Wowza server management

Greetings,

Today we announce a frequently requested feature set for Wowza server management. We just call it Wowza control, because basically it means controlling Wowza via setting up its configuration.

What can it do?

• Show Wowza virtual hosts, start and stop them;
• Start/stop startup streams;
• Show applications list for each VHost;
• Create, configure and delete applications;
• Start instances of applications.

None of these actions require JMX usage to make changes or restart Wowza instances. Everything is done transparently from WMSPanel web interface. No more manual restarting - just clicks away from completing your everyday tasks.

It's highly recommended to test this feature on a test server first and then proceed to work with production environment.

First time after clicking on "Manage server" button, you'll see a confirmation screen where you will confirm that you wish to start using this feature and ready to provide us your server configuration. Once you agree on that, the config will be synced up with the panel within a minute.

Server general information.

Need to load server structure first...

... and we're loading it.

Main page (see screen shot below) shows the list of applications of default virtual host. The list of all VHosts is shown at the left (see item 1 circled with red) and they are displayed as tabs which allow user clicking through all VHosts. Also, a common action may be applied to them - either start or stop them all (item 2). Each virtual host may be started and stopped manually via links above the apps list (item 4). This action does not require any manual logging into Wowza server, all you need to do may be done by the agent on Wowza side. You can also start or stop default start-up streams (item 5).

Main actions for Wowza server control, see text below. 

You can create Wowza Application for a given VHost. Clicking on "Create application" (item 3) button will show you the following dialog.

Wowza application initial creation for selected servers.

Here you can set app name and its configuration via XML config. So now, after defining the config, you need to click on "Apply to server" button. If you do not specify config, a default VHost's config will apply.

New application may be created on several servers at the same time. Current server is selected by default but if you want it to be available everywhere - just select all servers in "Apply to servers" field.

Each action in Wowza server control feature set works in an asynchronous way. This means that each action requires some time. The panel sends request to a server during next sync-up and then waits for response. Please refer to transactions log described below.

For each application you can change its config by clicking on the icon 6. In "Application configuration" dialog you will set up config and then you'll have two options for it, either apply it to the server right now or save it to the panel and apply later. As in application creation dialog, changing application may be applied to multiple servers at once.

Applying config changes to multiple servers.

After the application configuration is done, you can create any number of application instances by clicking on "Create instance" button (see icon 7). Of course, any app may be deleted by clicking on icon 8.

Each action is reflected in transaction log. Since any action takes some time, you'll see its progress and update when it's done.

Wowza management transaction log.

We are continuously improving user experience. We're aiming to make Wowza control as the main feature of our product, so any inputs, suggestions or questions are highly welcomed. See some inconsistency? Need small improvement? Have major concern about new way of configuring Wowza? Welcome! We're opened for discussion.

WMSPanel also has the ability to control IP cameras via MediaCaster cameras stream control. You can manage stream behavior and record it to a file. Check the link for details. Also, find some time to check our service architecture.

This feature set comes free of charge for subscribed users. You can sign up for our Wowza control panel and try it while 2 weeks service trial period. Service subscription is available for any time period.