Create Your Own 24/7 YouTube Live Stream: A Step-by-Step Guide
Have you ever stumbled upon those mesmerizing 24/7 live streams on YouTube, like the famous lofi hip hop channels, and wondered how they work? These channels broadcast continuously, providing a constant stream of music or content without a live person on camera. It’s like having your own personal TV station, running around the clock. This article will demystify the process and guide you through setting up your very own 24/7 YouTube live stream, for free, using a cloud server.
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[Diagram of a server sending a video stream from a playlist to YouTube.]
The core concept is surprisingly straightforward. A server, which is essentially a computer that’s always on, continuously plays a playlist of video files. This playlist is sent as a constant video stream to YouTube, which then broadcasts it to the world as a live video. You are essentially creating your own automated TV channel that plays whatever content you want, 24/7, on a loop.
“They’re essentially creating their own TV channel, their own YouTube TV station that plays 24/7.”
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[Ant Media Server dashboard showing a button to create a new live stream.]
This guide will walk you through the entire process, from setting up a server in the cloud to configuring your stream and pushing it live to your YouTube channel. We’ll use a powerful piece of software and a generous free offer from our sponsor to make this project both accessible and affordable.
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[YouTube Studio interface for setting up a live stream, showing the stream key and URL.]
The end goal is to connect our streaming server to the YouTube Studio backend. YouTube provides a unique Stream URL and Stream Key that act as the destination for our video feed. Once our server starts sending data to this endpoint, our channel will go live automatically.
What You’ll Need
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[A list of requirements for the project: Linux Server, YouTube Channel, Video files, and coffee.]
Before we dive in, let’s gather the necessary components for this project:
- A Linux Server: You’ll need a computer running Ubuntu 18.04. If you don’t have a spare machine, don’t worry. We’ll set one up for free in the cloud using Linode. You can also follow along if you want to set this up on-prem (in your own home or office).
- A YouTube Channel: Your channel must have live streaming enabled. This can also work with other platforms like Twitch or Facebook Live.
- Video Files: You need some content to stream! This can be home movies, music with a static image, or anything you want to broadcast.
- Coffee: The essential fuel for any tech project.
Step 1: Setting Up Your Cloud Server
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[Linode signup page offering a $100 credit for new users.]
First, we need to create our server. We’ll use Linode, a cloud provider that simplifies this process immensely. By using the link linode.com/networkchuck, you can get a $100 free credit to get started. Once you’re signed up and logged in, we’ll create our server.
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[Linode’s Marketplace page showing various one-click apps available for deployment.]
Instead of building a server from scratch, we’ll use Linode’s Marketplace, which offers one-click application deployments. The application we’re looking for is called Ant Media Server. This powerful software will handle all the heavy lifting of managing our video playlist and streaming it.
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[Ant Media Server app selected in the Linode Marketplace.]
Select Ant Media Server from the list. You’ll then configure your server options. A Shared CPU plan is cost-effective, and the cheapest Nanode 1GB option for $5/month is plenty for this project (and covered by your free credit). Give your server a label, set a strong root password, and click “Create Linode”. The server will begin provisioning, and once its status shows “Running,” wait an additional 5 minutes for the Ant Media software to finish installing in the background.
Step 2: Configuring Ant Media Server
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[Ant Media Server first-time account creation screen.]
Once the server is ready, copy its IP address and paste it into your browser, followed by a colon and the port number 5080 (e.g., http://YOUR_IP:5080). You’ll be prompted to create your first admin account. Fill in your details, and you’ll be taken to the main dashboard.
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[Ant Media Server dashboard displaying system metrics like CPU, disk, and memory usage.]
This dashboard provides an overview of your server’s health. To set up our stream, navigate to the LiveApp under “Applications.” Here, we’ll create our stream.
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[“New Live Stream” button in the Ant Media Server LiveApp interface.]
Click on New Live Stream and select Playlist. We’re choosing this because we want to stream a list of pre-recorded video files. Give your playlist a name (e.g., “mychannel”) and click “Create”.
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[VoD (Video on Demand) tab in Ant Media Server for uploading video files.] Now, we need to upload the video files we want to stream. Go to the VoD (Video on Demand) tab and upload your video file. Once uploaded, the system will assign it a unique VOD ID. We need this ID to tell our playlist which video to play.
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http://45.33.13.171:5080/LiveApp/streams/810368041408732942439909.mp4
Construct the full URL for your video file. The format is http://<YOUR_IP>:5080/LiveApp/streams/<VOD_ID>.mp4. Make sure to replace <YOUR_IP> and <VOD_ID> with your server’s IP and the ID of your uploaded video.
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[Editing the live stream playlist to add a new playlist item URL.]
Return to the “Live Streams” tab, click the edit icon (pencil) for your playlist, and click “Add Playlist Item”. Paste the full video URL you just constructed into the “Playlist URL” field and save. You can add multiple videos here to create a longer playlist.
Step 3: Connecting to YouTube
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[YouTube Studio live streaming dashboard.]
Head over to your YouTube Studio and navigate to the “Go Live” section. Here you can edit your stream’s title, description, and thumbnail. The two most important pieces of information are the Stream URL and the Stream Key. These are what our Ant Media Server will use to send the video to YouTube.
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rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/966a-3jxy-hgh4-w7gx-3hmy
To connect Ant Media Server to YouTube, you need to combine the Stream URL and Stream Key. Copy the Stream URL, add a forward slash (/) at the end, and then paste your Stream Key immediately after it. The final URL should look similar to the one above. This complete URL is your RTMP Endpoint.
What is RTMP? RTMP stands for Real-Time Messaging Protocol. It’s a networking protocol that uses TCP to maintain a persistent connection for streaming video with low latency, which is perfect for live applications.
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[Adding the RTMP Endpoint to Ant Media Server.]
Back in Ant Media Server, click the “hamburger” menu icon next to your playlist and select Edit RTMP Endpoints. Paste the full RTMP URL you just created into the field and click “Add RTMP Endpoint.”
Step 4: Go Live!
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[“Start Broadcast” option in the Ant Media Server playlist menu.]
This is the final step! Click the hamburger menu one last time and select Start Broadcast.
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[YouTube Studio showing a live stream with an “Excellent connection” status.]
After a few seconds, you will see the status in Ant Media Server change to “Broadcasting.” If you switch back to your YouTube Studio, you’ll see your live stream appear! You are now officially broadcasting your content 24/7. The video file will loop automatically, ensuring your channel is always live. Congratulations on creating your own YouTube TV channel