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🎥 Streaming Server with Docker — Complete Guide (macOS, Linux, Windows)

This document shows how to:

✅ Run a live streaming server locally
✅ Connect OBS Studio for live video
✅ Share your stream publicly via ngrok
✅ Host your stream on your own domain using Cloudflare Tunnel

We’ll use Owncast, an open-source, self-hosted streaming platform that runs entirely in Docker.

🚀 1. Run Streaming Server Locally

✅ 1.1 Install Docker

macOS

Install Homebrew if you don’t have it:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"
````

Then install Docker:

```bash
brew install --cask docker

Start Docker Desktop after install.

Linux

Debian / Ubuntu:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker.io
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Add your user to the docker group:

sudo usermod -aG docker $USER

Then log out and log back in.

RHEL / CentOS:

sudo yum install -y docker
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker

Windows

✅ Confirm Docker works:

docker --version

✅ 1.2 Run Owncast

Run Owncast container:

docker run -d \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -p 1935:1935 \
  owncast/owncast

✅ Owncast will run locally:

  • Web page:

http://localhost:8080

  • RTMP ingest:

rtmp://localhost:1935/live

✅ 1.3 Access Admin Panel

Visit:

http://localhost:8080/admin

Default credentials:

Username: admin
Password: abc123

Go to:

Server Setup → Stream Settings

✅ Copy:

  • RTMP URL:

rtmp://localhost:1935/live * Stream Key: e.g. abc123xyz

🎥 2. Install OBS Studio

✅ macOS

Install via Homebrew:

brew install --cask obs

Or download: https://obsproject.com/

✅ Linux

For Ubuntu:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio
sudo apt update
sudo apt install obs-studio

✅ Windows

Download and install: https://obsproject.com/

🎛️ 3. Configure OBS for Streaming

✅ Step 1 — Stream Settings

In OBS:

  • Go to:

Settings → Stream * Choose:

Service: Custom... Server: rtmp://localhost:1935/live Stream Key: <your stream key>

Replace with your actual stream key from Owncast.

✅ Step 2 — Add Video Sources

In OBS:

✅ Add Webcam

  • Click ➕ under “Sources.”
  • Choose:

Video Capture Device * Pick your webcam.

✅ Share Your Screen

  • Click ➕ under “Sources.”

  • macOS:

    macOS Screen Capture * Windows:

    Display Capture * Linux:

    Screen Capture (XSHM) or PipeWire

  • Select your display or window.

✅ Play a Video File

  • Click ➕ under “Sources.”
  • Choose:

Media Source * Pick a video file (e.g. mp4).

✅ Step 3 — Start Streaming

  • Click:

Start Streaming

✅ Step 4 — View Your Stream

Visit:

http://localhost:8080

✅ You should see your live video!

🌎 4. Share Your Local Stream Publicly (ngrok)

Perfect for quick demos without cloud servers.

✅ Step 1 — Install ngrok

macOS

brew install ngrok/ngrok/ngrok

Or download:

https://ngrok.com/download

Linux

Download the binary from:

https://ngrok.com/download

Unzip it and move it to /usr/local/bin.

Example:

unzip ngrok-v3-stable-linux-amd64.zip
sudo mv ngrok /usr/local/bin/

Windows

Download and install from:

https://ngrok.com/download

✅ Step 2 — Authenticate ngrok

Sign up for a free account. Copy your auth token.

Run:

ngrok config add-authtoken YOUR_TOKEN_HERE

✅ Step 3 — Run ngrok

Run:

ngrok http 8080

✅ ngrok will give you a URL like:

https://funny-lion-1234.ngrok.io

✅ Share this link → your stream is globally accessible!

🚫 Limitations

  • ngrok shares only web page traffic (port 8080).
  • RTMP streaming from outside (port 1935) will not work through ngrok.
  • Perfect for demo viewing by others.

🌐 5. Host Streaming on Your Own Domain (Cloudflare Tunnel)

For a professional, permanent solution.

✅ Step 1 — Prerequisites

✅ You need:

  • A domain (e.g. yourdomain.com)
  • Cloudflare account managing that domain
  • Docker + cloudflared installed

✅ Step 2 — Install cloudflared

macOS

brew install cloudflared

Linux

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt install cloudflared

Or download binary:

https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/connections/connect-apps/install-and-setup/installation/

Windows

Download and install:

https://developers.cloudflare.com/cloudflare-one/connections/connect-apps/install-and-setup/installation/

✅ Step 3 — Login to Cloudflare

Run:

cloudflared tunnel login

A browser window opens → log in.

✅ Step 4 — Create a Tunnel

Run:

cloudflared tunnel create owncast-tunnel

Example output:

Tunnel credentials written to /Users/koti/.cloudflared/324500d1-4ab0b-a4694083b668.json

✅ Step 5 — Create Config File

Create:

/Users/koti/.cloudflared/config.yml

Example content:

tunnel: owncast-tunnel
credentials-file: /Users/koti/.cloudflared/324500d1-a4694083b668.json

ingress:
  - hostname: stream.yourdomain.com
    service: http://localhost:8080
  - service: http_status:404

✅ Replace:

  • stream.yourdomain.com → your subdomain
  • path to your credentials file

✅ Step 6 — Route DNS

Run:

cloudflared tunnel route dns owncast-tunnel stream.yourdomain.com

✅ This creates a DNS CNAME record:

stream.yourdomain.com → <your-tunnel-id>.cfargotunnel.com

✅ Step 7 — Run Tunnel

First run Owncast:

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -p 1935:1935 owncast/owncast

Then start your tunnel:

cloudflared tunnel run owncast-tunnel

✅ Your stream is live:

https://stream.yourdomain.com

⭐ Your One-Liner Workflow

Every time you want to go live publicly:

docker run -d -p 8080:8080 -p 1935:1935 owncast/owncast
cloudflared tunnel run owncast-tunnel

✅ That’s it!

🎯 Summary

✅ Local streaming server → Owncast in Docker ✅ Stream live with OBS ✅ Share demos via ngrok ✅ Host live streams on your own domain via Cloudflare Tunnel

Enjoy building your streaming empire!