Guides - Deploy MainConcept Live Encoder Demo through the Linode Marketplace

The MainConcept Live Encoder is an all-in-one encoding engine designed to simplify common broadcast and OTT video workflows. It features HEVC and AVC codecs with optional GPU decoding, as well as encoding powered by NVIDIA and Intel Quick Sync Video built in. MainConcept Live Encoder allows you to package content for multi-screen delivery in real-time using common input sources via a graphic user interface or REST API.

Using the Live Encoder, you are able to set up a live workflow to ingest, prepare, and stream audio-visual content that is compatible with all consumer devices. Video delivery options include, but are not limited to: direct to CDN, online video via RTMP, or low-latency protocols like Zixi and SRT.

In addition to MPEG-H DC audio creation, output streaming protocols include: RTMP, RTSP, Zixi, SRT, TS over UDP/HTTP, MPEG-DASH, HLS, and MP4 archiving files. The Live Encoder can be used in both contribution and distribution encoding workflows.

The version of MainConcept Live Encoder in this deployment is a free demo. It adds a watermark to the processed video and intermittently mutes audio. If you wish to deploy the full version of the Live Encoder, please visit the MainConcept on Linode website.

Deploying a Marketplace App

The Linode Marketplace allows you to easily deploy software on a Compute Instance using the Cloud Manager. See Get Started with Marketplace Apps for complete steps.

1. Log in to the Cloud Manager and select the Marketplace link from the left navigation menu. This displays the Linode Create page with the Marketplace tab pre-selected.

2. Under the Select App section, select the app you would like to deploy.

3. Complete the form by following the steps and advice within the Creating a Compute Instance guide. Depending on the Marketplace App you selected, there may be additional configuration options available. See the Configuration Options section below for compatible distributions, recommended plans, and any additional configuration options available for this Marketplace App.

4. Click the Create Linode button. Once the Compute Instance has been provisioned and has fully powered on, wait for the software installation to complete. If the instance is powered off or restarted before this time, the software installation will likely fail.

To verify that the app has been fully installed, see Get Started with Marketplace Apps > Verify Installation. Once installed, follow the instructions within the Getting Started After Deployment section to access the application and start using it.

Configuration Options

• Supported distributions: CentOS Stream 9
• Recommended plan: We recommend a 16GB Dedicated CPU or Shared CPU Compute Instance for MainConcept Live Encoder.

MainConcept Live Encoder Options

• Email address for SSL Generation (Required): This is the contact email address used for communication regarding the SSL certificate created during deployment. This should be the email address of your web server administrator.

Limited Sudo User

You need to fill out the following fields to automatically create a limited sudo user, with a strong generated password for your new Compute Instance. This account will be assigned to the sudo group, which provides elevated permissions when running commands with the sudo prefix.

• Limited sudo user: Enter your preferred username for the limited user. No Capital Letters, Spaces, or Special Characters.

  Locating The Generated Sudo Password

  A password is generated for the limited user and stored in a .credentials file in their home directory, along with application specific passwords. This can be viewed by running: cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials

  For best results, add an account SSH key for the Cloud Manager user that is deploying the instance, and select that user as an authorized_user in the API or by selecting that option in the Cloud Manager. Their SSH pubkey will be assigned to both root and the limited user.

• Disable root access over SSH: To block the root user from logging in over SSH, select Yes. You can still switch to the root user once logged in, and you can also log in as root through Lish.

  Accessing The Instance Without SSH

  If you disable root access for your deployment and do not provide a valid Account SSH Key assigned to the authorized_user, you will need to login as the root user via the Lish console and run cat /home/$USERNAME/.credentials to view the generated password for the limited user.

Custom Domain (Optional)

If you wish to automatically configure a custom domain, you first need to configure your domain to use Linode’s name servers. This is typically accomplished directly through your registrar. See Use Linode’s Name Servers with Your Domain. Once that is finished, you can fill out the following fields for the Marketplace App:

• Linode API Token: If you wish to use the Linode’s DNS Manager to manage DNS records for your custom domain, create a Linode API Personal Access Token on your account with Read/Write access to Domains. If this is provided along with the subdomain and domain fields (outlined below), the installation attempts to create DNS records via the Linode API. See Get an API Access Token. If you do not provide this field, you need to manually configure your DNS records through your DNS provider and point them to the IP address of the new instance.
• Subdomain: The subdomain you wish to use, such as www for www.example.com.
• Domain: The domain name you wish to use, such as example.com.

Getting Started after Deployment

Once your MainConcept Live Encoder Marketplace App is deployed, you can log in to the MainConcept Live Encoder Dashboard in your browser.

1. Open a browser and navigate to the domain you created in the beginning of your deployment. If you did not use a domain, you can use your Compute Instance’s rDNS, which may look like the example below:

   203-0-113-1.ip.linodeusercontent.com
   

   See the Managing IP Addresses guide for information on viewing and configuring your rDNS.

2. Once the login prompt loads, enter admin as the Username and admin as the Password.

   Important

   Please ensure you change the default password after logging in to your MainConcept Live Encoder instance. To change your password, select the Users tab, find your user named “admin”, and click the Op option.

Next Steps

Please see the official documentation for MainConcept Live Encoder for more information on usage and resources. For support regarding the tool or software itself, use the information in the sidebar to contact MainConcept’s support or search the MainConcept community forum.