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You can run a continuous YouTube broadcast from an Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Ubuntu virtual machine by provisioning the VM, configuring YouTube Live, sending a looping media file with FFmpeg, and supervising the encoder with systemd. The commands and service file below are illustrative implementation examples—not an official or tested end-to-end OCI recipe. Validate them on your Ubuntu release and test a representative stream before relying on it.
Plan for two separate limits: your VM and network must sustain the chosen encoding settings, and a single YouTube live session is not a dependable 24-hour archive. YouTube warns that a stream exceeding 12 hours may not be captured at all, and DVR rewind may be limited or unavailable beyond 12 hours. If the recording matters, make a separate local archive.
What you need before you start
- An OCI account and an Ubuntu VM in a region and availability domain where the selected shape has capacity. Ubuntu publishes OCI-specific images; OCI instance creation also requires you to configure compute, boot storage, networking, and access. See Canonical’s Ubuntu on Oracle documentation and Oracle’s instance-creation guide.
- A media file you have the rights to stream, stored on the VM or on storage accessible to it.
- A YouTube channel with live streaming enabled, plus its stream URL and stream key from YouTube Studio.
- Enough CPU to encode your chosen video settings and enough outbound capacity to send the stream continuously. OCI shape availability and performance depend on region, shape, workload, and configuration; do not assume a free-tier shape is available or adequate.
This walkthrough uses headless FFmpeg, which avoids maintaining a graphical desktop for an unattended encoder. OBS is more suitable if you need an interactive scene compositor, but running a GUI and managing its desktop session adds complexity to a server workflow. The sources cited here do not prescribe either encoder for OCI or establish comparative performance.
Account for YouTube’s 12-hour archive limit
A 24/7 output goal does not mean YouTube will create one complete archive of the entire broadcast. YouTube says streams under 12 hours can be automatically archived, but if a stream exceeds 12 hours, it may not be captured at all. DVR rewind can also be limited or unavailable for streams longer than 12 hours. See YouTube’s archive guidance and DVR guidance.
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If you need an archive, record separately to storage with enough free space for your bitrate, duration, and retention plan. Check that recording works, monitor disk use, and decide how old files will be rotated or removed; a local recording is not useful if the VM runs out of storage.
Provision Ubuntu on OCI
Choose and launch the VM
- In the OCI Console, create a compute instance and select an Ubuntu platform image. Follow Oracle’s current instance creation steps; available choices and console labels can change.
- Choose a shape with enough CPU for the resolution, frame rate, and encoder you plan to use. Check shape capacity in your intended region and availability domain before depending on a particular size. The documentation does not establish that any particular free-tier configuration can sustain this workload.
- Size boot storage for Ubuntu, FFmpeg, and the media you intend to keep on the VM. If you will record locally, include capacity for the recording and your retention period.
- Configure a VCN and subnet, and decide how you will administer the VM. A public IP is needed for direct Internet communication from outside the VCN; SSH access can alternatively go through a bastion. Limit inbound access to what you need, such as SSH from a trusted address or through your chosen access path. The broadcast itself is outbound to YouTube.
Connect and install FFmpeg
After connecting to the instance, update package metadata and install FFmpeg using packages available for the Ubuntu release you selected. This generic command pattern is an example, not an OCI-certified package-version instruction; confirm the package name and availability for your image.
sudo apt update
sudo apt install ffmpegCheck that the program is available:
ffmpeg -versionThe output should report an FFmpeg version. Package versions and build options vary by Ubuntu release. If a needed encoder is absent, verify the package build before planning around it; do not assume a particular hardware encoder is available on your chosen OCI shape.
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Enable YouTube Live and protect the stream key
- Open YouTube Studio and go to the Live Control Room. Enable live streaming and create a stream following YouTube’s encoder setup instructions. First-time activation can take up to 24 hours, so do this well before your planned start.
- Copy the server URL and stream key shown in YouTube Studio. They are separate settings. Prefer the RTMPS server URL when YouTube provides it; YouTube recommends RTMPS as the secure extension to RTMP.
- Treat the key as a password. YouTube Help describes stream keys as “like your YouTube stream’s password and address.” Do not put a real key in a command, shell history, screenshots, logs, source control, or a publicly readable configuration file. If it is exposed, reset it in YouTube Studio. See Manage live stream settings.
The examples below use YOUR_STREAM_KEY as a conspicuous placeholder. Do not replace it in a command you paste into a shared terminal or save in shell history. The precise secure way to pass secrets to FFmpeg depends on your implementation; YouTube’s cited material does not specify a secret-injection method.
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Choose conservative encoder settings
YouTube’s current encoder guidance supports RTMP/RTMPS and lists H.264, H.265/HEVC, and AV1, with constant bitrate (CBR), frame rates up to 60 fps, and a recommended two-second keyframe interval that should not exceed four seconds. For an initial H.264 configuration, use a resolution and frame rate your source and VM can sustain.
| H.264 example | YouTube-recommended video bitrate |
|---|---|
| 1080p at 30 fps | 5 Mbps |
| 720p at 30 fps | 6 Mbps |
These are YouTube recommendations, not measurements of your VM. YouTube also recommends AAC or MP3 audio and a 128 Kbps stereo audio bitrate. Consult YouTube’s encoder settings and bitrate guidance for current details.
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Leave outbound bandwidth headroom, not just download capacity. YouTube recommends 20% above the total stream bitrate, counting primary and backup feeds. For one 5 Mbps feed, that means at least 6 Mbps of usable outbound capacity by applying YouTube’s recommendation; allow more if the bitrate varies or the connection is shared. See YouTube’s streaming tips.
Prepare a looping FFmpeg command
Place your video at a known path, for example /srv/stream/video.mp4, and make sure the account running FFmpeg can read it. The following is an illustrative H.264/AAC pattern for a 1080p30 source. It loops the input, uses CBR-style rate controls, sets a two-second keyframe interval at 30 fps, and sends the output to the RTMPS URL from YouTube Studio.
ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -i /srv/stream/video.mp4
-c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -pix_fmt yuv420p
-r 30 -g 60 -keyint_min 60 -sc_threshold 0
-b:v 5M -minrate 5M -maxrate 5M -bufsize 10M
-c:a aac -b:a 128k -ar 44100 -ac 2
-f flv "rtmps://YOUR_YOUTUBE_SERVER_URL/YOUR_STREAM_KEY"Replace the destination with the exact server URL and key shown in Live Control Room; the text above is illustrative and not a fixed endpoint. Do not treat this command as a tested recipe. FFmpeg options, input characteristics, and YouTube ingest behavior need validation with your chosen release and source file. If your video is not 1080p30, adjust output resolution, frame rate, bitrate, and keyframe interval together rather than blindly copying these values. For 30 fps, 60 frames gives a two-second GOP; at another frame rate, set the GOP to approximately two seconds and never above YouTube’s four-second maximum.
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For an initial test, run FFmpeg interactively with the placeholder replaced through a secure method suitable for your environment. Observe its output for input, encoding, and connection errors, and confirm that YouTube’s Live Control Room reports healthy ingest before enabling unattended operation. YouTube recommends testing and monitoring stream health; see its streaming tips.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Run the encoder under systemd
A systemd unit can start the encoder at boot and restart it after a process failure. This is a common Ubuntu implementation pattern, not an official OCI or YouTube service file, and it cannot guarantee a seamless live broadcast. Validate syntax and behavior on your target Ubuntu release.
Create a restricted environment file
One illustrative approach is to keep the URL and key out of the unit text in a root-owned environment file. This does not make the secret invisible to privileged users or every process-inspection path; choose a secret-handling approach appropriate to your security requirements.
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sudo install -d -m 0750 /etc/stream
sudoedit /etc/stream/youtube.env
sudo chmod 0600 /etc/stream/youtube.envIn the file, define the destination using the exact server URL and key from YouTube Studio. For example, with placeholder values only:
YOUTUBE_URL=rtmps://YOUR_YOUTUBE_SERVER_URL/YOUR_STREAM_KEYWrite an example service unit
Create /etc/systemd/system/youtube-stream.service with an illustrative unit such as the following. Check the ffmpeg path with command -v ffmpeg; ensure the streamer user exists and can read the media file before using this example.
[Unit]
Description=Loop video to YouTube Live
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=streamer
Group=streamer
EnvironmentFile=/etc/stream/youtube.env
ExecStart=/usr/bin/ffmpeg -re -stream_loop -1 -i /srv/stream/video.mp4 -c:v libx264 -preset veryfast -pix_fmt yuv420p -r 30 -g 60 -keyint_min 60 -sc_threshold 0 -b:v 5M -minrate 5M -maxrate 5M -bufsize 10M -c:a aac -b:a 128k -ar 44100 -ac 2 -f flv ${YOUTUBE_URL}
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.targetSystemd unit parsing and argument handling can differ from shell behavior: validate that the environment variable is passed as intended and that the destination does not appear in logs. Do not assume this sample safely handles every secret or quoting scenario. If validation fails, use an implementation designed for secure secret delivery instead of putting the key directly in ExecStart.
Enable, inspect, and monitor it
- Reload systemd’s unit definitions:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload. - Start the service for a test:
sudo systemctl start youtube-stream.service. - Check its state:
sudo systemctl status youtube-stream.service. - Inspect recent service logs:
sudo journalctl -u youtube-stream.service -n 100 --no-pager. Review output for secrets before sharing logs. - After a successful test, enable it at boot:
sudo systemctl enable youtube-stream.service. - Confirm healthy ingest in YouTube Live Control Room and monitor the VM’s CPU, outbound network, disk space, and service state.
A process restart is not proof of uninterrupted playback. A network interruption, VM maintenance, capacity or compute limits, a damaged source file, or YouTube-side state can still interrupt the broadcast. Test an actual representative stream and decide how you will detect and respond to a failed ingest.
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| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| YouTube never shows the stream as live | Live streaming is not enabled yet, the wrong URL or key is configured, or activation is still pending. | Check Live Control Room, verify the separate server URL and key, and allow up to 24 hours for first-time activation. |
| FFmpeg exits immediately or cannot read input | The media path is wrong, permissions block access, or the file/codec cannot be read by this FFmpeg build. | Check the exact path, the service user’s read permission, and FFmpeg’s diagnostic output; test the file interactively. |
| Connection drops or YouTube reports poor stream health | Outbound capacity is insufficient, unstable, or shared; settings may also exceed what the VM can sustain. | Check outbound rather than download bandwidth, preserve YouTube’s 20% headroom recommendation, and reduce resolution or bitrate for a controlled test. |
| Service keeps restarting | FFmpeg is failing repeatedly, systemd cannot read the environment file, or the unit’s paths/permissions are wrong. | Use systemctl status and journalctl; verify the media path, FFmpeg path, environment file permissions, and service user access. |
| Archive is missing or rewind is unavailable | The single live session exceeded 12 hours. | Use a separate local recording for reliable retention and plan storage rotation. |
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