u/Ledo1X

I'm trying to get multiple livestreams up and running on the same channel that restart every 12 hours (to clock watch-time). Although I am successful in streaming multiple at once, and also the process killing after 12h, only one stream ever restarts. I am using a Linux VM, Ubuntu with ffmpeg copy (not live encoding the video file) but I'm starting to believe this is more of a YouTube restriction than coding as both files are identical apart from the stream key. The stream content is music (MP4 file looped with AAC audio - the video has been encoded strictly to RHTP requirements).

I have auto start/stop enabled on all streams. They each have a unique key that does not change.

Has anyone else had success with this and if so; how did you do it?

I want to avoid companies that provide this as a service as I have only found ones that charge $140+ a month which is out of my price range. Be good to know if this is the only way or not.

YouTube content creator. I have been trying to get more than one livestream up and running, with the service to restart after just under 12 hours, and then restart after a delay to allow for YouTube to archive the stream(s) and clock the watch-time. I have a dedicated Linux VM, Ubuntu OS and have been using ffmpeg to try and achieve this.

I've been successful in running the stream for ~12 hours and also successfully kill the stream and archive but my restart script doesn't then work. By not work, I mean it says it's 'active' and 'running' but the video never appears on the channel.

I have encoded the video to meet the specific strict RTMP requirements, and therefore using the copy method to reduce CPU usage.

Below is an example of the info I get from journalctl (I have made many iterations where one exit code lead to another...)

Jun 30 22:45:17 vps systemd[1]: Stopped yt-stream@stream1.service - YouTube livestream stream1. Jun 30 22:45:17 vps systemd[1]: Started yt-stream@stream1.service - YouTube livestream stream1. Jun 30 22:45:17 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]: ffmpeg started on 2026-06-30 at 22:45:17 Jun 30 22:45:17 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]: Report written to "ffreport.log" Jun 30 22:45:17 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]: Log level: 32 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]: Input #0, mov,mp4,m4a,3gp,3g2,mj2, from '/home/stream/livestream_1/stream1.mp4': Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Metadata: Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     major_brand     : isom Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     minor_version   : 512 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     creation_time   : 2026-06-27T19:55:01.000000Z Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     encoder         : Lavf62.6.100 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Duration: 02:05:34.83, start: 0.000000, bitrate: 5268 kb/s Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Stream #0:0[0x1](und): Video: h264 (High) (avc1 / 0x31637661), yuv420p(tv, bt709, progressive), 1280x720 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], 5005 kb/s, 30 fps, 30 tbr, 15360 tbn (default) Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     Metadata: Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       creation_time   : 2026-06-27T19:55:01.000000Z Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       handler_name    : VideoHandler Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0] Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       encoder         : Lavc62.16.100 libx264 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Stream #0:1[0x2](und): Audio: aac (LC) (mp4a / 0x6134706D), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 252 kb/s (default) Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     Metadata: Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       creation_time   : 2026-06-27T19:55:01.000000Z Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       handler_name    : SoundHandler Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0] Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]: [out#0/flv @ 0x61ac9973a0c0] Codec AVOption b (set bitrate (in bits/s)) has not been used for any stream. The most likely reason is either wrong type (e.g. a video option with no video streams) or that it is a private option of some encoder which was not actually used for any stream. Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]: Output #0, flv, to 'rtmp://a.rtmp.youtube.com/live2/[REMOVED KEY]': Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Metadata: Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     major_brand     : isom Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     minor_version   : 512 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     compatible_brands: isomiso2avc1mp41 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     encoder         : Lavf60.16.100 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Stream #0:0(und): Video: h264 (High) ([7][0][0][0] / 0x0007), yuv420p(tv, bt709, progressive), 1280x720 [SAR 1:1 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 5000 kb/s, 30 fps, 30 tbr, 1k tbn (default) Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     Metadata: Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       creation_time   : 2026-06-27T19:55:01.000000Z Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       handler_name    : VideoHandler Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0] Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       encoder         : Lavc62.16.100 libx264 Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Stream #0:1(und): Audio: aac (LC) ([10][0][0][0] / 0x000A), 48000 Hz, stereo, fltp, 384 kb/s (default) Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:     Metadata: Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       creation_time   : 2026-06-27T19:55:01.000000Z Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       handler_name    : SoundHandler Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:       vendor_id       : [0][0][0][0] Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]: Stream mapping: Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy) Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]:   Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy) Jun 30 22:45:18 vps yt-stream-ffmpeg[191151]: Press [q] to stop, [?] for help

Attached images of my setup (service, env etc).

https://preview.redd.it/d4igwflhzkah1.png?width=698&format=png&auto=webp&s=da0719ea0df23e04f300f42ae6f59087a142963d

https://preview.redd.it/u41hj2pjzkah1.png?width=402&format=png&auto=webp&s=09a6108f3638ac1203817504ba7c6f63fe4a6904

 

https://preview.redd.it/ht3dflouzkah1.png?width=779&format=png&auto=webp&s=e357496e275bf10a7f74b8a0a0b03356359ea880

https://preview.redd.it/8kphcyzvzkah1.png?width=676&format=png&auto=webp&s=5f137897f69ae817e7f31d5371152f49c6321a38

Am I heading in the right direction?

I am trying to achieve this myself as I know it's possible, as companies like upstream sell dedicated servers with the exact thing I am looking for, but would cost me $140 / month compared to $9-10.

Additional info: YouTube streams have 'auto start' and 'auto stop' enabled.

Any help appreciated from the fantastic r/ffmpeg community!

+OC

Can you use ffmpeg to successfully restart multiple YouTube livestreams every 12 hours?

Running multiple livestreams on YouTube via linux vpm and ffmpeg. It's working however what's not working is I need them to restart every 12 hours (to clock watch-time). I am currently trying to do this with linux ffmpeg cronjobs but is this possible as I keep running into issues, or is there a different method? Was working with a single stream, not via the schedule stream section in YouTube.

The only way I've seen you can run multiple streams is through scheduled streams and can't get the cron job to work since adding more than one live stream.

Appreciate lack of specifics regarding my vpm config, I am more just wanting to check if I'm on the right path or hitting a dead end.

Running multiple livestreams on YouTube via linux vpm and ffmpeg. It's working however what's not working is I need them to restart every 12 hours (to clock watch-time). I am currently trying to do this with linux ffmpeg cronjobs but is this possible as I keep running into issues, or is there a different method? Was working with a single stream, not via the schedule stream section in YouTube.

The only way I've seen you can run multiple streams is through scheduled streams and can't get the cron job to work since adding more than one live stream.

Appreciate lack of specifics regarding my vpm config, I am more just wanting to check if I'm on the right path or hitting a dead end.