Alpine NGINX Video Streaming Server

A lightweight NGINX server optimized for video streaming, featuring VOD support, RTMP streaming, and thumbnail generation, all built on Alpine Linux for minimal footprint.

Technical Specifications

• Base Image: Alpine Linux 3.19.0
• Web Server: NGINX 1.26.1
• Image Size: Optimized for minimal footprint
• Streaming Protocols: HLS, DASH, RTMP
• Video Processing: Thumbnail generation, VOD support

Supported Architectures

• amd64/x86_64: 64-bit Intel/AMD
• arm64v8/aarch64: 64-bit ARM (ARMv8)
• arm32v7/armhf: 32-bit ARM (ARMv7)

Container Configuration

Volume Mount Points

• /var/media: Video files and streaming content
• /var/log/nginx: NGINX logs
• /etc/nginx/conf.d/: Custom configuration files

Network Ports

• 80: HTTP port
• 443: HTTPS port (configured but disabled by default)
• 1935: RTMP port

Environment Variables

Optional Variables

• WORKER_PROCESSES: Number of worker processes (default: auto)
• WORKER_CONNECTIONS: Maximum connections per worker (default: 1024)
• CLIENT_MAX_BODY_SIZE: Maximum upload size (default: 10m)

Deployment Examples

Basic Docker Run

docker run -d \
  --name nginx-streaming \
  -p 80:80 \
  -p 1935:1935 \
  -v media:/var/media \
  -v logs:/var/log/nginx \
  hhftechnology/alpine-nginx-video-stream:latest

Docker Compose Configuration

version: '3.8'

services:
  nginx-streaming:
    image: hhftechnology/alpine-nginx-video-stream:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "1935:1935"
    volumes:
      - ./media:/var/media
      - ./logs:/var/log/nginx
      - ./custom.conf:/etc/nginx/conf.d/custom.conf:ro
    environment:
      - WORKER_PROCESSES=auto
      - WORKER_CONNECTIONS=1024
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "nginx", "-t"]
      interval: 30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  media:
    driver: local
  logs:
    driver: local

Docker Swarm Deployment

docker service create \
  --name nginx-streaming \
  --publish 80:80 \
  --publish 1935:1935 \
  --mount type=volume,source=media,target=/var/media \
  --mount type=volume,source=logs,target=/var/log/nginx \
  --replicas 1 \
  hhftechnology/alpine-nginx-video-stream:latest

Streaming Configuration

RTMP Configuration

rtmp {
    server {
        listen 1935;
        chunk_size 4096;

        application live {
            live on;
            record off;
            hls on;
            hls_path /var/media/hls;
            dash on;
            dash_path /var/media/dash;
        }
    }
}

HLS Configuration

location /hls {
    types {
        application/vnd.apple.mpegurl m3u8;
        video/mp2t ts;
    }
    root /var/media;
    add_header Cache-Control no-cache;
    add_header Access-Control-Allow-Origin *;
}

Streaming Examples

Push RTMP Stream

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v copy -c:a aac -f flv rtmp://your-server:1935/live/stream

Play Streams

• HLS: http://your-server/hls/stream.m3u8
• DASH: http://your-server/dash/stream.mpd
• VOD: http://your-server/vod/video.mp4

Generate Thumbnail

http://your-server/thumb?video=example.mp4&time=30&width=320&height=240

Performance Tuning

Worker Configuration

worker_processes auto;
worker_rlimit_nofile 65535;
events {
    worker_connections 1024;
    use epoll;
    multi_accept on;
}

Buffer Settings

http {
    client_body_buffer_size 10K;
    client_header_buffer_size 1k;
    client_max_body_size 8m;
    large_client_header_buffers 2 1k;
}

Security Considerations

1. Implement SSL/TLS for secure streaming
2. Configure proper access controls
3. Use secure RTMP keys
4. Monitor streaming activity
5. Regular security updates
6. Implement rate limiting
7. Configure proper file permissions

Monitoring & Logging

• Access logs: /var/log/nginx/access.log
• Error logs: /var/log/nginx/error.log
• RTMP statistics: http://your-server/stat
• Health check: http://your-server/health

Support & Contributing

• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Forum: HHF Technology Forum
• Contribute: Submit PRs to our GitHub repository

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.