VideoLAN HOWTO

Alexis de Lattre

Bill Eldridge

Anil Daoud

Mathieu Gautier

Clment Stenac

Copyright  2002, 2003 the VideoLAN project

v1.6, 2003-04-28


This document describes how to use the complete VideoLAN streaming solution.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under
the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 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.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
    1.1. What is the VideoLAN project ?
    1.2. How can I use VideoLAN ?
    1.3. Convention
   
   
2. Install the required software and hardware
    2.1. Install VLC
    2.2. Install VLS
   
   
3. Receive a stream
    3.1. Receive a stream with VLC
    3.2. Receive a stream with a Set Top Box
   
   
4. Stream a file
    4.1. Stream a file with VLC
    4.2. Stream a file with VLS
   
   
5. Stream a DVD
    5.1. Stream a DVD with VLC
    5.2. Stream a DVD with VLS
   
   
6. Stream a DVB channel (satellite or digital terrestial TV)
    6.1. Install the DVB drivers
    6.2. Stream with VLS
   
   
7. Stream from an MPEG encoding card
    7.1. Install the drivers
    7.2. Stream with VLC
    7.3. Stream with VLS
   
   
8. Stream from an acquisition card
    8.1. Install the Video for Linux drivers
    8.2. Stream with VLC
    8.3. Stream with VLS
   
   
9. Video On Demand
    9.1. Overview
    9.2. On the server side
    9.3. On the client side
   
   
10. Add a channel information service
    10.1. Install and configure the mini-SAP-server
    10.2. Run the mini-SAP-server
    10.3. Configure VLC(s) to listen to the SAP announces
   
   
A. GNU Free Documentation License
    A.1. PREAMBLE
    A.2. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
    A.3. VERBATIM COPYING
    A.4. COPYING IN QUANTITY
    A.5. MODIFICATIONS
    A.6. COMBINING DOCUMENTS
    A.7. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS
    A.8. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS
    A.9. TRANSLATION
    A.10. TERMINATION
    A.11. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE
    A.12. ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents
   
   

List of Figures
1-1. Global VideoLAN solution

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1. What is the VideoLAN project ?

1.1.1. 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 :

*the VideoLAN Server (VLS), 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,
   
*the VideoLAN Client (VLC), which can be used as a server to stream
    MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 files and DVDs 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

[plan-videolan-640]

 More details about the project can be found on the [http://www.videolan.org
/] VideoLAN Web site. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.1.2. VideoLAN software

1.1.2.1. VideoLAN Client

 The VideoLAN Client (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 or a CD-ROM
    drive,
   
*DVDs and VCDs,
   
*from a satellite card,
   
*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,
   
*and DVDs,
   

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.
   

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

1.1.2.2. VideoLAN Server

 The VideoLAN Server (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 or a digital terrestial television card,
   
*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.
   

 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 Mac OS X. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.2. How can I use VideoLAN ?

1.2.1. The documentation

 The user documentation of the VideoLAN project is composed of four documents
: 

*the VideoLAN Quickstart. This document will give you a quick overview of
    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 [http://www.videolan.org/doc/faq-vlc/faq/] VLC FAQ. This document
    contains Frequently Asked Questions of VLC users.
   

The latest version of these documents can be found on the [http://
www.videolan.org/doc/] documentation page.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.2.2. 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 [http://www.videolan.org/support/lists.html] 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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.3. Convention

1.3.1. Windows users

Some features are currently only available using the command line interface
of VLC. To run such commands, use the Windows command line tool.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.3.2. Unix users

Unix systems users : in this document, 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                          |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 2. Install the required software and hardware

2.1. Install VLC

There are VLC binaries available for the many OSes, but not for all supported
OSes. If there are no binaries for your OS or if you want to change the
default settings, you can compile VLC from sources.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1.1. Under Windows

VLC works under Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP. Download the self-extracting file
from the VLC Windows download page. Launch the .exe to install VLC.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1.2. Under BeOS

Download the Zip file from the VLC BeOS download page. Unzip the file in a
directory to install VLC.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1.3. Under Mac OS X

 Download the Mac OS X package from the VLC MacOS X download page .
Double-click on the icon of the package : an icon will appear on your
Desktop, right beside your drive(s). Open it and drag the VLC application
from the resulting window to the place where you want to install it (it
should be /Applications). 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1.4. Under Linux Debian

Edit as root /etc/apt/sources.list and add the following lines :
deb http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian $(ARCH)/                     
deb-src http://www.videolan.org/pub/videolan/debian sources/                 

Then install the packages :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|# apt-get update                                                           |
|# apt-get install gnome-vlc libdvdcss2                                     |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1.5. Under Linux Mandrake

First, VLC is included in the [http://www.mandrakelinux.com/] Mandrake Linux
distribution, thus if your are running cooker, just get it from you preferred
cooker mirror.

As it is not possible to update softwares in a previous distributions, you
have to install the RPMs "by hand" if you don't use cooker. The simplest way
is to use urpmi (command line interface) or rpmdrake (you will find in the
Mandrake Control Center). General instrctutions about urpmi can be found on
[http://www.urpmi.org] http://www.urpmi.org (both in french and english). 
urpmi-setup will make it easier to setup urpmi to your needs: see [http://
plf.zarb.org/~nanardon/] http://plf.zarb.org/~nanardon/ . You need at least
to add main, contrib and plf sources.

*get libdvdplay, vlc, vlc-plugin-mad, vlc-plugin-a52, gnome-vlc (or
    vlc-gtk) RPMs from this page and all the plugins you want.
   
*install them with:
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |# urpmi libdvdplay*rpm *vlc*rpm                                |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   
    (urpmi will complete all the dependencies)
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1.6. Under Linux Redhat

Download the RPM package vlc and the packages listed in the required
librairies and codecs section (the other packages are just optional) from the
VLC Red Hat download page and put them all into the same directory. 

Then install the RPM packages you have downloaded:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|# rpm -U *.rpm                                                             |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you have not installed all the RPM packages included with your
distribution, you may be asked to install a few of them first.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1.7. Compile the sources by yourself (for every other OS)

The method below is for any Unix system supported by VLC, for which there is
no packages available. It explains how to compile and install VLC and the
needed librairies from their source code.

You can also compile the VLC under Linux this way if you want to modify the
default supported modules
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1.7.1. Install the libraries

Many libraries are needed for particular uses :

*libdvdcss if you want to be able to read encrypted DVDs,
   
*libdvdplay if you want to have DVD menu navigation,
   
*libdvbpsi if you want to be able to read from the network,
   
*a52dec if you want to be able to decode the AC3 (i.e. A52) sound format
    often used in DVDs,
   
*ffmpeg, libmad and faad2 if you want to read MPEG 4 / DivX files,
   
*libogg and libvorbis if you want to read Ogg Vorbis files.
   

Download the libraries from the VLC sources download page.

For each library :

*uncompress :
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% tar xvzf library.tar.gz                                      |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   
    or
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% tar xvjf library.tar.bz2                                     |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   
*configure :
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% cd library                                                   |
    |% ./configure --enable-shared                                  |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   
*compile and install :
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% 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 (as root):
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|# ldconfig                                                                 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.1.7.2. Install VLC

Download the sources of the lastest release : get the file vlc-version.tar.gz
from the VLC sources download page. Uncompress-it :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% tar xvzf vlc-version.tar.gz                                              |
|% cd vlc-version                                                           |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

To get the list of configuration options, do :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% ./configure --help                                                       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Please note that all the modules are described in the Modules section of the 
VLC User Guide.

Examples of very simple configurations:

*if you want a basic VLC, do :
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% ./configure                                                  |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   
*if you want the Gnome interface instead of the GTK interface (you will
    need the developement packages of Gnome) :
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% ./configure --enable-gnome                                   |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   

Then, compile and install :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% make                                                                     |
|% su                                                                       |
|Password:  [Root Password]                                                 |
|# make install                                                             |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Please note that the installation (make install command) is not mandatory.
You can execute VLC from where you compiled it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.2. Install VLS

Full-featured VLS is currently only available for Linux. VLS can also be
built on computers running Mac OS X, and is not available for Windows any
more. Please visit the streaming features page for more information.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.2.1. Install the librairies

Many librairies 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 --enable-shared                                              |
|% 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                                                                 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

2.2.2. Install VLS

Download the sources of the latest release : get the file vls-version.tar.gz
from the VLS sources download page. Uncompress-it :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% 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                                     |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   

Then, compile and install :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% make                                                                     |
|# make install                                                             |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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

Chapter 3. Receive a stream

3.1. Receive a stream with VLC

3.1.1. Receive an unicast stream

Launch VLC, click on the Net button, select UDP, keep the default port and
click on OK.

You can also use the following command line :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vlc udp:                                                                 |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.1.2. Receive a multicast stream

Launch VLC, click on the Net button, select UDP Multicast, type the multicast
IP address, keep the default port and click on OK.

You can also use the following command line :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vlc udp:@239.255.12.42                                                   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

where 239.255.12.42 is the multicast IP address you want to join.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

3.1.3. Receive an HTTP/FTP/MMS stream

Launch VLC, click on the Net button, select HTTP/FTP/MMS, type the URL and
click on OK.

You can also use the following command line :

*+---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% vlc http://localserver/stream.ps                             |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   
    where http://localserver/stream.ps is the HTTP address of the stream ;
   
*+---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% vlc ftp://localserver/stream.ps                              |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   
    where ftp://localserver/stream.ps is the FTP address of the stream ;
   
*+---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |% vlc mms://viptvr.yacast.fr/encoderfranceinfo                 |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
   
    where mms://viptvr.yacast.fr/encoderfranceinfo is the MMS address of the
    stream.
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2. Receive a stream with a Set Top Box

Some [http://www.pace.co.uk] Pace and [http://www.aminocom.com] Aminocom set
top boxes have Ethernet cards and can read MPEG2-TS over UDP streams. We had
some reports that they work with the VideoLAN streamers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4. Stream a file

4.1. Stream a file with VLC

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vlc /media/video/video1.avi --sout udp://192.168.0.42 --ttl 12           |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

where :

*/media/video/video1.avi is the file you want to stream,
   
*192.168.0.42 is either :
   
    +the IP address of the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the DNS name the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the multicast IP address.
       
     
*12 is the value of the TTL (Time To Live) of your IP packets (which means
    that the stream will be able to cross 11 routers).
   

If you want to stream the file continuously, add the --loop option.

Note Under Windows, make sure that you are in the same directory as the VLC  
     install directory.                                                      
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

4.2. Stream a file with VLS

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vls -vv -d udp:192.168.0.42 file:/media/video/video1.vob --ttl 12        |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

where :

*/media/video/video1.vob is the file you want to stream,
   
*192.168.0.42 is either :
   
    +the IP address of the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the DNS name the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the multicast IP address.
       
     
*12 is the value of the TTL (Time To Live) of your IP packets (which means
    that the stream will be able to cross 11 routers).
   

When you want to stop VLS, use the key combination Ctrl-c.

If you want to stream the file continuously, add the --loop option.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5. Stream a DVD

Note Under Unix/Linux, you must have write access to the device corresponding
     to your DVD drive. For that, you should be in the disk or cdrom group   
     (look at the permissions in /dev). If you're not, add yourself to the   
     group :                                                                 
     +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
     |# adduser your_login disk_or_cdrom                                    |
     +----------------------------------------------------------------------+
                                                                             
     and then restart your session.                                          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.1. Stream a DVD with VLC

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vlc dvdold:/dev/dvd --sout udp://192.168.0.12 --ttl 12                   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

where :

*/dev/dvd is the device corresponding to your DVD drive (put D: under
    Windows if D is the letter of your DVD drive) or the directory where you
    copied your DVD,
   
*192.168.0.12 is either :
   
    +the IP address of the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the DNS name the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the multicast IP address.
       
     
*12 is the value of the TTL (Time To Live) of your IP packets (which means
    that the stream will be able to cross 11 routers).
   

If you want to stream the DVD continuously, add the --loop option.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.2. Stream a DVD with VLS

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vls -vv -d udp:192.168.0.12 dvd:/dev/dvd --ttl 12                        |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

where :

*/dev/dvd is the device corresponding to your DVD drive (put D: under
    Windows if D is the letter of your DVD drive) or the directory where you
    copied your DVD,
   
*192.168.0.12 is either :
   
    +the IP address of the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the DNS name the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the multicast IP address.
       
     
*12 is the value of the TTL (Time To Live) of your IP packets (which means
    that the stream will be able to cross 11 routers).
   

If you want to stream the DVD continuously, add the --loop option.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6. Stream a DVB channel (satellite or digital terrestial TV)

6.1. Install the DVB drivers

If you want to be able to stream from a DVB card (a satellite card or a
digital terrestial TV card), you need to install the DVB drivers. Download
the latest release of the DVB drivers from the DVB drivers download page of
the [http://www.linuxtv.org/] LinuxTV Project.

Uncompress the tarball and follow the instructions written in the INSTALL
file to compile and install the drivers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.2. Stream with VLS

Put a .dvbrc file containing the DVB channels (satellite or digital
terrestial TV channels) you want to stream in your home directory (some are
provided in the libdvb tarball for the satellite channels).

Run VLS with the following command line :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vls -vv -d udp:192.168.0.42 dvb:"EUROSPORT" --ttl 12                     |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

where :

*"EUROSPORT" is the channel you want to stream as written in your ~/.dvbrc
    file,
   
*192.168.0.42 is either :
   
    +the IP address of the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the DNS name the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the multicast IP address.
       
     
*12 is the value of the TTL (Time To Live) of your IP packets (which means
    that the stream will be able to cross 11 routers).
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 7. Stream from an MPEG encoding card

Note Streaming from a Kfir card is only supported under Linux.               
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.1. Install the drivers

If you want to be able to stream from a Kfir card, you need to install its
Linux drivers. Download the latest release of the drivers from the drivers
download page of the [http://www.linuxtv.org/] LinuxTV Project.

Uncompress the tarball and follow the instructions written in the README file
to compile and install the drivers.

Note If you have a VIA chipset, you need to disable USB in the BIOS.         
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.2. Stream with VLC

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vlc kfir:/dev/video --sout udp:192.168.0.42 --ttl 12                     |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

where :

*/dev/video is the device corresponding to the Kfir card,
   
*192.168.0.42 is either :
   
    +the IP address of the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the DNS name the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the multicast IP address.
       
     
*12 is the value of the TTL (Time To Live) of your IP packets (which means
    that the stream will be able to cross 11 routers).
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
7.3. Stream with VLS

There is no command line interface for this input for the moment... so you
will have to use the configuration file.

Here is a typical configuration file vls.cfg to run VLS with a kfir encoding
card:
# vls.cfg (VLS configuration file)                                           
# Example of the VideoLAN HOWTO for the Kfir encoding card                   
                                                                             
BEGIN "Inputs"                                                               
                                                                             
  kfir       = "video"                                                       
                                                                             
END                                                                          
                                                                             
BEGIN "kfir"                                                                 
                                                                             
  # Kfir device                                                              
  Device        = "/dev/video"                                               
                                                                             
  # Stream type (default is "Mpeg2-PS")                                      
  Type          = "Mpeg2-PS"                                                 
                                                                             
END                                                                          
                                                                             
BEGIN "Channels"                                                             
                                                                             
  channel1       = "network"                                                 
                                                                             
END                                                                          
                                                                             
BEGIN "channel1"                                                             
                                                                             
  # Unicast or multicast IP address                                          
  DstHost = "192.168.0.42"                                                   
                                                                             
  # Destination port                                                         
  DstPort = "1234"                                                           
                                                                             
  # If it's a multicast IP address, uncomment the line below                 
  #Type    = "multicast"                                                     
                                                                             
  # If it's a multicast IP address, set the "Time To Live" below             
  #TTL     = "12"                                                            
                                                                             
END                                                                          
                                                                             
BEGIN "LaunchOnStartUp"                                                      
                                                                             
  command1 = "start video channel1 kfir"                                     
                                                                             
END                                                                          

Once you have adapted the configuration file above, run VLS:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vls -vv -f vls.cfg                                                       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8. Stream from an acquisition card

Note This feature is available on Linux only.                                
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.1. Install the Video for Linux drivers

If you want to stream from an acquisition card, a video4linux driver must be
available for it. You can find more information about video4linux and
supported devices [http://www.exploits.org/v4l] here.

Compile the right module for your device, and insert it into your kernel
(Some video4linux modules are shipped with the 2.4.x Linux kernels). You can
test your device by using any of the listed programs in the Video: TV and PVR
/DVR section of [http://www.exploits.org/v4l/] this page.

Note that v4l2 modules will also work with VLC.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

8.2. Stream with VLC

Note This feature is not available in vlc 0.5.3, but it is in CVS.           

Note If you're building vlc from sources, you must specify --enable-v4l to ./
     configure to use this feature.                                          
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vlc v4l:/dev/video:channel=0:frequency=8052:norm=secam:size=vga --sout udp:192.168.0.42 --ttl 12|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

where :

*/dev/video is the device corresponding to your acquisition card,
   
*frequency, norm and size are parameters passed to your card,
   
*192.168.0.42 is either :
   
    +the IP address of the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the DNS name the machine you want to unicast to ;
       
    +or the multicast IP address.
       
   
*12 is the value of the TTL (Time To Live) of your IP packets (which means
    that the stream will be able to cross 11 routers).
   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
8.3. Stream with VLS

Note When you compile VLS, you must do a ./configure --enable-v4l            
     --with-ffmpeg=PATH (where PATH si the absolute path to the directory    
     where you compiled ffmpeg, and not the relative path !).                

There is no command line interface for this input for the moment... so you
will have to use the configuration file.

Here is a typical configuration file vls.cfg for a v4l device :
# vls.cfg (VLS configuration file)                                           
# Example of the VideoLAN HOWTO for the Video for Linux input                
                                                                             
BEGIN "Inputs"                                                               
                                                                             
  webcam       = "v4l"                                                       
                                                                             
END                                                                          
                                                                             
BEGIN "webcam"                                                               
                                                                             
  # V4L device                                                               
  Device        = "/dev/video"                                               
                                                                             
  # Channel Source : Webcam is often "0"                                     
  #                  TV Card, may be Tuner(0), Composite(1), Svideo(2)       
  Channel       = "0"                                                        
                                                                             
  # Norm: PAL=0, NTSC=1, SECAM=2                                             
  Norm          = "0"                                                        
                                                                             
  # Size possibilities: can be either:                                       
  # - empty string : default size                                            
  # - width x height                                                         
  # - subQCIF(128x96), QSIF(160.120), QCIF(176x144), SIF(320x240),           
  #   CIF(352x288), VGA (640x480)                                            
  Size          = ""                                                         
                                                                             
  # DeInterlace: "0" = no ; "1" = yes                                        
  DeInterlace   = "0"                                                        
                                                                             
  # Video compression format: "mpeg1" or "mpeg4"                             
  Compression   = "mpeg4"                                                    
                                                                             
  # Video bitrate (approx.) in kbps                                          
  Bitrate       = "500"                                                      
                                                                             
  # Quality: "1.0" (good) to "31.0" (bad)                                    
  Quality       = "1.0"                                                      
                                                                             
  # Sound device                                                             
  AudioDevice   = "/dev/dsp"                                                 
                                                                             
  # Audio compression format: "mp2", "mp3" or "ogg"                          
  AudioCompression = "mp2"                                                   
                                                                             
  # Audio bitrate in kpbs                                                    
  AudioBitrate  = "64"                                                       
                                                                             
  # Audio frequency ("16000", "22050", "24000", "32000", "44100" or "48000") 
  AudioFreq     = "16000"                                                    
                                                                             
  # Audio channel: "1" = mono ; "2" = stereo                                 
  AudioChannel  = "2"                                                        
                                                                             
END                                                                          
                                                                             
BEGIN "Channels"                                                             
                                                                             
  channel1       = "network"                                                 
                                                                             
END                                                                          
                                                                             
BEGIN "channel1"                                                             
                                                                             
  # Unicast or multicast IP address                                          
  DstHost = "192.168.0.42"                                                   
                                                                             
  # Destination port                                                         
  DstPort = "1234"                                                           
                                                                             
  # If it's a multicast IP address, uncomment the line below                 
  #Type    = "multicast"                                                     
                                                                             
  # If it's a multicast IP address, set the "Time To Live" below             
  #TTL     = "12"                                                            
                                                                             
END                                                                          
                                                                             
BEGIN "LaunchOnStartUp"                                                      
                                                                             
  command1 = "start v4l channel1 webcam"                                     
                                                                             
END                                                                          

Once you have adapted the configuration file above, run VLS:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vls -vv -f vls.cfg                                                       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9. Video On Demand

9.1. Overview

With Video On Demand (VOD), the user can start the video when he wants, make
pauses, go forward and back in the video. It is of course the best in video
streaming and the dream for every user.

VOD is a very big consumer of resources for the server and the network. VOD
is unicast, not multicast : this means that the network and server resources
needed are directly proportional to the number of clients.

The design of VideoLAN's VOD solution is very simple. The idea is to do HTTP
streaming, i.e. stream an MPEG video encapsulated in HTTP. The regulation of
the bitrate between the client and the server is done automatically by TCP.
With HTTP version 1.1, there is the possibility to seek in a file downloaded,
that's what we use to seek in the video.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9.2. On the server side

On the VOD server, you need a running Web server. For example, you can use a
Linux server running Apache. Other operating systems and other Web servers
should work too, but we have never tested.

Make your MPEG-1, MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 / DivX files available to the clients on
the Web server.

 For example, we have a Web server whose DNS name is localserver. On this
server, we put an MPEG file video1.mpg which will be available to the clients
at the URL http://localserver/test/video1.mpg. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

9.3. On the client side

 Launch VLC, then click on the Net button or select in the menu File /
Network stream, select HTTP and type the URL http://localserver/test/
video1.mpg. 

 VLC starts to read the stream nearly immediately and you can seek in the
stream, make pauses, etc... as if the stream was a local file. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10. Add a channel information service

Typing multicast addresses is not very fun... that's why you need a channel
information service ! VideoLAN has implemented a channel information service
based on the SAP/SDP standard. The mini-SAP-server sends announces about the
multicast programs on the network (via the multicast address 224.2.127.254
reserved for this purpose), and VLCs receive these annouces and automatically
add the programs announced to their playlist.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

10.1. Install and configure the mini-SAP-server

Note The mini-SAP-server is only available for Linux.                        

Download the latest version of the mini-SAP-server from the streaming
download page.

Install-it:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% tar xvzf miniSAPserver-version.tar.gz                                    |
|% cd miniSAPserver-version                                                 |
|% make                                                                     |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Edit the configuration file sap.cfg shipped with the tarball. It should
contain a global section with the Time To Live of the SAP announces and a
section per program announced. Use the comments to understand each parameter.

The Time To Live option indicates the maximum number of routers that the SAP
announce packets can cross before being dropped.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

10.2. Run the mini-SAP-server

Start the mini-SAP-server :
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% ./sapserver -c sap.cfg                                                   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

If you want to run the mini-SAP-server in the background, use the -d command
line switch. For instance:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% ./sapserver -d -c sap.cfg                                                |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

You can also omit the -c command line switch if your config file is /etc/
sap.cfg.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

10.3. Configure VLC(s) to listen to the SAP announces

Start VLC with the following command line:
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|% vlc --extraintf sap                                                      |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Then open the playlist : you should see the programs announced. When you
double-click on the name of a program, VLC will subscribe to the multicast
address and start to play the stream !
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appendix A. GNU Free Documentation License

Version 1.2, November 2002

   
    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.
   
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A.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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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
matters) and contains nothing that could fall directly within that overall
subject. (Thus, if the Document is in part a textbook of mathematics, a
Secondary Section may not explain any mathematics.) The relationship could be
a matter of historical connection with the subject or with related matters,
or of legal, commercial, philosophical, ethical or political position
regarding them.

The "Invariant Sections" are certain Secondary Sections whose titles are
designated, as being those of Invariant Sections, in the notice that says
that the Document is released under this License. If a section does not fit
the above definition of Secondary then it is not allowed to be designated as
Invariant. The Document may contain zero Invariant Sections. If the Document
does not identify any Invariant Sections then there are none.

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 released under this License. A Front-Cover Text may be at most 5
words, and a Back-Cover Text may be at most 25 words.

A "Transparent" copy of the Document means a machine-readable copy,
represented in a format whose specification is available to the general
public, that is suitable for revising the document straightforwardly with
generic text editors or (for images composed of pixels) generic paint
programs or (for drawings) some widely available drawing editor, and that is
suitable for input to text formatters or for automatic translation to a
variety of formats suitable for input to text formatters. A copy made in an
otherwise Transparent file format whose markup, or absence of markup, has
been arranged to thwart or discourage subsequent modification by readers is
not Transparent. An image format is not Transparent if used for any
substantial amount of text. A copy that is not "Transparent" is called
"Opaque".

Examples of suitable formats for Transparent copies include plain ASCII
without markup, Texinfo input format, LaTeX input format, SGML or XML using a
publicly available DTD, and standard-conforming simple HTML, PostScript or
PDF designed for human modification. Examples of transparent image formats
include PNG, XCF and JPG. Opaque formats include proprietary formats that can
be read and edited only by proprietary word processors, SGML or XML for which
the DTD and/or processing tools are not generally available, and the
machine-generated HTML, PostScript or PDF produced by some word processors
for output purposes only.

The "Title Page" means, for a printed book, the title page itself, plus such
following pages as are needed to hold, legibly, the material this License
requires to appear in the title page. For works in formats which do not have
any title page as such, "Title Page" means the text near the most prominent
appearance of the work's title, preceding the beginning of the body of the
text.

A section "Entitled XYZ" means a named subunit of the Document whose title
either is precisely XYZ or contains XYZ in parentheses following text that
translates XYZ in another language. (Here XYZ stands for a specific section
name mentioned below, such as "Acknowledgements", "Dedications",
"Endorsements", or "History".) To "Preserve the Title" of such a section when
you modify the Document means that it remains a section "Entitled XYZ"
according to this definition.

The Document may include Warranty Disclaimers next to the notice which states
that this License applies to the Document. These Warranty Disclaimers are
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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 all copies, and that you add no other conditions whatsoever to those of
this 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 accept compensation in exchange for copies. If you distribute a large
enough number of copies you must also follow the conditions in section 3.

You may also lend copies, under the same conditions stated above, and you may
publicly display copies.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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
notice requires Cover Texts, you must enclose the copies in covers that
carry, clearly and legibly, all these Cover Texts: Front-Cover Texts on the
front cover, and Back-Cover Texts on the back cover. Both covers must also
clearly and legibly identify you as the publisher of these copies. The front
cover must present the full title with all words of the title equally
prominent and visible. You may add other material on the covers in addition.
Copying with changes limited to the covers, as long as they preserve the
title of the Document and satisfy these conditions, can be treated as
verbatim copying in other respects.

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
cover, and continue the rest onto adjacent pages.

If you publish or distribute Opaque copies of the Document numbering more
than 100, you must either include a machine-readable Transparent copy along
with each Opaque copy, or state in or with each Opaque copy a
computer-network location from which the general network-using public has
access to download using public-standard network protocols a complete
Transparent copy of the Document, free of added material. If you use the
latter option, you must take reasonably prudent steps, when you begin
distribution of Opaque copies in quantity, to ensure that this Transparent
copy will remain thus accessible at the stated location until at least one
year after the last time you distribute an Opaque copy (directly or through
your agents or retailers) of that edition to the public.

It is requested, but not required, that you contact the authors of the
Document well before redistributing any large number of copies, to give them
a chance to provide you with an updated version of the Document.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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
Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the
role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the
Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do
these things in the Modified Version:

 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 by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are
acting on behalf of, 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
permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply
endorsement of any Modified Version.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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".
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.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.
