Video Streaming Server Setup

Page Location: N/A (Server Configuration)
Menu Path: N/A - Server-side setup
Access Level: System Administrator / Server Root Access
Last Updated: 2026-01-02

Overview

This guide covers the complete setup of the LiveKit WebRTC streaming server for ComusThumbz's live webcam streaming feature. LiveKit enables ultra-low-latency (sub-second) browser-to-browser video streaming, allowing creators to broadcast live directly from their webcams without requiring third-party streaming software.

The live streaming feature enables:

• Creators to broadcast live from settings/golive.php
• Viewers to watch streams at watchstream.php
• Interactive chat with real-time messaging and tips
• Private shows with per-minute token billing
• Access control (free, password, subscribers-only, PPV, tip goals)

State: Diagram showing: Browser → LiveKit Server → Viewers
Annotations: Show WebRTC flow from broadcaster to server to viewers
-->

System Requirements

Server Requirements

Required Ports

PHP Requirements (ComusThumbz Server)

Required PHP Extensions

External Tools

Installation Requirements

Config Settings (dat/config.inc.php)

Example config entries:

// LiveKit WebRTC Streaming Configuration
define('LIVEKITHOST', 'wss://streaming.yourdomain.com/livekit/');
define('LIVEKITAPIKEY', 'APIxxxxxxxxxxxxx');
define('LIVEKITAPISECRET', 'your-secret-key-here');

File Dependencies

Folders Required

Architecture Overview

How LiveKit Streaming Works

┌─────────────────┐     ┌──────────────────┐     ┌─────────────────┐
│   BROADCASTER   │     │  LIVEKIT SERVER  │     │    VIEWERS      │
│  (Creator)      │────▶│  (Media Server)  │────▶│  (Subscribers)  │
│  golive.php    │     │  Docker Container│     │ watchstream.php│
└─────────────────┘     └──────────────────┘     └─────────────────┘
        │                        │                        │
        │                        │                        │
        ▼                        ▼                        ▼
   WebRTC Publish          SFU Routing            WebRTC Subscribe

Video Track - Room Management - Video TrackAudio Track - Participant Auth - Audio Track

• Data Channel - Media Relay - Chat Messages

Component Overview

Installation Methods

Method 1: Automated Setup Script (Recommended)

Step 1: Upload the Setup Script

Upload tools/setuplivekitserver.sh to your streaming server.

Step 2: Make Executable and Run

# Make the script executable
chmod +x setuplivekitserver.sh

Run with sudo

sudo ./setuplivekitserver.sh

Step 3: Follow Interactive Prompts

The script will:

1. Detect your OS (Ubuntu/Debian)
2. Install Docker if not present
3. Configure firewall rules
4. Auto-detect your public IP
5. Generate API keys
6. Create LiveKit configuration
7. Start the LiveKit container
8. Update your PHP configuration

Step 4: Note Your Credentials

At the end, the script outputs:

API Credentials:

  API Key: APIxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  API Secret: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Method 2: Manual Installation (Debian 12)

For manual control or troubleshooting, follow these steps:

Step 1: Install Docker

# Update system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install prerequisites

sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release

Add Docker GPG key

curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

Add Docker repository

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/debian $(lsbrelease -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

Install Docker

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

Start and enable Docker

sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

Verify installation

docker --version

Step 2: Configure Firewall

# UFW (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo ufw allow 7880/tcp comment "LiveKit WebSocket"
sudo ufw allow 7881/tcp comment "LiveKit RTC TCP"
sudo ufw allow 50000:60000/udp comment "LiveKit WebRTC Media"

Or iptables directly

sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 7880 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 7881 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 50000:60000 -j ACCEPT

Step 3: Generate API Keys

# Generate API Key (16 bytes, base64)
APIKEY=$(openssl rand -base64 16 | tr -d '/' | tr '+' '-')
echo "API Key: $APIKEY"

Generate API Secret (32 bytes, base64)

APISECRET=$(openssl rand -base64 32 | tr -d '/' | tr '+' '-')
echo "API Secret: $APISECRET"

Step 4: Create LiveKit Configuration

Create /opt/livekit/livekit-config.yaml:

# LiveKit Media Server Configuration
port: 7880

rtc:
portrangestart: 50000
portrangeend: 60000
tcpport: 7881
nodeip: YOURPUBLICIP

keys:

YOURAPIKEY: YOURAPISECRET

room:

autocreate: true
emptytimeout: 300
maxparticipants: 1000

logging:
level: info
sample: false

Step 5: Create Docker Compose File

Create /opt/livekit/docker-compose.yml:

version: '3.9'

services:

livekit:
image: livekit/livekit-server:latest
containername: livekit
restart: unless-stopped
networkmode: host
command: --config /livekit.yaml
volumes:

• ./livekit-config.yaml:/livekit.yaml:ro

Step 6: Start LiveKit

cd /opt/livekit
docker compose up -d

Verify it's running

docker ps
docker logs livekit

Production Configuration

SSL/TLS Setup with Nginx

Step 1: Install Nginx and Certbot

sudo apt install -y nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Step 2: Create Nginx Configuration

Create /etc/nginx/sites-available/livekit:

# LiveKit WebRTC Streaming Proxy

Place in /etc/nginx/sites-available/livekit

upstream livekit {
server 127.0.0.1:7880;
}

server {
listen 80;
servername streaming.yourdomain.com;

# Redirect HTTP to HTTPS
return 301 https://$host$requesturi;
}

server {
listen 443 ssl http2;
servername streaming.yourdomain.com;

# SSL certificates (Let's Encrypt)
sslcertificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/streaming.yourdomain.com/fullchain.pem;
sslcertificatekey /etc/letsencrypt/live/streaming.yourdomain.com/privkey.pem;

# SSL settings
sslprotocols TLSv1.2 TLSv1.3;
sslpreferserverciphers on;
sslciphers XXXXX-XXXXX-AES128-XXX-SHA256:XXXXX-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256;

# LiveKit WebSocket proxy
location /livekit/ {
proxypass http://livekit/;
proxyhttpversion 1.1;

# WebSocket upgrade headers
proxysetheader Upgrade $httpupgrade;
proxysetheader Connection "upgrade";

# Standard proxy headers
proxysetheader Host $host;
proxysetheader X-Real-IP $remoteaddr;
proxysetheader X-Forwarded-For $proxyaddxforwardedfor;
proxysetheader X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;

# Timeouts for long-lived connections
proxyreadtimeout 86400s;
proxysendtimeout 86400s;

# Disable buffering for real-time
proxybuffering off;
}
}

Step 3: Enable and Obtain SSL Certificate

# Enable site
sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/livekit /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

Test configuration

sudo nginx -t

Obtain SSL certificate

sudo certbot --nginx -d streaming.yourdomain.com

Restart Nginx

sudo systemctl restart nginx

PHP Configuration

Update config.inc.php

Add these lines to ct/dat/config.inc.php:

// =====================================================
// LiveKit WebRTC Streaming Configuration
// =====================================================

// LiveKit WebSocket URL
// Development: ws://YOURIP:7880
// Production: wss://streaming.yourdomain.com/livekit/
define('LIVEKITHOST', 'wss://streaming.yourdomain.com/livekit/');

// API credentials (from setup script)
define('LIVEKITAPIKEY', 'APIxxxxxxxxxxxxx');
define('LIVEKITAPISECRET', 'your-32-byte-secret-key-here');

Enable Live Streaming Feature

Navigate to Admin Panel → Settings → Feature Toggles and enable:

• featurelivestreaming - Enable/Disable live streaming

Or add directly to the database:

INSERT INTO tblFeatureToggles (featurekey, featureenabled, featuregroup)
VALUES ('featurelivestreaming', 1, 'creatorfeatures')
ON DUPLICATE KEY UPDATE featureenabled = 1;

API Endpoints

The live streaming system provides these API endpoints:

Stream Management

Chat & Interactions

Access Control

Frontend Pages

Creator Broadcast Page (settings/golive.php)

Features:

• Webcam preview and selection
• Microphone selection
• Stream title and description
• Access type selection (free, password, subscribers, PPV, tip goal)
• Real-time chat panel
• Tip notifications
• Private request management
• Viewer count display

Access Requirements:

• User must be logged in
• User must have iscreator = 1 in tblCMSUsers
• featurelivestreaming must be enabled

Viewer Page (watchstream.php)

Features:

• Live video player
• Real-time chat
• Tip sending
• Private show requests
• Viewer count
• Creator profile sidebar

Stream Directory (livestreams.php)

Features:

• Grid of active streams
• Viewer count badges
• Creator avatars
• Stream previews (snapshots)
• Filter by category

Testing Your Setup

Step 1: Verify LiveKit Server

# Check container status
docker ps | grep livekit

Check logs

docker logs livekit

Test WebSocket (should return error, which means it's responding)

curl http://localhost:7880

Expected: {"code":"InvalidArgument"...}

Step 2: Test from Browser Console

Open browser dev tools and run:

// Test WebSocket connection
const ws = new WebSocket('wss://streaming.yourdomain.com/livekit/');
ws.onopen = () => console.log('Connected to LiveKit');
ws.onerror = (e) => console.error('Connection error:', e);

Step 3: Test Full Workflow

Log in as a creator account

1. Navigate to settings/golive.php
2. Click "Go Live" to start broadcasting
3. Open a second browser/incognito window
4. Navigate to livestreams.php
5. Click on your stream to watch

Common Tasks

Restarting LiveKit

# Restart container
docker restart livekit

Or full restart

docker compose down
docker compose up -d

Viewing Logs

# Real-time logs
docker logs -f livekit

Last 100 lines

docker logs --tail 100 livekit

Updating LiveKit

# Pull latest image
docker pull livekit/livekit-server:latest

Restart with new image

docker compose down
docker compose up -d

Checking Active Rooms

# Using LiveKit CLI (if installed)
livekit-cli list-rooms --url ws://localhost:7880 --api-key YOURKEY --api-secret YOURSECRET

Troubleshooting

Common Errors

define('LIVEKITHOST', 'wss://streaming.yourdomain.com/livekit/');

define('LIVEKITAPIKEY', 'your-api-key');

define('LIVEKITAPISECRET', 'your-api-secret');

Debug Checklist

1. LiveKit Container Running?

docker ps | grep livekit

1. Ports Open?

sudo netstat -tlnp | grep -E '7880|7881'

1. Config Values Match?

• Check livekit-config.yaml API key/secret
• Check config.inc.php API key/secret
• They MUST be identical

1. Nginx Proxying Correctly?

curl -v https://streaming.yourdomain.com/livekit/

1. SSL Certificate Valid?

openssl sclient -connect streaming.yourdomain.com:443

Performance Tuning

For High Concurrent Viewers

Modify livekit-config.yaml:

# Increased limits for production
rtc:
  portrangestart: 40000
  portrangeend: 50000  # 10,000 ports for more viewers

room:
maxparticipants: 5000 # Increase from 1000

logging:
level: warn # Reduce logging overhead

Docker Resource Limits

Update docker-compose.yml:

services:
  livekit:
    image: livekit/livekit-server:latest
    containername: livekit
    restart: unless-stopped
    networkmode: host
    command: --config /livekit.yaml
    volumes:

• ./livekit-config.yaml:/livekit.yaml:ro

    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '4'
          memory: 4G
        reservations:
          cpus: '2'
          memory: 2G

Security Considerations

Best Practices

1. Always use HTTPS/WSS in production

• WebRTC requires secure contexts in modern browsers
• Use Let's Encrypt for free SSL certificates

1. Protect API credentials

• Never expose LIVEKITAPISECRET in frontend code
• Tokens are generated server-side only

1. Implement rate limiting

• Prevent chat spam
• Limit stream start attempts

1. Monitor for abuse

• Log stream metadata
• Review reported streams

1. Firewall configuration

• Only open required ports
• Consider geo-blocking if needed

Related Documentation

• Live Streaming Implementation - .docs/LIVESTREAMINGIMPLEMENTATION.md
• LiveKit Setup Quick Start - .docs/LIVEKITSETUP.md
• Debian 12 Install Guide - .docs/LIVEKITINSTALLDEBIAN12.md
• Streaming Fixes - .docs/LIVESTREAMINGFIXES.md
• Setup Script - tools/setuplivekitserver.sh

Translatable Strings

The following translation keys are used by the live streaming feature:

Install Script Checklist

• [ ] Docker installed and running
• [ ] Firewall ports opened (7880, 7881, 50000-51000) --- For the 50000-51000, this may need adjusted as opening so many ports not only a security issue, but it will cause the streaming server to fail on load.
• [ ] LiveKit configuration file created
• [ ] Docker Compose file created
• [ ] LiveKit container started
• [ ] API credentials added to config.inc.php
• [ ] Database migration 018 applied
• [ ] Database migration 019 applied (LiveKit fields)
• [ ] Nginx reverse proxy configured (production)
• [ ] SSL certificate obtained (production)
• [ ] Feature toggle enabled
• [ ] Test stream successful

Changelog