Create an HTTP Live Stream (HLS) out of an existing H.264/AAC stream.  HLS is used to stream live feeds to iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads. 

This function has the following parameters:

Parameter Name Mandatory Default Value Description
localStreamNames true null The stream(s) that will be used as the input. This is a comma-delimited list of active stream names (local stream names)
targetFolder true null The folder where all the .ts/.m3u8 files will be stored. This folder must be accessible by the HLS clients. It is usually in the web-root of the server
keepAlive false 1 true If true, the EMS will attempt to reconnect to the stream source if the connection is severed
overwriteDestination false 1 true If true, it will force overwrite of destination files
staleRetentionCount false if not specified, it will have the value of playlistLength The number of old files kept besides the ones listed in the current version of the playlist. Only applicable for rolling playlists
createMasterPlaylist false 1 true If true, a master playlist will be created
cleanupDestination false 0 false If true, all *.ts and *.m3u8 files in the target folder will be removed before HLS creation is started
bandwidths false 0 The corresponding bandwidths for each stream listed in localStreamNames. Again, this can be a comma-delimited list
groupName false it will be a random name in the form of hls_group_xxxx The name assigned to the HLS stream or group. If the localStreamNames parameter contains only one entry and groupName is not specified, groupName will have the value of the input stream name
playlistType false appending Either appending or rolling
playlistLength false 10 The length (number of elements) of the playlist. Used only when playlistType is rolling. Ignored otherwise
playlistName false playlist.m3u8 The file name ofthe playlist (*.m3u8)
chunkLength false 10 The length (in seconds) of each playlist element (*.ts file). Minimum value is 1 (second)
maxChunkLength false 0 This parameter represents the maximum length, in seconds, the EMS will allow anysingle chunk to be. This is primarily in the case of chunkOnIDR=true where the EMS will wait for the next key-frame. If the maxChunkLength is less than chunkLength, the parameter shall be ignored
chunkBaseName false segment The base name used to generate the *.ts chunks
chunkOnIDR false 1 true If true, chunking is performed ONLY on IDR. Otherwise, chunking is performed whenever chunk length is achieved
drmType false none Sets the type of DRM encryption to use.  Options are: none (no encryption), evo (AES Encryption), SAMPLE-AES (Sample-AES), verimatrix (Verimatrix DRM). For Verimatrix DRM, the “drm” section of the config.lua file must be active and properly configured
AESKeyCount false 5 Specifies the number of keys that will be automatically generated and rotated over while encrypting this HLS stream
audioOnly false 0 false Specifies if the resulting stream will be audio only. A value of 1(true) will result in a stream without video
hlsResume false 0 false If true, HLS will resume in appending segments to previously created childplaylist even in cases of EMS shutdown or cut off stream source
cleanupOnClose false 0 false If true, corresponding hls files to a stream will be deleted if the said stream is removed or shut down or disconnected
useByteRange false 0 false If true, will use the EXT-X-BYTERANGE feature of HLS (version 4 and up)
fileLength false 0 false When using useByteRange=1, this parameter needs to be set too. This will be the size of file before chunking it to another file, this replace the chunkLength in case of EXT-X-BYTERANGE, since chunkLength will be the byte range chunk
useSystemTime false 0 false If true, uses UTC in playlist time stamp otherwise will use the local server time
offsetTime false 0  
startOffset false 0 A parameter valid only for HLS v.6 onwards. This will indicate the start offset time (in seconds) for the playback of the playlist

An example of the createHLSStream interface is:

createHLSStream localstreamnames=hlstest bandwidths=128 targetfolder=/MyWebRoot/ groupname=hls playlisttype=rolling playlistLength=10 chunkLength=5

The corresponding link to use on an iOS device to pull thisstream would then be:

http://My_IP_or_Domain/hls/playlist.m3u8

In other words: http://my_web_server/HLS_group_name/playlist_file_name

Example:

API Call:

createHLSStream localstreamnames=testpullStream bandwidths=128 targetfolder=../evo-webroot groupname=hls playlisttype=rolling

JSON Response:

{
"data":{
    "AESKeyCount":5,
    "audioOnly":false,
    "bandwidths":[128],
    "chunkBaseName":"segment",
    "chunkLength":10,
    "chunkOnIDR":true,
    "cleanupDestination":false,
    "cleanupOnClose":false,
    "configIds":[7],
    "createMasterPlaylist":true,
    "drmType":"none",
    "fileLength":0,
    "groupName":"hls",
    "hlsResume":false,
    "hlsVersion":3,
    "keepAlive":true,
    "localStreamNames":["testpullStream"],
    "maxChunkLength":0,
    "offsetTime":0,
    "overwriteDestination":true,
    "playlistLength":10,
    "playlistName":"playlist.m3u8",
    "playlistType":"rolling",
    "staleRetentionCount":10,
    "startOffset":0,
    "targetFolder":"..\/evo-webroot",
    "useByteRange":false,
    "useSystemTime":false
},
"description":"HLS stream created",
"status":"SUCCESS"
}

The JSON response for pullStream contains the following details:

  • data – The data to parse
    • AESKeyCount - the number of keys that will be automatically generated and rotated over while encrypting this HLS stream
    • audioOnly - If true, the EMS will only stream audio
    • bandwidths – An array of integersspecifying the bandwidths used for streaming
    • chunkBaseName– The base name or prefix used for naming the output HLS chunks
    • chunkLength – The length (in seconds)of each playlist element (.ts files)
    • chunkOnIdr – If true, chunking was made on IDR boundary
    • cleanupDestination – If true, HLS files at the target folder were deleted before HLS creation began
    • cleanupOnClose - If true, corresponding hls files to a stream will be deleted if the stream is disconnected
    • configIDs – The configuration IDs for this command
    • createMasterPlaylist–If true, a master playlist is created
    • drmType - The type of DRM encryption used
    • fileLength - The size of file before chunking it to another file, this replace the chunkLength in case of EXT-X-BYTERANGE
    • groupName –  The name of the target folder where HLS fileswill be created
    • hlsResume – If true, will resume in appendingsegments to previously created child playlist even in cases of EMS shutdown or cut off stream source
    • hlsVersion – The configured HLS version
    • keepAlive–  If true, the stream will attempt to reconnect if the connection is severed
    • localStreamNames– An array of local names for the streams
    • maxChunkLength - The maximum length the EMS willallow any single chunk to be
    • offsetTime -
    • overwriteDestination –  If true, forced overwrite was enabled during HLS creation
    • playlistLength – The number of elements in the playlist. Useful only for rolling playlistType
    • playlistName– The file name of the playlist (*.m3u8)
    • playlistType – Either appending or rolling
    • staleRetentionCount – The number of old files kept besides the ones listed in the current version of the playlist. Only applicable for rolling playlists
    • startOffset - Indicate the start offset time (in seconds) for the playback of the playlist
    • targetFolder–The folder where all the .ts /.m3u8 files are stored
    • useByteRange - Enables the use the EXT-X-BYTERANGE feature of HLS (version 4 and up)
    • useSystemTime - Determine what time stamp is used in playlist

  • description– Describes the result of parsing/executing the command

  • status– SUCCESS if the command was parsed and executed successfully, FAIL if not