Streaming Server

Apple has pledged to make the QuickTime Streaming Server source code available to whoever wants to improve it. Darwin Streaming Server is the open source release of the QuickTime Streaming Server product. The Darwin Streaming Server open source gives developers the flexibility to easily improve and extend QuickTime digital video streaming to meet their needs.

This package includes source files for a streaming server that can serve both on-disk QuickTime files and can reflect a live broadcast. It does not include source code for the server administration software used on Mac OS X Server.

 

What's New in Darwin Streaming Server 2.0.1

Darwin Streaming Server 2.0.1 addresses several product and Open Source issues and provides general product enhancements such as:

It also fixes this problem:

Standard Features in the Darwin Streaming Server 2.0.x release include the following:

 

Licensing

The Darwin Streaming Server is distributed under the terms of the Apple Public Source License. For more information, refer to the license terms at www.publicsource.apple.com. Note that the Apple Public Source License does not allow you to use the terms "QuickTime" or "QuickTime Streaming Server" in descriptions of products developed using Darwin Streaming Server open source code, nor use any Apple trademarks or logos associated with QuickTime and QuickTime Streaming Server.

  

Documentation

Further information, documentation, and answers to frequently asked questions about QuickTime Streaming Server on Mac OS X Server are available at the QuickTime Streaming Server web page and the QuickTime Streaming Server support page. Most of this documentation is also applicable to the Darwin Streaming Server. Answers to frequently asked questions about Darwin Streaming Server are also available at the Darwin Streaming Server web page.

 

Mailing List

To receive information about QuickTime Streaming Server updates, join the QuickTime Streaming Server mailing list. Through the list you can share experiences, questions, and comments with others who use the software. Apple employees may monitor the list, but Apple does not guarantee that questions sent to this list will be answered. For more information about joining the mailing list, see the Apple mailing lists Web site at www.lists.apple.com.

 

Platform Support

The Darwin Streaming Server source currently compiles and runs on the following platforms:

It can be ported to other platforms by modifying a handful of platform specific source files. For more information on the source code and on porting the source, see the files AboutTheSource.html and SourceFAQ.html.

 

Binary Packages

Binary packages for the platforms listed above (other than Mac OS X Server) are available for download from the Darwin Streaming Server web page. These binary packages include the DarwinStreamingServer, a sample streamingserver.conf file, PlaylistBroadcaster, StreamingProxy (an RTSP Proxy Server), a sample QTSSAccessModule that provides authentication features, a 100kbit hinted "sample.mov".

Also included with the Darwin Streaming Server is rtspam, a stress tool for testing the server. rtspam realistically simulates many RTSP clients viewing a movie from the server. The tool offers many command-line options that can create different types of simulations. Typing ./rtspam will print a description of all available options.

rtspam will only work if there is a movie called "rtspam.mov" in the root movie folder of the target server. This file must be a valid, hinted QuickTime movie.

 

Installation

From a terminal window perform the following steps:

  1. Log in as "root"
  2. "cd" into the DarwinStreamingServer2 directory and type:
  3. ./Install

  4. Once the install script completes type:
  5. DarwinStreamingServer

 

What Gets Installed

Running the ./Install script places the following files and directories onto your system:

 

Configuration and Testing

The server serves all streaming content out of its "media folder". By default, this media folder is located at /usr/movies/. This path is one of the preferences in the config file (or in NetInfo on Mac OS X). If you want your media folder to be located somewhere else, you must edit the "movie_folder" preference before starting the server.

In order to enable streaming of media using RTP and RTSP over HTTP, add port 80 to the "rtsp_port" preference.

Once you have a media folder, you can place streaming media into the folder. All QuickTime files must be "hinted" with QuickTime Player Pro or other QuickTime authoring applications before they can be streamed. Once the movie is hinted, copy the file to the streaming media folder on your server.

There is a sample movie that comes with each package. The sample movie is already hinted, so you can place it into your media folder. From the QuickTime client, attempt to access that movie through an rtsp URL (e.g. rtsp://my.server.com/sample.mov), and the server will stream that movie to the client.

In order to "reflect" a live broadcast, you must setup and start a broadcaster application, such as the Sorenson Broadcaster. The broadcaster produces an SDP file that describes the live broadcast. Place that SDP file into your media folder, access the URL from a QuickTime Client, and the server will "reflect" the live broadcast to the client.

For more information about authoring, hinting, and streaming QuickTime media, refer to the QuickTime Streaming Server documentation.

 

Modifying Configuration Files

If you enter a string that includes spaces in a configuration file, you must put quotations marks around the string.

For example, "My Streaming Server" instead of My Streaming Server.

 

© 1999, 2000 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Macintosh, PowerBook, Power Macintosh, and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the United States and other countries. iBook, iMac, and Power Mac are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.