How to Configure Nginx for Direct MP4 Streaming (Step-by-Step Guide)

nginx configure MP4 file playback

To enable direct MP4 streaming via Nginx, you need to compile Nginx with the --with-http_mp4_module (and optionally other modules) and then add a server block that handles .mp4 files.

Steps to compile Nginx:

$ wget https://nginx.org/download/nginx-1.20.0.tar.gz
$ mv nginx-1.20.0.tar.gz /usr/local/
$ cd /usr/local
$ tar -xf nginx-1.20.0.tar.gz
$ cd nginx-1.20.0
$ ./configure --with-http_mp4_module --with-http_flv_module --with-http_stub_status_module --with-http_gzip_static_module --with-file-aio --with-http_flv_module
$ cp /usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx /usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx.bak
$ make && make install

Make sure to back up existing binaries before recompiling. The crucial flag is --with-http_mp4_module which adds MP4 support.

Nginx configuration:

server {
    listen 82;
    server_name 127.0.0.1;
    charset utf-8,gbk;
    root /usr/local/nginx/html/files; # your file directory
    autoindex on;
    autoindex_localtime on;
    location ~ \.mp4$ {
        mp4;            # enable MP4
        mp4_buffer_size 1m;
        mp4_max_buffer_size 5m;
    }
}

After editing /usr/local/nginx/conf/nginx.conf, restart Nginx (stop, start, or reload) using:

停止：/usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx -s stop
启动：/usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx
重启：/usr/local/nginx/sbin/nginx -s reload

Now you can access the MP4 file via the configured server and it will play directly in the browser.