Use a container image

Plugin support requires an Owncast v0.3.0 build

Owncast 0.3.0 features such as plugins are only in the nightly image, ghcr.io/owncast/owncast:nightly. The stable image is owncast/owncast:latest on Docker Hub.

1. Pull the latest version from Dockerhub: docker pull owncast/owncast:latest.
2. Run the following to start the service. Binding the data directory keeps your database and backups on the host, so you can move them to another server later.

docker run --restart unless-stopped -v "$(pwd)/data:/app/data" -p 8080:8080 -p 1935:1935 owncast/owncast:latest

Alternatively, you can create a docker-compose.yml file with the following contents:

services:
  owncast:
    image: owncast/owncast:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
      - "1935:1935"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data

and run docker compose up -d to start the service.

To upgrade to a newer release later, pull the latest image and recreate the container: run docker pull owncast/owncast:latest, then docker compose up -d (or stop the container and re-run your docker run command).

Login to the admin and set up your stream

The admin interface can be found by navigating to /admin on your Owncast server (e.g., https://owncast.example.com/admin).

Configuring your broadcasting software to stream to your Owncast server requires you to use the /live endpoint along with providing the stream key. (e.g., rtmp://owncast.example.com/live with stream key abc123). If your software does not allow specifying the stream key separately, you may need to append it to the URL as rtmp://owncast.example.com/live/abc123.

Default credentials

Default	Value
Admin username	admin
Admin password	abc123
Stream key	abc123

These are the default credentials for logging into the Owncast admin interface and streaming to your Owncast server. It is highly recommended that you change these values immediately after your first login to ensure the security of your server.

Next steps

1. Point your broadcasting software at your new server using rtmp://yourserver/live with your stream key. If your software doesn't have a way to specify a stream key use the url rtmp://yourserver/live/streamkey and use your stream key instead.
2. Access your server in your web browser by visiting http://yourserver:8080.
3. You can visit the Admin dashboard at http://yourserver:8080/admin where you can check visitor and server stats, change your stream key, personalize the content displayed on your page, and more. To log in, use the username admin and your admin password (abc123 by default).

Note: Your stream key and admin password both default to abc123, but they are separate settings. The stream key is only used by your broadcasting software to publish video. It is not your admin password.