Node-Media-Server v4

Introduction

Node-Media-Server is a high-performance/low-latency/open-source Live Streaming Server developed based on Nodejs.
v4 is design to implement enhanced RTMP FLV v1 support for native HEVC, VP9, AV1.
v4 is no longer compatible with the cn_cdn extension id flv_265 standard.
v4 is no longer compatible with flashplayer's rtmp protocol.
v4 is incompatible with v2. Do not upgrade across major versions.

Installation

npm install node-media-server -g

or run directly

npx node-media-server

Features

• HTTP/HTTP2-flv Push/Play
• WS/WSS-flv Push/Play
• RTMP/RTMPS Push/Play
• GOP cache
• Notification
• Authentication
• Static file server
• Record to flv file
• REST API System (New in v4.2.0)
• JWT-based Authentication (New in v4.2.0)
• Real-time Monitoring & Statistics (New in v4.2.0)
• Session Management (New in v4.2.0)
• Session Deletion (New in v4.2.0)
• Advanced Health Monitoring (New in v4.2.0)

Static file services

Node-Media-Server can provide static file services for a directory.

"static": {
    "router": "/",
    "root": "./html"
}

Record to flv file

Node-Media-Server can record live streams as FLV files.
When the static file server is enabled and recordings are saved in its directory.
It can provide video-on-demand services.

"record": {
    "path": "./html/record"
}

http://server_ip:8000/record/live/stream/unix_time.flv
or
https://server_ip:8443/record/live/stream/unix_time.flv

REST API System (New in v4.2.0)

Node-Media-Server v4.2.0 introduces a comprehensive REST API system for server management and monitoring.

Authentication

The API system uses JWT-based authentication with the following endpoints:

Login (Challenge-Response)

Login is a two-step process that prevents credential replay attacks without requiring HTTPS.

Step 1: Request a challenge

POST /api/v1/login
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "username": "your_username"
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "challenge": "a_random_nonce_string"
  },
  "message": "Challenge issued"
}

Step 2: Submit challenge response

Compute response = HMAC-SHA256(password, challenge) and submit:

POST /api/v1/login
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "username": "your_username",
  "challenge": "a_random_nonce_string",
  "response": "hmac_sha256_hex_digest"
}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "token": "your_jwt_token",
    "user": {
      "username": "your_username"
    },
    "expiresIn": "24h"
  },
  "message": "Login successful"
}

Each challenge is single-use and expires after 60 seconds.

Using the API

Include the JWT token in your requests:

Authorization: Bearer your_jwt_token

API Endpoints

Health Check

GET /api/v1/health

Returns server health status, including CPU usage, memory consumption, and uptime.

Server Information

GET /api/v1/info

Returns server configuration, version information, and system details.

Stream Management

GET /api/v1/streams

List all active streams with detailed information including codecs, bitrate, and connected clients.

Session Management

GET /api/v1/sessions

Monitor all connected clients (publishers and players) with session details.

DELETE /api/v1/sessions/{sessionId}

Terminate a specific session by ID. This will disconnect the associated client and stop their stream or playback.

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "id": "sessionId",
  }
  "message": "Session deleted successfully",
}

Server Statistics

GET /api/v1/stats

Real-time server performance metrics including:

• CPU usage percentage
• Memory consumption (RSS, heap total, heap used)
• Process uptime
• Active stream count
• Connected client count

Configuration

The API system is configured through the bin/config.json file:

"auth": {
    "play": false,
    "publish": false,
    "secret": "nodemedia2017privatekey",
    "jwt": {
        "expiresIn": "24h",
        "refreshExpiresIn": "7d",
        "algorithm": "HS256",
        "users": [
            {
                "username": "admin",
                "password": "admin123"
            }
        ]
    }
},

Security Features

Challenge-Response Authentication

Login uses a challenge-response protocol (HMAC-SHA256) to prevent credential replay attacks. Passwords never cross the network — even on plain HTTP. Each challenge is single-use and expires after 60 seconds.

JWT Configuration

• Configurable secret key for token signing
• Support for different algorithms (HS256, HS384, HS512)
• Configurable token expiration times
• Refresh token support for extended sessions

Example Usage

Using curl

# Step 1: Request challenge
CHALLENGE=$(curl -s -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/v1/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"username":"admin"}' | python3 -c "import sys,json;print(json.load(sys.stdin)['data']['challenge'])")

# Step 2: Compute response and login
RESPONSE=$(echo -n "$CHALLENGE" | openssl dgst -sha256 -hmac "your_password" | awk '{print $NF}')

curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/api/v1/login \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"username\":\"admin\",\"challenge\":\"$CHALLENGE\",\"response\":\"$RESPONSE\"}"

# Get server stats
curl -X GET http://localhost:8000/api/v1/stats \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_jwt_token"

# Get active streams
curl -X GET http://localhost:8000/api/v1/streams \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_jwt_token"

# Get all sessions
curl -X GET http://localhost:8000/api/v1/sessions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_jwt_token"

# Delete a specific session
curl -X DELETE http://localhost:8000/api/v1/sessions/abc123-def456-ghi789 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer your_jwt_token"

Using JavaScript

const crypto = require('crypto');

// Step 1: Request challenge
const challengeRes = await fetch('http://localhost:8000/api/v1/login', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ username: 'admin' })
});
const { data: { challenge } } = await challengeRes.json();

// Step 2: Compute response and login
const response = crypto.createHmac('sha256', 'your_password').update(challenge).digest('hex');
const loginRes = await fetch('http://localhost:8000/api/v1/login', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({ username: 'admin', challenge, response })
});
const { data: { token } } = await loginRes.json();

// Get streams
const streamsResponse = await fetch('http://localhost:8000/api/v1/streams', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}` }
});

const streams = await streamsResponse.json();
console.log('Active streams:', streams);

// Get all sessions
const sessionsResponse = await fetch('http://localhost:8000/api/v1/sessions', {
  headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}` }
});

const sessions = await sessionsResponse.json();
console.log('Active sessions:', sessions);

// Delete a specific session
if (sessions.data.length > 0) {
  const sessionIdToDelete = sessions.data[0].id;
  const deleteResponse = await fetch(`http://localhost:8000/api/v1/sessions/${sessionIdToDelete}`, {
    method: 'DELETE',
    headers: { 'Authorization': `Bearer ${token}` }
  });

  const deleteResult = await deleteResponse.json();
  console.log('Session deletion result:', deleteResult);
}

Supported clients

Client	H.264	HEVC	VP9	AV1
OBS_29.1+	✅	✅	❌	✅
FFmpeg/FFplay_6.1+	✅	✅	✅	✅
NodePlayer.js_1.0+	✅	✅	❌	❌
NodeMediaClient_3.0+	✅	✅	❌	❌

QLive

Free Android Live Streaming App

NodePlayer.js pure javascript implementation live streaming player

Online Demo

• ASM.js, WASM, SIMD, WebWorker, WebCodecs, MediaSource multiple technical implementations
• H.264/H.265+AAC/G711 software and hardware decoder
• Ultra-low latency, Under extreme conditions less than 100 milliseconds
• Enhanced HTTP/WS-FLV Protocol, Natively support h.265
• Android/iOS/HarmonyOS/Chrome/Edge/Firefox/Safari, All modern browsers or platforms

NodePublisher.js pure javascript implementation live streaming publisher

• WebSocket-FLV Protocol
• H.264+AAC hardware encoder
• Only chrome or chromium based browsers are supported at the moment
• wss is required

NodeMediaClient-iOS iOS live streaming player and publisher SDK

• Objective-C/Swift
• RTMP/HTTP-FLV/RTSP
• H.264/H.265+AAC/OPUS/G711
• Ultra-low latency, Under extreme conditions less than 100 milliseconds
• Enhanced RTMP/FLV Protocol, Natively support H.265/OPUS
• Built-in beauty filter

NodeMediaClient-Android Android live streaming player and publisher SDK

• JAVA/Kotlin
• armv7/arm64/x86/x86_64
• RTMP/HTTP-FLV/RTSP
• H.264/H.265+AAC/OPUS/G711
• Ultra-low latency, Under extreme conditions less than 100 milliseconds
• Enhanced RTMP/FLV Protocol, Natively support H.265/OPUS
• Built-in beauty filter

expo-nodemediaclient Expo module for NodeMediaClient

• iOS and Android
• player and publisher

License

Apache 2.0