How to Install Owncast on Debian Latest

Owncast is a free, open-source and self-hosted live streaming server software that allows you to live stream your own content to your audience without any restrictions or fees. This tutorial will guide you through the installation process of Owncast on Debian latest.

Prerequisites

Before starting the installation, make sure you meet the following prerequisites:

  • A server with Debian latest installed and a user with sudo privileges.
  • A domain or subdomain name with DNS resolution already set up and pointing to your server's IP address.
  • A valid SSL/TLS certificate installed for your domain or subdomain.

Step 1: Update Debian Packages

Start by updating the Debian package list:

sudo apt update

Once the command is finished, upgrade your packages:

sudo apt upgrade

Step 2: Install Required Dependencies

Owncast requires a set of dependencies to be installed on your server. Install them using the following command:

sudo apt install ffmpeg libsdl2-2.0-0 libssl-dev libffi-dev libnss3-tools

Step 3: Download Owncast

Download the latest version of Owncast from the official GitHub repository:

wget https://github.com/owncast/owncast/releases/latest/download/owncast-linux-amd64

Alternatively, download a specific version by replacing "latest" with the version number in the above command.

Step 4: Install Owncast

Create a new directory to store Owncast and move the downloaded file to it:

mkdir owncast
mv owncast-linux-amd64 owncast/owncast

Make the Owncast binary executable:

chmod +x owncast/owncast

Step 5: Configure Owncast

Navigate to the Owncast directory:

cd owncast

Copy the config.json.example file to config.json:

cp config.json.example config.json

Access the config.json file and edit the following parameters:

  • server_address: Set it to your domain or subdomain name.
  • ssl: Enable or disable SSL/TLS encryption by changing the enabled parameter to true or false, respectively.
  • ssl_cert: Set the path to your SSL/TLS certificate file.
  • ssl_key: Set the path to your SSL/TLS private key file.

Step 6: Start Owncast

Finally, start Owncast with the following command:

./owncast

Owncast should now be running on your server. You can access it by visiting your domain or subdomain name in a web browser.

Conclusion

You have successfully installed Owncast on Debian latest. You can now start live streaming your own content to your audience without any restrictions or fees.