VLS user guide


Cyril Deguet


Alexis de Lattre

Copyright © 2002, 2003 the VideoLAN project
Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the
terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version
published by the Free Software Foundation ; with no Invariant Sections, with no
Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. The text of the license can be
found in the appendix GNU_Free_Documentation_License.
Abstract
This document is the complete user guide of VLS .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents


  1._Introduction


        1._What_is_the_VideoLAN_project_?


              1.1._Overview

              1.2._VideoLAN_software


        2._What_is_a_codec_?

        3._How_can_I_use_VideoLAN_?


              3.1._Documentation

              3.2._User_support


        4._Command_line_usage


              4.1._Open_a_terminal



  2._Installing_VLS


        1._Installing_VLS


              1.1._Windows

              1.2._GNULinux_&_Mac_OS_X


        2._Uninstalling_VLS


              2.1._Windows

              2.2._If_you_compiled_VLS_from_sources



  3._Overview_and_basic_concepts


        1._VLS_structure

        2._Administration_interface


  4._Configuration


        1._General_structure

        2._Writing_a_vls.cfg


              2.1._Section_"Vls"

              2.2._Section_"Groups"

              2.3._Section_"Users"

              2.4._Section_"Telnet"

              2.5._Section_"NativeAdmin"

              2.6._Section_"Inputs"

              2.7._Inputs_configuration

              2.8._Section_"Channels"

              2.9._Channels_configuration

              2.10._Programs_Configuration



  5._Running_VLS


        1._Launching_VLS

        2._Using_the_telnet_interface

        3._Interface_commands


  A._GNU_Free_Documentation_License


        1._PREAMBLE

        2._APPLICABILITY_AND_DEFINITIONS

        3._VERBATIM_COPYING

        4._COPYING_IN_QUANTITY

        5._MODIFICATIONS

        6._COMBINING_DOCUMENTS

        7._COLLECTIONS_OF_DOCUMENTS

        8._AGGREGATION_WITH_INDEPENDENT_WORKS

        9._TRANSLATION

        10._TERMINATION

        11._FUTURE_REVISIONS_OF_THIS_LICENSE

        12._ADDENDUM:_How_to_use_this_License_for_your_documents


List of Figures


  1.1. Global_VideoLAN_solution_La_solution_VideoLAN_globale

  1.2. Windows_terminal

  1.3. Linux_X_terminal

  1.4. Mac_OS_X_terminal

  1.5. BeOS_terminal

  3.1. VLS_structure



Chapter 1. Introduction

Table of Contents


  1._What_is_the_VideoLAN_project_?


        1.1._Overview

        1.2._VideoLAN_software


  2._What_is_a_codec_?

  3._How_can_I_use_VideoLAN_?


        3.1._Documentation

        3.2._User_support


  4._Command_line_usage


        4.1._Open_a_terminal



1.  What is the VideoLAN project ?


1.1.  Overview

VideoLAN is a complete software solution for video streaming, developed by
students of the Ecole_Centrale_Paris and developers from all over the world,
under the GNU_General_Public_License (GPL). VideoLAN is designed to stream MPEG
videos on high bandwidth networks.
The VideoLAN solution includes :

* VLS (VideoLAN Server), which can stream MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files,
  DVDs, digital satellite channels, digital terrestial television channels and
  live videos on the network in unicast or multicast,
* VLC (initially VideoLAN Client), which can be used as a server to stream
  MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files, DVDs and live videos on the network in
  unicast or multicast ; or used as a client to receive, decode and display
  MPEG streams under multiple operating systems.

Here is an illustration of the complete VideoLAN solution :
Figure 1.1.  Global VideoLAN solution La solution VideoLAN globale
 Global VideoLAN solution La solution VideoLAN globale

More details about the project can be found on the VideoLAN_Web_site.

1.2.  VideoLAN software


VLC

VLC works on many platforms : Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, *BSD, Solaris,
Familiar Linux, Yopy/Linupy and QNX. It can read :

* MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 / DivX files from a hard disk, a CD-ROM drive, ...
* DVDs and VCDs,
* from a satellite card (DVB-S),
* MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 streams from the network sent by VLS or VLC's
  stream output.

VLC can also be used as a server to stream :

* MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 / DivX files,
* DVDs,
* from an MPEG encoding card,

to :

* one machine (i.e. to one IP address) : this is called unicast,
* a dynamic group of machines that the clients can join or leave (i.e. to a
  multicast IP address) : this is called multicast,

in IPv4 or IPv6 .
To get the complete list of VLC's possibilities on each plateform supported,
see the VLC_features_page.

Note

VLC doesn't work on Mac OS 9, and will probably never do.

VLS

VLS can stream :

* an MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 files stored on a hard drive or on a CD,
* a DVD located in a local DVD drive or copied on a hard disk,
* a satellite card (DVB-S) or a digital terrestial television card (DVB-T) ,
* an MPEG encoding card ;

to:

* one machine (i.e. to one IP address) : this is called unicast,
* a dynamic group of machines that the clients can join or leave (i.e. to a
  multicast IP address) : this is called multicast,

in IPv4 or IPv6 .
A Pentium 100 MHz with 32 MB of memory should be enough to send one stream on
the network. When streaming a lot of videos stored on a hard drive, the actual
limitation is not the processor but the hard drive and the network connection.
VLS works under Linux and Windows. To get the complete list of VLS's
possibilities on each plateform supported, see the streaming_features_page.

Mini-SAP-server

You can add a channel information service based on the SAP/SDP standard to the
VideoLAN solution. The mini-SAP-server sends announces about the multicast
programs on the network in IPv4 or IPv6, and VLCs receive these annouces and
automatically add the programs announced to their playlist.
The mini-SAP-server works under Linux and Mac OS X.

2.  What is a codec ?

To fully understand the VideoLAN solution, you must understand the difference
between a codec and a container format

* A codec is a compression algorithm, used to reduce the size of a stream.
  There are audio codecs and video codecs. MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, Vorbis,
  DivX, ... are codecs
* A container format contains one or several streams already encoded by codecs.
  Very often, there is an audio stream and a video one. AVI, Ogg, MOV, ASF, ...
  are container formats. The streams contained can be encoded using different
  codecs. In a perfect world, you could put any codec in any container format.
  Unfortunately, there are some incompatibilities. You can find a matrix of
  possible codecs and container formats on the features_page

To decode a stream, VLC first demuxes it. This means that it reads the
container format and separates audio, video, and subtitles, if any. Then, each
of these are passed decoders that do the mathematical processing to decompress
the streams .
There is a particular thing about MPEG:

* MPEG is a codec. There are several versions of it, called MPEG-1, MPEG-2,
  MPEG-4, ...
* MPEG is also a container format, sometimes refered to as MPEG System. There
  are several types of MPEG: ES, PS, and TS
  When you play an MPEG video from a DVD, for instance, the MPEG stream is
  actually composed of several streams (called Elementary Streams, ES): there
  is one stream for video, one for audio, another for subtitles, and so on.
  These different streams are mixed together into a single Program Stream (PS).
  So, the .VOB files you can find in a DVD are actually MPEG-PS files. But this
  PS format is not adapted for streaming video through a network or by
  satellite, for instance. So, another format called Transport Stream (TS) was
  designed for streaming MPEG videos through such channels.


3.  How can I use VideoLAN ?


3.1. Documentation

The user documentation of VideoLAN is made up of 4 documents :

* the VideoLAN Quickstart. This document will give you a quick overview of VLC,
  VLC's stream output, the Video On Demand solution and the channel information
  service system.
* the VideoLAN HOWTO. This document is the complete guide of the VideoLAN
  streaming solution.
* the VLC user guide. This document is the complete guide for VLC.
* the VLS user guide. This document is the complete guide for VLS.
* the VideoLAN FAQ. This document contains Frequently Asked Questions about
  VideoLAN.

The latest version of these documents can be found on the documentation_page .
You can also have a look at the VideoLAN_Wiki. This is a website that everyone
can change. We use it to document everything that is not in the "official"
documentation: the tips and tricks for each O.S., the graphical interfaces,
etc...

3.2.  User support

If you have problems using VideoLAN, and if you don't find the answer to your
problems in the documentation, please look at the online_archive_of_the
mailing-lists. There are two English-speaking mailing-lists for the users :

* vlc@videolan.org for the questions on VLC ,
* streaming@videolan.org for the questions on VLS, mini-SAP-server and the
  network .

If you want to subscribe or unsubscribe to the mailing-lists, please go to the
mailing-list_page.
You can also talk with VideoLAN users and developers on IRC : server
irc.freenode.net, channel #videolan .
If you find a bug, please follow the instructions on the bug_reporting_page .

4.  Command line usage


* VLC has many different graphical interfaces, that are organized quite
  differently in order to be in harmony with the guidelines of each operating
  system supported. Documenting the use of each graphical interface is too
  long, and some features are only available via the command line interface.
  Therefore we decided to document only the command line interface, but in many
  cases it shoud be easy to guess how to use the graphical interface for the
  same use !
* VLS has a command line and a telnet interface, but no graphical interface !

All the commands that show up in this document should be typed inside a
terminal. .

4.1.  Open a terminal


Windows

Click on Start, Run and type :

* cmd Enter (Windows 2000 / XP),
* command Enter (Windows 95 / 98 / ME).

The terminal appears Le terminal apparait
Figure 1.2. Windows terminal
 Windows terminal


Note

Under Windows, you need to be in the directory where the program is installed
to run it.

Linux / Unix

Open a terminal :
Figure 1.3. Linux X terminal
 Linux X terminal

In the documentation, we adopt the following conventions for the Unix commands
:

* commands that should be typed as root have a # prompt :

    # command_to_be_typed_as_root

* commands that should be typed as a regular user have a % prompt :

    % command_to_be_typed_as_regular_user



Mac OS X

Go to Applications, open the folder Utilities and double-click on Terminal :
Figure 1.4. Mac OS X terminal
 Mac OS X terminal


Note

Under Mac OS X, you need to be in the directory where the program is installed
to run it, and start the command with ./ .

BeOS

In the deskbar, go to Application and then Terminal :
Figure 1.5. BeOS terminal
 BeOS terminal


Note

Under BeOS, you need to be in the directory where the program is installed to
run it, and start the command with ./ .


Chapter 2.  Installing VLS

Table of Contents


  1._Installing_VLS


        1.1._Windows

        1.2._GNULinux_&_Mac_OS_X


  2._Uninstalling_VLS


        2.1._Windows

        2.2._If_you_compiled_VLS_from_sources



1.  Installing VLS


1.1. Windows

Download the ZIP file from the VLS_Windows_download_page, unzip-it and run
setup.exe .

1.2. GNULinux & Mac OS X


 Install the libraries

Many libraries are needed for particular uses

* libdvbpsi (always needed)
* libdvdcss if you want to be able to access encrypted DVDs ,
* libdvdread if you want to be able to stream DVDs ,
* libdvb if you want to be able to stream from a DVB card (a satellite card or
  a digital terrestial TV card) .

Download the libraries from the VLS_sources_download_page .
For each library, uncompress, configure (unless for libdvb which doesn't have a
./configure), compile and install :

  % tar xvzf library.tar.gz
  % cd library
  % ./configure
  % make
  # make install

Check that the configuration file /etc/ld.so.conf contains the following line :

  /usr/local/lib

If the line is not present, add-it and then run :

  # ldconfig


 Install VLS

Download the sources of the latest release : get the file vls-version.tar.gz
from the VLS_sources_download_page. Uncompress-it and generate ./configure :

  % tar xvzf vls-version.tar.gz
  % cd vls-version

To get the list of configuration options, do

  % ./configure --help

Then configure vls :

* if you want a basic VLS without DVD support, do :

    % ./configure --disable-dvd

* if you want a VLS with DVD support, do :

    % ./configure

* if you want a VLS with DVB support, do :

    % ./configure --enable-dvb --with-dvb=PATH_TO_DVB_DRIVERS --with-
    libdvb=PATH_TO_LIBDVB


Then, compile and install :

  % make
  # make install

You can also do a make uninstall, make clean or make distclean as needed .

2.  Uninstalling VLS


2.1. Windows

Go to the Control Panel, click on Add and remove programs, select VLS and click
on Modify/Remove and follow the steps to uninstall the program .

2.2.  If you compiled VLS from sources

Go to the directory containing VLS sources and run :

  # make uninstall

Then you can remove the VLS sources .


Chapter 3.  Overview and basic concepts

Table of Contents


  1._VLS_structure

  2._Administration_interface


1.  VLS structure

From a user's point of view, VLS can be divided into four kinds of components :

* a manager ,
* inputs,
* converters,
* et des sorties .

Figure 3.1.  VLS structure
 VLS structure


 Input

The role of an input is to read MPEG streams from a given source (file, DVD,
DVB card, device, ...), and feed the right converters with these streams. An
input may be able to read several streams, which are called programs. There are
several kinds of inputs :

* the local input, which can read videos from files or DVDs ,
* the video input, which can read videos from MPEG encoding cards devices ,
* the dvb input, which can read videos from DVB cards, l'entrée dvb, qui peut
  lire depuis des cartes DVB,
* the v4l input, which can read from acquisition cards supported by the
  Video4Linux drivers .

You can use several inputs and play several programs at the same time .

 Converter

The role of a converter is to receive a stream from an input, and convert it
into the MPEG-TS format. VLS is able to convert PS streams (from DVDs, for
instance) into TS streams (ps2ts converter). Of course, it can also read TS
streams, and fix them by handling stream discontinuities (ts2ts converter) .

 Channel

A channel receives a stream from a converter, and send it to a given
destination (network, file, ...). If you want, you can call a "channel" an
"output": it is the same thing !). Currently, two kinds of channels are
supported: network and file. Note that, at the moment, VLS can support only one
output per stream, so you cannot play a stream on the network and write it into
a file at the same time. The network output is highly configurable: you can
choose which network interface you want to use, and specify source and
destination IP addresses .

 Manager

The manager controls the way streams are sent. Through an administration
interface, you can tell the manager to start, stop, suspend, resume, forward or
rewind the different programs. You can also get a list of all programs
available in the Program Table. The manager gets this table from the VLS
configuration file (vls.cfg), so it cannot be changed once VLS has been
started. At the moment, you cannot ask the manager whether a given stream is
being broadcasted, but you will get an error message if you try to stop a
stream that was not broadcasted .

2.  Administration interface

There are currently two ways to launch the streaming :

* you can use the command line to give arguments at startup;
* or you can use the telnet interface to start/stop/pause the streaming
  whenever you want .

When using the telnet interface, you must authenticate before typing any
command, because any user may not be allowed to execute any command (this can
be configured in the vls.cfg configuration file) .


Chapter 4. Configuration

Table of Contents


  1._General_structure

  2._Writing_a_vls.cfg


        2.1._Section_"Vls"

        2.2._Section_"Groups"

        2.3._Section_"Users"

        2.4._Section_"Telnet"

        2.5._Section_"NativeAdmin"

        2.6._Section_"Inputs"

        2.7._Inputs_configuration

        2.8._Section_"Channels"

        2.9._Channels_configuration

        2.10._Programs_Configuration


VLS reads its configuration from the vls.cfg configuration file, which is
supposed to be located in the current directory or in SYSCONF_DIR/videolan/vls
(where SYSCONF_DIR is /usr/local/etc if you built and installed VLS by hand, or
is /etc if you installed the debian binary package) .
To write a vls.cfg file, use the one supplied with VLS as a start-point .

1.  General structure

VLS configuration file vls.cfg is divided into sections, and each section may
contain several variables :


  BEGIN "FirstSection"
    Variable1 = "value1"
    Variable2 = "value2"
    [...]
  END

  BEGIN "SecondSection"
    Variable1 = "value1"
    Variable3 = "value3"
    [...]
  END


  [...]

All section names, variable names and values are not case-sensitive. There can
be empty sections and subsections. Comments must follow a # character. Some
variables have a default value; it means that you can ommit to declare these
variables, and then they will be given their default value .

2.  Writing a vls.cfg

Here is an explanation of all the sections you can find in a vls.cfg :

2.1. Section "Vls"

This section contains application wide settings .

  LogFile = "name"

Name of VLS log file. If left empty "", then no logging to files is done.
Default is "vls.log" .

  SystemLog = "[disable|enable]"

Logging to the SystemLog. Today, only the SystemLog using syslogd is
implemented: compile with ./configure --enable-syslog .

Caution

If VLS is started as vlsd, then the following configuration is mandatory :

  BEGIN "Vls"
    LogFile   = ""
    SystemLog = "enabled"
    ScreenLog = "disabled"
  END


  ScreenLog = "[disable|enable]"

Logging to the console .
Example :

  BEGIN "Vls"
    LogFile   = "vls.log"
    SystemLog = "disable"
    ScreenLog = "enable"
  END


2.2. Section "Groups"

In this section, you can define some groups of users, and which commands these
users are allowed to execute. For each group you want to define, you must add a
line in the following format :

  groupname = "command1|command2|..."

This adds a group "groupname", the users of which are allowed to execute
command1, command2, and so on. At the moment, the available commands are: help,
browse, start, suspend, resume, forward, rewind, stop, shutdown, logout .
Example :

  BEGIN "Groups"
    monitor = "help|browse|logout"
    master  =
  "help|browse|start|resume|suspend|forward|rewind|stop|shutdown|logout"
  END


2.3. Section "Users"

This section contains a list of users allowed to control VLS through an
administration interface. For each user, add a line in the following format :

  username = "password:groupname"

This adds a user "username", who belongs to the group "groupname" (defined in
the "Groups" section) and can log in with the password "password" .

* Under Unix/Linux, the password must be encrypted, with a tool such as
  mkpasswd, or with the UNIX function "crypt" .
* Under Windows, the password must be in clear text .

Example for Unix/Linux :

  BEGIN "Users"
    monitor = "3BcKWoiQn0vi6:monitor"       # password is 'monitor'
    admin   = "42BKiCguFAL/c:master"        # password is 'Vir4Gv5S'
  END


2.4. Section "Telnet"

In this section, you can configure the telnet administration interface .

  LocalPort = "port"

Defines which port will be used for the telnet server. Default port is "9999" .

  Domain = "domain"

Either "inet4" or "inet6" (default is "inet4"). If you want to use IPv4
addresses, put "inet4", and if you want to use IPv6, put "inet6" .

  LocalAddress = "IP address"

Defines on which IP address the telnet server will listen for requests. Default
address is "0.0.0.0" (or "0::0" with IPv6) .
Example :

  BEGIN "Telnet"
    LocalPort = "9999"
  END


2.5. Section "NativeAdmin"

Same syntax as "Telnet". Not used yet .

2.6. Section "Inputs"

In this section, you can define which inputs you want to use. For each input
you need, add a line in the following format :

  InputName = "Type"

This adds a input named "InputName", the type of which is "Type". As explained
before, there are several types of input :

* "local" to play a stream from a file or a DVD ,
* "video" to play a stream from an MPEG encoding card ,
* "dvb" to play a stream from a DVB card ,
* "v4l" to play a stream from a Video4Linux device .

Each input must be configured in its own section (see next paragraph) .
Example :

  BEGIN "Inputs"
    local1 = "local"
    pvr    = "video"
    dvb1   = "dvb"
    tuner  = "v4l"
  END


2.7.  Inputs configuration

For each input declared in the "Inputs" section, excepted "local" inputs, you
must add a section with the same name as the corresponding input. For instance,
if you declared an input "pvr", there should be one section named "pvr" too.
The syntax of such sections depends on the type of the corresponding input .
To configure a local input, you don't have to do anything. Except when another
trickplay strategy must be used :

  BEGIN "Local1"
    ProgramCount = "1"
    TrickPlay    = "normal"
  END

"Local1" is the name of the local input you want to configure. "ProgramCount"
is the number of programs assigned to this input. "TrickPlay" is the trickplay
strategy that is used by this input (default is "normal") .
To configure a video input, add a section in the following format :

  BEGIN "VideoInputName"
    Device = "device"
    Type   = "type"
  END

"VideoInputName" is the name of the video input you want to configure. "Device"
is the path of the MPEG encoding card you want to read from (default is "/dev/
video"). "Type" is either "Mpeg2-PS" or "Mpeg2-TS", depending on your device
configuration (default is "Mpeg2-PS") .
Example for a Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-250 card :

  BEGIN "pvr"
    Device = "/dev/video0"
    Type   = "Mpeg2-PS"
  END

To configure a dvb input, add a section in the following format :

  BEGIN "DvbInputName"
    DeviceNumber = "devicenumber"
    SendMethod   = "0"
  END

"DvbInputName" is the name of the dvb input you want to configure. Set
"SendMethod" to "0" if you to stream the complete DVB stream and set it to "1"
if you only want to stream the MPEG audio and video streams (default is "0").
"DeviceNumber" is the number of the DVB device you want to read from (read from
/dev/ost/dvr<devicenumber>, default is ""). The dvb configuration file is
defined by the driver. You can find it in $HOME/.dvbrc for /dev/dvb/adapter0 or
in $HOME/.dvbrc.X for /dev/dvb/adapterX .
Example :

  BEGIN "dvb1"
    DeviceNumber = "0"
    TrickPlay = "normal"
  END


2.8. Section "Channels"

In this section, you can define the channels (outputs) you want to use. For
each channel, write a line in the following format :

  ChannelName = "Type"

This adds a channel named "ChannelName", the type of which is "Type". "Type"
must be either "network" or "file". Like inputs, channels must be configured in
their own section .
Example :

  BEGIN "Channels"
    localhost  = "network"
    client1    = "network"
    client2    = "network"
    multicast1 = "network"
    multicast2 = "network"
    localfile  = "file"
  END


2.9.  Channels configuration

For each channel declared in the "Channels" section, you must add a section
with the same name as the corresponding channel. The syntax of such a section
depends on the type of the corresponding channel .
To configure a network channel, add a section in the following format :

  BEGIN "NetChannelName"
    Domain    = "Domain"
    Type      = "Type"
    SrcHost   = "SourceHost"
    SrcPort   = "SourcePort"
    DstHost   = "DestHost"
    DstPort   = "DestPort"
    TTL       = "ttl"
    Interface = "Interface"
  END


* "NetChannelName" is the name of the network channel you want to configure .
* "Domain" is either "inet4" if you use IPv4 addresses, or "inet6" if you use
  IPv6 (default is "inet4") .
* "Type" is either "unicast", "broadcast" or "multicast" (default is
  "unicast"), depending on what you want to do (and on your "DstHost" address)
  .
* "SourceHost" is the IP address (or DNS name) from which VLS will send the
  stream .
* "SourcePort" is the UDP port from which the stream will be sent .
* "DestHost" is the IP address (or DNS name) to which the stream will be sent .
* "DestPort" is the UDP port to which the stream will be sent (default is
  "1234") .
* "TTL" is an option useful only if "Type" is "multicast" (default value is
  "0"). You can use it to increase the TTL of your multicast packets if they
  have to cross several routers .
* "Interface" is an option only supported under GNU/Linux, to force the stream
  to be sent through a given network interface, "eth1" for instance" (to use
  this option, you must have super-user permissions) .


Note

"SrcHost" and "SrcPort" are optional (if you don't set them, VLS will not
'bind' the socket) .
To configure a file channel, add a section in the following format :

  BEGIN "FileChannelName"
    FileName = "file"
    Append   = "append"
  END

"FileChannelName" is the name of the file channel you want to configure. "file"
is the name of the file where the stream will be stored (default is
"fileout.ts"). "append" is either "yes" or "no", and indicates whether VLS will
append the stream at the end of the file, or rewrite it .
Example :

  BEGIN "localhost"         # The client is on the same host as the server
    DstHost = "localhost"
    DstPort = "1234"
  END

  BEGIN "client1"           # unicast towards client1
    DstHost = "192.168.1.2"
    DstPort = "1234"
  END

  BEGIN "client2"           # unicast towards client2 in IPv6
    Domain  = "inet6"
    DstHost = "3ffe:ffff::2:12:42"
    DstPort = "1234"
  END

  BEGIN "multicast1"         # multicast streaming
    Type    = "multicast"
    DstHost = "239.2.12.42"
    DstPort = "1234"
    TTL     = "2"
  END

  BEGIN "multicast2"         # multicast streaming in IPv6
    Domain  = "inet6"
    Type    = "multicast"
    DstHost = "ff08::1"
    DstPort = "1234"
    TTL     = "12"
  END

  BEGIN "localfile"         # file output
    FileName = "stream.ts"
    Append   = "no"
  END


Caution

If you use Windows, you should specify the "SrcHost" and "SrcPort" fields. For
example :

  BEGIN "client1"         # The client is on the same host as the server
    SrcHost = "192.168.1.1"  # IP of VLS
    SrcPort = "1242"         # Source port : the value is not important
    DstHost = "192.168.1.2"  # IP of the client
    DstPort = "1234"
  END


2.10.  Programs Configuration

As explained before, you must define the programs. Each one is a MPEG stream (a
file, for example). To do this, you must add an "Input" section in your vls.cfg
file. Each "Input" section must have the following syntax :

  BEGIN "Input"
    FilesPath    = "path"
    ProgramCount = "count"
  END

"path" is the path where your MPEG files are located (by default it is the
current directory). "count" is the number of programs defined ("0" by default)
.
For each program you want to define, you must add a section with the following
format :

  BEGIN "number"
    Name     = "name"
    Type     = "type"
    FileName = "file"
    Device   = "device"
  END


* "number" is the program number: the first program has number 1, the second
  number 2, and so on .
* "name" is the program name, by which you will tell VLS to start this program
  (see next chapter "Running VLS") .
* "type" can be "Mpeg1-PS", "Mpeg2-PS", "Mpeg2-TS", or "DVD". If your stream is
  stored in a MPEG file (*.mpeg, *.mpg, *.vob, and so on...), it is probably in
  Mpeg1-PS or Mpeg2-PS format .
* if "type" is set to "Mpeg1-PS", "Mpeg2-PS", or "Mpeg2-TS", VLS will assume
  your stream is stored in the file "file", in the directory "path" ("path"
  being the variable defined in the "Input" section) .
* if "type" is "DVD", the variable "Device" will be used instead of "FileName"
  (the variable "FilesPath" is not prepended to the device name !). The
  variable "Device" is the device of your DVD drive ("/dev/hdc" or "/dev/cdrom"
  for instance). You can also play a DVD copied on a hard disk: then "device"
  is the directory where the .vob files are stored ("/mnt/data/VIDEO_TS" for
  instance) .


Note

VLS can stream MPEG files that meet two critera :

* the file must be MPEG PS (Program Stream) or MPEG TS (Transport Stream), that
  contain video and audio multiplexed. VLS cannot stream MPEG ES (Elementary
  Stream), i.e. a file with only audio or video .
  In order to know if an MPEG file is MPEG PS, MPEG TS or MPEG ES, read the
  file with VLC and look at the messages (select in the menu View / Messages,
  or use the command line vlc -vvv) .

  o If you see a line :

      [00000107] main module debug: using demux module "ts_dvbpsi"

    it means the file is MPEG TS .
  o If you see a line :

      [00000109] main module debug: using demux module "ps"

    it means the file is MPEG PS .
  o If you see a line :

      [00000109] main module debug: using demux module "es"

    it means the file is MPEG ES, VLS can't stream it. .

* the sequence header of the video must repeat itself regularly, which is often
  the case with MPEG-2, but very rare with MPEG-1. There is no easy way to know
  if the sequence header is repeated regularly. Files with a .vob extension are
  normally MPEG-2 files and files with .mpg or .mpeg extension or usually MPEG-
  1 files .

You can download this streamable MPEG-2 PS file for your tests :
presentation_short.vob .

Note

In order to play DVDs, you need to compile VLS with DVD support, which uses
libdvdread and libdvdcss. You will need read and write access rights to the DVD
device .
Full example :

  BEGIN "Input"
    FilesPath = "/home/videolan/streams"
    ProgramCount = "4"
  END

  BEGIN "1"     # MPEG2 stream stored in /home/videolan/streams/Dolby.vob
    Name     = "dolby"
    FileName = "Dolby.vob"
    Type     = "Mpeg2-PS"
  END

  BEGIN "2"     # another file
    Name     = "canyon"
    FileName = "Dolby_Canyon.vob"
    Type     = "Mpeg2-PS"
  END

  BEGIN "3"     # DVD
    Name     = "dvd"
    Device   = "/dev/cdrom"
    Type     = "Dvd"
  END

  BEGIN "4"     # DVD stored on a hard disk
    Name     = "matrix"
    Device   = "/mnt/data/matrix/VIDEO_TS"
    Type     = "Dvd"
  END



Chapter 5.  Running VLS

Table of Contents


  1._Launching_VLS

  2._Using_the_telnet_interface

  3._Interface_commands


1.  Launching VLS

If you want to use the telnet interface, running VLS is very easy: just type
vls in a shell console, and that's all. Running vlsd will start VLS as a daemon
and will detach itself from the launching shell. Remember that VLS will try to
load its configuration file (vls.cfg) from the current directory, and if there
is no vls.cfg there, it will try to load it from SYSCONF_DIR/etc/videolan (see
section Configuration) .

Caution

If your log file is vls.log as in the example, VLS will need write access in
the current directory, or you will see something like :


  *** Exception *** in copy constructor (0xbffffc98, copy of 0x80e30a8)
  Unable to open the log file "vls.log": Error: Could not open file 'vls.log':
  Permission denied

Remember also that you must be root when using the "Interface" option in
vls.cfg .
If everything is right, you will see something like :


  VideoLAN Server v 0.5.3 (Jun  6 2003) - (c)1999-2003 VideoLAN
  2002-03-09 17:24:51 [INFO/Vls]  Module "channel:file" registered
  2002-03-09 17:24:51 [INFO/Vls]  Module "channel:network" registered
  2002-03-09 17:24:51 [INFO/Vls]  Module "mpegreader:file" registered
  2002-03-09 17:24:51 [INFO/Vls]  Module "mpegconverter:ts2ts" registered
  [...]

What you can see on the screen (stderr) is exactly what goes in the log file
vls.log .
When VLS has been successfully started, it doesn't take any command from its
standard input, so you can put it into background (you can use the screen
utility to do that) .
On the other hand, if you want to use the command line interface, please see
the VideoLAN_HOWTO .

2.  Using the telnet interface

After VLS has been launched, it opens a telnet server (on the port 9999 by
default). You can connect to this server with the following command :

  % telnet localhost 9999

You should see something like :


  Trying 127.0.0.1...
  Connected to vls.
  Escape character is '^]'.

  Videolan Server Administration System

  Login:

Then you must authenticate with a login/password pair defined in vls.cfg. When
you have been successfully authenticated, you should see a prompt like :


  admin@vls>
  >

Then you can type some commands, which are explained in the next paragraph. To
log out, type logout after the telnet prompt .

3.  Interface commands


help

Usage: help [command] .
Called with no argument, "help" gives the list of all the commands (available
or not). Called with one argument it gives details about how to use the
specified command .

browse

Usage: browse [input] .
Called without argument, "browse" gives all programs of inputs. Called with one
argument it only gives the programs of the specified input. Each program is
given with its status .

start

Usage: start <program> <channel> <input> [--loop] [--rtp]
"start" launches the specified program of the specified input and broadcasts it
through the specified channel. The option "--loop" makes the program being
repeated indefinitely. The option "--rtp" makes the TS packet to be send
through the RTP protocol, as defined in RFC 1889 and RFC 2250 .

stop

Usage: stop <channel>
"stop" ends the broadcast of the specified channel .

forward

Usage: forward <channel> <speed>
"forward" forwards the channel with the given speed. This does not work when
reading directly from a device such as an MPEG encoding card, a DVB card or an
acquisition card .

rewind

Usage: rewind <channel> <speed>
"rewind" rewinds the channel with the given speed. This does not work when
reading directly from a device such as an MPEG encoding card, a DVB card or an
acquisition card .

suspend

Usage: suspend <channel>
"suspend" suspends the streaming of the specified channel .

resume

Usage: resume <channel>
"resume" resumes the streaming of the specified channel .

logout

Usage: logout
"logout" closes the current administration session and the remote connection .

shutdown

Usage: shutdown
"shutdown" stops all the programs and shutdowns VLS .


Appendix A. GNU Free Documentation License


Version 1.2, November 2002

Table of Contents


  1._PREAMBLE

  2._APPLICABILITY_AND_DEFINITIONS

  3._VERBATIM_COPYING

  4._COPYING_IN_QUANTITY

  5._MODIFICATIONS

  6._COMBINING_DOCUMENTS

  7._COLLECTIONS_OF_DOCUMENTS

  8._AGGREGATION_WITH_INDEPENDENT_WORKS

  9._TRANSLATION

  10._TERMINATION

  11._FUTURE_REVISIONS_OF_THIS_LICENSE

  12._ADDENDUM:_How_to_use_this_License_for_your_documents


     Copyright (C) 2000,2001,2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple
     Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA Everyone is permitted to
     copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but
     changing it is not allowed.


1. PREAMBLE

The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other functional
and useful document "free" in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the
effective freedom to copy and redistribute it, with or without modifying it,
either commercially or noncommercially. Secondarily, this License preserves for
the author and publisher a way to get credit for their work, while not being
considered responsible for modifications made by others.
This License is a kind of "copyleft", which means that derivative works of the
document must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU
General Public License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software.
We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software,
because free software needs free documentation: a free program should come with
manuals providing the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is
not limited to software manuals; it can be used for any textual work,
regardless of subject matter or whether it is published as a printed book. We
recommend this License principally for works whose purpose is instruction or
reference.

2. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS

This License applies to any manual or other work, in any medium, that contains
a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the
terms of this License. Such a notice grants a world-wide, royalty-free license,
unlimited in duration, to use that work under the conditions stated herein. The
"Document", below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public
is a licensee, and is addressed as "you". You accept the license if you copy,
modify or distribute the work in a way requiring permission under copyright
law.
A "Modified Version" of the Document means any work containing the Document or
a portion of it, either copied verbatim, or with modifications and/or
translated into another language.
A "Secondary Section" is a named appendix or a front-matter section of the
Document that deals exclusively with the relationship of the publishers or
authors of the Document to the Document's overall subject (or to related
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The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose titles are
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Invariant. The Document may contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document
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The "Cover Texts" are certain short passages of text that are listed, as Front-
Cover Texts or Back-Cover Texts, in the notice that says that the Document is
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Back-Cover Text may be at most 25 words.
A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy, represented
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The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus such
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A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document whose title
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The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which states
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considered to be included by reference in this License, but only as regards
disclaiming warranties: any other implication that these Warranty Disclaimers
may have is void and has no effect on the meaning of this License.

3. VERBATIM COPYING

You may copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or
noncommercially, provided that this License, the copyright notices, and the
license notice saying this License applies to the Document are reproduced in
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License. You may not use technical measures to obstruct or control the reading
or further copying of the copies you make or distribute. However, you may
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You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and you may
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4. COPYING IN QUANTITY

If you publish printed copies (or copies in media that commonly have printed
covers) of the Document, numbering more than 100, and the Document's license
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If the required texts for either cover are too voluminous to fit legibly, you
should put the first ones listed (as many as fit reasonably) on the actual
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If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more than
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location from which the general network-using public has access to download
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to the public.
It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the Document
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5. MODIFICATIONS

You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the
conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified
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Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do
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  a. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct from
     that of the Document, and from those of previous versions (which should,
     if there were any, be listed in the History section of the Document). You
     may use the same title as a previous version if the original publisher of
     that version gives permission.
  b. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities
     responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified Version,
     together with at least five of the principal authors of the Document (all
     of its principal authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release
     you from this requirement.
  c. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the Modified Version,
     as the publisher.
  d. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
  e. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications adjacent to the
     other copyright notices.
  f. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice giving
     the public permission to use the Modified Version under the terms of this
     License, in the form shown in the Addendum below.
  g. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections and
     required Cover Texts given in the Document's license notice.
  h. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
  i. Preserve the section Entitled "History", Preserve its Title, and add to it
     an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and publisher of
     the Modified Version as given on the Title Page. If there is no section
     Entitled "History" in the Document, create one stating the title, year,
     authors, and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then
     add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous
     sentence.
  j. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for public
     access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise the network
     locations given in the Document for previous versions it was based on.
     These may be placed in the "History" section. You may omit a network
     location for a work that was published at least four years before the
     Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers to
     gives permission.
  k. For any section Entitled "Acknowledgements" or "Dedications", Preserve the
     Title of the section, and preserve in the section all the substance and
     tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements and/or dedications given
     therein.
  l. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document, unaltered in their
     text and in their titles. Section numbers or the equivalent are not
     considered part of the section titles.
  m. Delete any section Entitled "Endorsements". Such a section may not be
     included in the Modified Version.
  n. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled "Endorsements" or to
     conflict in title with any Invariant Section.
  o. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.

If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or appendices that
qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material copied from the Document,
you may at your option designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To
do this, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified
Version's license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other section
titles.
You may add a section Entitled "Endorsements", provided it contains nothing but
endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties--for example,
statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization
as the authoritative definition of a standard.
You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a passage
of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts
in the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-
Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If
the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added
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you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, on explicit
permission from the previous publisher that added the old one.
The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give
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endorsement of any Modified Version.

6. COMBINING DOCUMENTS

You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License,
under the terms defined in section_4 above for modified versions, provided that
you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the
original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your
combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty
Disclaimers.
The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple
identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are
multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the
title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses,
the name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else
a unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of
Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work.
In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled "History" in the
various original documents, forming one section Entitled "History"; likewise
combine any sections Entitled "Acknowledgements", and any sections Entitled
"Dedications". You must delete all sections Entitled "Endorsements".

7. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents
released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License
in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection,
provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each
of the documents in all other respects.
You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it
individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License
into the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects
regarding verbatim copying of that document.

8. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and
independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution
medium, is called an "aggregate" if the copyright resulting from the
compilation is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation's users
beyond what the individual works permit. When the Document is included an
aggregate, this License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate
which are not themselves derivative works of the Document.
If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the
Document, then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate,
the Document's Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document
within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is
in electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket
the whole aggregate.

9. TRANSLATION

Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute
translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant
Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright
holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in
addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include
a translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and
any Warrany Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English
version of this License and the original versions of those notices and
disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original
version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will
prevail.
If a section in the Document is Entitled "Acknowledgements", "Dedications", or
"History", the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will
typically require changing the actual title.

10. TERMINATION

You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as
expressly provided for under this License. Any other attempt to copy, modify,
sublicense or distribute the Document is void, and will automatically terminate
your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or
rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so
long as such parties remain in full compliance.

11. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free
Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in
spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems
or concerns. See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/.
Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the
Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License "or any
later version" applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and
conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has
been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the
Document does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any
version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation.

12. ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents

To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of the
License in the document and put the following copyright and license notices
just after the title page:

     Copyright (c) YEAR YOUR NAME. Permission is granted to copy,
     distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU
     Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or any later version
     published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant
     Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of
     the license is included in the section entitled "GNU Free
     Documentation License".

If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace
the "with...Texts." line with this:

     with the Invariant Sections being LIST THEIR TITLES, with the Front-
     Cover Texts being LIST, and with the Back-Cover Texts being LIST.

If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination
of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation.
If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend
releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software
license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free
software.