Configuring your SHOUTcast Server

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Configuring your SHOUTcast Server

Starting the Server

Win32 Platform - To start the SHOUTcast Server, click the "Start" button and select the "Run" menu option. In the "Open:" field, type the path to the SHOUTcast Server executable, most commonly "C:\Program Files\SHOUTcast\sc_serv.exe". In our documentation, we do recommend you place the files in "C:\Program Files\Winamp\SHOUTcast\", assuming you installed the server files following our directions.

Unix Varients - You can start the SHOUTcast server by typing "./sc_serv", without quoteations of course, at the prompt. Lets say you are running the SHOUTcast server on a box where you connected via telnet. To keep the server active even when you log out of the telnet session, press Control-Z, and you should see a prompt again. Now type "bg" and press enter. The SHOUTcast server will disappear into the background, and you can safely disconnect from the shell - it will remain running.

Configuring the Server

If you wish to configure the SHOUTcast server, the configuration file (sc_serv.ini in Win32, sc_serv.conf in Unix Varients) contains several options that can be changed. here is a basic explanation of what each option does.

PortBase: This will form part of the URL that people tune into you SHOUTcast server at. The default port is 8000 (eg. http://server:8000), however, you can change that to whatever you want. A few words of caution:

The port you choose must be not be in use by another program. This includes the port you choose and that port + 1. If either port is in use, then people will not be able to connect to your SHOUTcast Server.
On most Unix varient machines, you can not use ports under 1024 unless you have root priviledges. Most people won`t, so stay away from ports under 1024 unless you are sure you do.

There is no harm in experimenting with ports - the server will give you an error message when it starts if the port you choose can not be used.

MaxUser: The maximum allowable listeners at any one time. Make sure you set this to a realistic number depending on your bandwidth and operating system. Maximum bandwidth used for serving is equal to the bitrate you are serving at multiplied by MaxUser + 1. Unix users should be aware that the maximum number of processes taken up is equal to MaxUser + 3, so don`t set this number above the maximum number of processes available for the system or user you run the server as.

Password: You should set the password for your SHOUTcast Server like you would set any other password - make it as hard to guess as possible, and only tell it to people who will need to access the server. This password has to be the same as what you enter in the DSP configuration window.

Logfile: If you specify a path and file name, such as "sc_serv.log", the Server will log all the information displayed to the console in that file. You can use the log file to determine if your server is being misused and to keep track of all activities that take place on the SHOUTcast Server. Use "/dev/null", "none", or leave empty to disable file-based logging.

RelayServer: [Optional] If defined, the SHOUTcast server will not accept source connections, and instead attempt to connect to the server name defined here for transmission

RelayPort: [Optional] The port that the relay server is sending audio on. As for the BasePort, you should be cautious in selecting your port. Make sure not to use a port that is not in use, for if you do, the SHOUTcast DSP plug-in will not be able to connect and stream properly.

RelayPublic: [Optional] When running a relay server, use "always" to make the server always public (regardless of whether the source server is public) or "never" to make the server never public. Anything else makes the server the same as the source server.

Since version 1.10, SHOUTcast now has administrative features via webpage access per server. To gain access to the Server`s adminsitration pages, open up your web browser of choice and in the Address field, type the following, of course with filling in the information that is relevent to you:

http://yourserver:port/admin.cgi?pass=yourpassword

We suggest you try these new features, we find them to be most valuable.

Source: http://www.shoutcast.com/support/docs/

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