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How to Use the Wowza Streaming Engine REST API

A practical guide to Wowza Streaming Engine REST API routes, methods, JSON headers, authentication choices, endpoint discovery, and troubleshooting.

By DocumentaryTube Team 5 min read
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Use Wowza Streaming Engine’s REST API by choosing a documented resource route, sending the appropriate HTTP method and JSON headers to the server’s REST port, and authenticating with the method configured on that server. The common route pattern is http://[your-wowza-server]:8087/v2/[path-to-resource]; the exact route and supported methods depend on the resource and server configuration. For production, keep authentication enabled and protect requests with HTTPS.

What the REST API does

The Wowza Streaming Engine REST API is an HTTP interface for configuring, managing, and monitoring a Streaming Engine server. This article concerns Streaming Engine, not the separately documented Wowza Video cloud REST API.

For a typical local installation, requests use port 8087 and the /v2/ API path. Wowza’s overview shows the general pattern as http://[your-wowza-server]:8087/v2/[path-to-resource]. Replace the server placeholder and resource path with values for your environment; routes commonly include server, virtual-host, and application names. The port and route can depend on configuration, so confirm them for the server you administer. Wowza’s REST API overview provides the documented pattern and examples.

Make a request

1. Find the resource and supported operation

Start with the public Wowza Streaming Engine OpenAPI reference, which documents REST API version 2.0.0 and its route families. For example, application collection routes are under /v2/servers/{serverName}/vhosts/{vhostName}/applications. The reference lists collection and individual-resource operations; do not assume that every route supports every HTTP method.

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2. Choose the HTTP method

  • GET retrieves information.
  • POST creates records or submits data to a resource that documents a POST operation.
  • PUT updates information or performs a documented action on an existing resource.
  • DELETE removes a resource where that operation is supported.

These are the overview’s general descriptions, not permission to use a method on any route. Follow the operation shown for the exact endpoint.

3. Set the request headers and body

Wowza’s examples use Accept to specify the response format and Content-Type to specify the format being sent, commonly JSON. The examples also identify UTF-8 character encoding. For JSON, headers commonly take this form:

Accept: application/json; charset=utf-8
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8

Include a request body when the documented operation requires one; use the fields and structure specified for that endpoint. XML is also described in the overview, but use the format supported by the particular operation and client.

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4. Authenticate and send the request

For a local server, a request has the general shape below. Replace the route, username, password, and body with the values and payload required by your endpoint. This illustrates request structure only; Windows shells may require different quoting or line-continuation syntax.

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curl -u 'username:password' 
  -H 'Accept: application/json; charset=utf-8' 
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8' 
  'http://localhost:8087/v2/servers/_defaultServer_/vhosts/_defaultVHost_/applications'

The route above illustrates an application collection request, not a universal command for every task. Check the OpenAPI reference for the intended operation, required parameters, and request body before sending a change.

Choose authentication for the server’s configuration

A fresh Wowza Streaming Engine installation uses basic authentication by default, according to Wowza. The available method and compatible password encoding depend on server configuration and version. Wowza advises keeping authentication enabled in production; disabling it is not a safe shortcut.

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Basic authentication and HTTPS

Basic authentication encodes the username and password with Base64, but Base64 is not encryption. Wowza says it is not considered secure unless used with HTTPS. Keep the connection protected in transit and avoid exposing credentials in scripts, shell history, logs, or shared examples.

Other documented methods and compatibility

Wowza’s authentication guide lists basic, digest, digestfile, remotehttp, and none. Its password-encoding compatibility notes distinguish methods: basic supports plaintext or bcrypt; digest and digestfile support md5 or sha256; remotehttp and none are listed without a password encoding. The guide says WSE 4.8.8.01 and later allows digest or bcrypt hashes in admin.password, and WSE 4.8.19 and later supports sha256 encryption. These are version-specific documented details; check the current guide against the version and configuration you operate.

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Wowza recommends sha256 over md5 because of potential vulnerabilities with md5. Its guide also describes a Firefox limitation for the sha256 digest configuration it covers, while stating that Wowza Streaming Manager is supported by most up-to-date browsers. Treat that as the guide’s configuration-specific compatibility note, not a universal statement about Firefox.

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Remote HTTP and the none option

For remote HTTP authentication, Wowza documents configuring a remote authentication URL, shared secret, and identity in Server.xml; the remote endpoint must accept POST requests. Setting authentication to none also disables authentication for Wowza Streaming Manager and removes the ability to use that manager to manage and configure the media server. Review the official authentication guide before changing authentication settings.

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Find endpoints with the public reference or local Swagger

Public OpenAPI reference

The public reference is the direct place to check a route’s documented methods and operation details. For applications, it documents collection and individual-resource routes, including GET and POST on the collection, and GET, POST, PUT, and DELETE on individual application resources; it also documents a PUT action route. Use the reference entry for the operation you intend to perform rather than extrapolating from another route.

The reference also documents GET /restinfo. That endpoint is listed as available in builds 15089 or later and returns information including API version, server name, version, REST build, and license validity. Confirm the build qualification before relying on it.

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Local Swagger documentation with Postman

Wowza’s Postman procedure describes retrieving http://localhost:8089/swagger.json after configuring and enabling the local documentation servlet and restarting the server. The procedure requires Wowza Streaming Engine 4.5.0 or later. Port 8089 here is for the documented local Swagger servlet flow; it is distinct from the REST request pattern’s default port 8087. Follow the configuration steps in Wowza’s Postman guide.

Common problems and fixes

  • Connection refused or timeout: verify the server address, that Streaming Engine is reachable, and the configured REST port. The documented default pattern uses port 8087, but server settings and network rules can differ.
  • Unauthorized response: check the configured authentication method, credentials, and password-encoding compatibility for the installed version. Do not disable authentication to make a request succeed.
  • Unsupported method or route: compare the full route and method with the endpoint’s OpenAPI entry. Similar collection and individual-resource routes can support different operations.
  • Unsupported media type or malformed body: make Content-Type match the payload format, use a documented request schema, and send valid UTF-8 JSON or XML as appropriate.
  • Local Swagger URL does not respond: distinguish the 8089 documentation servlet address from REST calls, which use the documented 8087 pattern. Check that the servlet is configured and enabled, restart as instructed, and confirm the server meets the guide’s 4.5.0-or-later requirement.
  • Sha256 digest login fails in a client: verify that the server version and authentication configuration match the guide, then check client compatibility. The documented Firefox note applies to the described digest setup.

Or let it run in the cloud

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