What is RTMP?
Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) is a TCP-based protocol initially developed by Macromedia (later acquired by Adobe) to deliver audio, video, and data between a server and Flash player. Even though Flash is now obsolete, RTMP continues to be widely used as a live stream ingest protocol, especially in broadcasting workflows.
RTMP’s strength lies in its ability to deliver low-latency, persistent streaming over TCP connections, making it ideal for first-mile delivery from encoders like OBS, vMix, or mobile apps to media servers. Once the stream reaches the server, it can be transcoded or transmuxed into more playback-friendly formats such as HLS, WebRTC, or CMAF.
Today, RTMP remains a crucial part of the streaming stack because of:
- Stable, real-time data transmission
- Support across open-source encoders
- Easy integration with most media servers
Whether you’re building a professional-grade streaming platform or just trying to push a live stream to your audience, understanding RTMP is the foundation.
In this guide we will talk about what the legendary streaming protocol RTMP is about, what are the alternatives and how to get a free RTMP server in 7 steps.
How to install and deploy a free RTMP server in 7 steps
It takes only 7 steps to have an RTMP server for free.
1. Download Ant Media Server
Download and save the Ant Media Server Community/Enterprise Edition to your server.
Community Edition Zip file can be downloaded from here directly
Enterprise Edition can be downloaded on your account after you get a license on antmedia.io
2. Open Terminal and go to the directory
Open a terminal and go to any directory like /home/ubuntu which is the default for many instances.
cd /home/ubuntu
3. Download the installation script
Download the installation script to install AMS.
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ant-media/Scripts/master/install_ant-media-server.sh && chmod 755 install_ant-media-server.sh
4. Run the installation script
Install the Enterprise Edition
Add your license key as a parameter, which you received via email, to the installation file using the -l parameter, and then execute it. If you have a valid license key, the installation process will begin.
sudo ./install_ant-media-server.sh -l 'your-license-key'
Install the Community Editon
You can simply run the script without any parameters to automatically download and install the latest version of the Community Edition.
sudo ./install_ant-media-server.sh
5. Control the Service
After installation, you can check the service if it is running.
sudo service antmedia status
You can stop/start the service anytime you want.
sudo service antmedia stop
sudo service antmedia start
6. Install SSL for your Ant Media Server
Please make sure that your server instance has a public IP address and a domain is assigned to its public IP address. Then go to the folder where Ant Media Server is installed. Default directory is/usr/local/antmedia.
cd /usr/local/antmedia
Run the enable SSL script in the AMS installation directory. Don’t forget to replace {DOMAIN_NAME} with your domain name.
sudo ./enable_ssl.sh -d {DOMAIN_NAME}
For detailed information about SSL, follow the SSL Setup guide here.
- Accessing the web panel
Open your browser and type http://SERVER_IP_ADDRESS:5080 to go to the web panel. If you’re having difficulty accessing the web panel, there may be a firewall that blocks access to the 5080 port.
That’s all. You now have a free RTMP server if you use the community edition.
To publish an RTMP stream to Ant Media Server, check out the RTMP publishing document.
👉 Full tutorial:
https://antmedia.io/what-is-rtmp-server-how-to-set-up-a-free-rtmp-server/
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