FFmpeg + NGINX HTTPS HLS Streaming Server Ubuntu 24.04

🧩 Step 1 — Update and install dependencies

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ffmpeg nginx python3-yaml openssl

🗂️ Step 2 — Directory setup

sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/ffmpeg-hls
sudo mkdir -p /var/www/html/cctv
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html

🧾 Step 3 — Camera configuration file
Create file /usr/local/ffmpeg-hls/cams.yml

- name: cam1
  url: rtsp-url-here
- name: cam2
  url: rtsp-url-here
- name: cam3
  url: rtsp-url-here
# Add up to cam16 if needed...

⚙️ Step 4 — Auto FFmpeg launcher script
Create file /usr/local/ffmpeg-hls/start-all-cams.sh

#!/bin/bash
CONFIG_FILE="/usr/local/ffmpeg-hls/cams.yml"
OUTPUT_ROOT="/var/www/html/cctv"
HLS_DURATION=10            # seconds per segment
TOTAL_HISTORY_MIN=10       # total minutes to keep
SEGMENTS_TO_KEEP=$(( (TOTAL_HISTORY_MIN*60) / HLS_DURATION ))

mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_ROOT"

# 1️⃣ Generate list of active cams
python3 - <<'PYCODE' > /tmp/camlist.txt
import yaml, sys
data = yaml.safe_load(open("/usr/local/ffmpeg-hls/cams.yml"))
for cam in data:
    print(f"{cam['name']}|{cam['url']}")
PYCODE

# 2️⃣ Build array of active cam names
ACTIVE_CAMS=($(awk -F'|' '{print $1}' /tmp/camlist.txt))

# 3️⃣ Clean up old folders not in YAML
for dir in "$OUTPUT_ROOT"/*/; do
  [ -d "$dir" ] || continue
  CAM_NAME=$(basename "$dir")
  if [[ ! " ${ACTIVE_CAMS[@]} " =~ " ${CAM_NAME} " ]]; then
    echo "🧹 Removing old folder: $dir"
    rm -rf "$dir"
  fi
done

# 4️⃣ Start each active camera
while IFS="|" read -r NAME URL; do
    [ -z "$NAME" ] && continue
    mkdir -p "$OUTPUT_ROOT/$NAME"

    echo "🎥 Starting $NAME ..."
    (
      while true; do
        ffmpeg -hide_banner -loglevel warning \
          -rtsp_transport tcp \
          -i "$URL" \
          -fflags +genpts -use_wallclock_as_timestamps 1 \
          -an -c:v copy \
          -f hls \
          -hls_time $HLS_DURATION \
          -hls_list_size $SEGMENTS_TO_KEEP \
          -hls_flags delete_segments+append_list+program_date_time \
          -hls_segment_filename "$OUTPUT_ROOT/$NAME/segment_%05d.ts" \
          "$OUTPUT_ROOT/$NAME/index.m3u8"

        echo "⚠️  $NAME disconnected, retrying in 5s..."
        sleep 5
      done
    ) &
done < /tmp/camlist.txt

echo "✅ All active camera streams started!"
wait