How to Stream Local Video with Spring Boot, FFmpeg, and ZLMediaKit

Environment Preparation

ZLMediaKit installation

Pull the official Docker image and run a container exposing the required ports and mounting a custom config.ini file.

# Pull image
docker pull zlmediakit/zlmediakit:master

# Run container
docker run -d \
  --name zlm-server \
  -p 1935:1935 \
  -p 8099:80 \
  -p 8554:554 \
  -p 10000:10000 \
  -p 10000:10000/udp \
  -p 8000:8000/udp \
  -v /docker-volumes/zlmediakit/conf/config.ini:/opt/media/conf/config.ini \
  zlmediakit/zlmediakit:master

Key config.ini settings control HLS segment length and retention.

[hls]
broadcastRecordTs=0
deleteDelaySec=300    # video retained for 5 minutes
fileBufSize=65536
filePath=./www       # storage path
segDur=2              # segment duration (seconds)
segNum=1000           # max segments in .m3u8
segRetain=9999        # actual retained segments on disk

FFmpeg installation

Download a Windows build from https://www.gyan.dev/ffmpeg/builds/ and add its bin directory (e.g., C:\ffmpeg\ffmpeg-7.0.2-essentials_build\bin) to the system PATH environment variable.

Spring Boot Backend Implementation

Maven dependency

<dependencies>
    <dependency>
        <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
        <artifactId>commons-exec</artifactId>
        <version>1.3</version>
    </dependency>
</dependencies>

Stream configuration class

package com.lyk.plugflow.config;

import lombok.Data;
import org.springframework.boot.context.properties.ConfigurationProperties;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;

@Data
@Component
@ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "stream")
public class StreamConfig {
    private String zlmHost;      // ZLMediaKit service address
    private Integer rtmpPort;   // RTMP port
    private Integer httpPort;    // HTTP‑FLV port
    private String ffmpegPath;   // FFmpeg executable path
    private String videoPath;    // Video storage path
}

Stream service class

package com.lyk.plugflow.service;

import com.lyk.plugflow.config.StreamConfig;
import lombok.extern.slf4j.Slf4j;
import org.apache.commons.exec.*;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;

import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;

@Slf4j
@Service
public class StreamService {
    @Autowired
    private StreamConfig streamConfig;

    // Store running processes
    private final Map<String, DefaultExecutor> streamProcesses = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
    // Manual stop flags
    private final Map<String, Boolean> manualStopFlags = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();

    /** Start streaming */
    public boolean startStream(String videoPath, String streamKey) {
        try {
            File videoFile = new File(videoPath);
            if (!videoFile.exists()) {
                log.error("视频文件不存在: {}", videoPath);
                return false;
            }
            String rtmpUrl = String.format("rtmp://%s:%d/live/%s",
                    streamConfig.getZlmHost(), streamConfig.getRtmpPort(), streamKey);
            CommandLine cmdLine = getCommandLine(videoPath, rtmpUrl);
            DefaultExecutor executor = new DefaultExecutor();
            executor.setExitValue(0);
            ExecuteWatchdog watchdog = new ExecuteWatchdog(ExecuteWatchdog.INFINITE_TIMEOUT);
            executor.setWatchdog(watchdog);
            ByteArrayOutputStream outputStream = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
            executor.setStreamHandler(new PumpStreamHandler(outputStream));
            executor.execute(cmdLine, new ExecuteResultHandler() {
                @Override
                public void onProcessComplete(int exitValue) {
                    log.info("推流完成, streamKey: {}, exitValue: {}", streamKey, exitValue);
                    streamProcesses.remove(streamKey);
                }

                @Override
                public void onProcessFailed(ExecuteException e) {
                    boolean isManualStop = manualStopFlags.remove(streamKey);
                    if (isManualStop) {
                        log.info("推流已手动停止, streamKey: {}", streamKey);
                    } else {
                        log.error("推流失败, streamKey: {}, error: {}", streamKey, e.getMessage());
                    }
                    streamProcesses.remove(streamKey);
                }
            });
            streamProcesses.put(streamKey, executor);
            log.info("开始推流, streamKey: {}, rtmpUrl: {}", streamKey, rtmpUrl);
            return true;
        } catch (Exception e) {
            log.error("推流启动失败", e);
            return false;
        }
    }

    private CommandLine getCommandLine(String videoPath, String rtmpUrl) {
        CommandLine cmdLine = new CommandLine(streamConfig.getFfmpegPath());
        cmdLine.addArgument("-re"); // read at native frame rate
        cmdLine.addArgument("-i");
        cmdLine.addArgument(videoPath);
        cmdLine.addArgument("-c:v");
        cmdLine.addArgument("libx264"); // video codec
        cmdLine.addArgument("-c:a");
        cmdLine.addArgument("aac"); // audio codec
        cmdLine.addArgument("-f");
        cmdLine.addArgument("flv"); // output format
        cmdLine.addArgument("-flvflags");
        cmdLine.addArgument("no_duration_filesize");
        cmdLine.addArgument(rtmpUrl);
        return cmdLine;
    }

    /** Stop streaming */
    public boolean stopStream(String streamKey) {
        try {
            DefaultExecutor executor = streamProcesses.get(streamKey);
            if (executor != null) {
                manualStopFlags.put(streamKey, true);
                ExecuteWatchdog watchdog = executor.getWatchdog();
                if (watchdog != null) {
                    watchdog.destroyProcess();
                } else {
                    log.warn("进程没有watchdog，无法强制终止, streamKey: {}", streamKey);
                }
                streamProcesses.remove(streamKey);
                log.info("停止推流成功, streamKey: {}", streamKey);
                return true;
            }
            return false;
        } catch (Exception e) {
            log.error("停止推流失败", e);
            return false;
        }
    }

    /** Get playback URL */
    public String getPlayUrl(String streamKey, String protocol) {
        switch (protocol.toLowerCase()) {
            case "flv":
                return String.format("http://%s:%d/live/%s.live.flv",
                        streamConfig.getZlmHost(), streamConfig.getHttpPort(), streamKey);
            case "hls":
                return String.format("http://%s:%d/live/%s/hls.m3u8",
                        streamConfig.getZlmHost(), streamConfig.getHttpPort(), streamKey);
            default:
                return null;
        }
    }

    /** Check if a stream is active */
    public boolean isStreaming(String streamKey) {
        return streamProcesses.containsKey(streamKey);
    }
}

Application configuration (application.yml)

stream:
  zlm-host: 192.168.159.129
  rtmp-port: 1935
  http-port: 8099
  ffmpeg-path: ffmpeg
  video-path: \videos\

spring:
  servlet:
    multipart:
      max-file-size: 1GB
      max-request-size: 1GB

Usage Instructions

Streaming workflow

Start the ZLMediaKit Docker container.

Upload the source video file to the server.

Call the startStream API with the video path and a unique stream key.

Spring Boot launches an FFmpeg command that pushes the video to ZLMediaKit via RTMP.

Playback workflow

Obtain a playback URL (HTTP‑FLV or HLS) via getPlayUrl.

Use a front‑end player (e.g., flv.js) to play the live stream or on‑demand replay.

Example FFmpeg command used by the service:

ffmpeg -re -i "C:\Users\lyk19\Videos\8月9日.mp4" -c:v libx264 -preset ultrafast -tune zerolatency -c:a aac -ar 44100 -b:a 128k -f flv rtmp://192.168.159.129:1935/live/stream

Front‑end player (HTML + JavaScript)

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <title>FLV Live Player</title>
  <!-- Include flv.js library from CDN -->
  <script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/flv.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
  <div class="player-container">
    <h2>FLV Live Player</h2>
    <video id="videoElement" controls muted>Your browser does not support video playback</video>
    <div class="controls">
      <button id="playBtn">Play</button>
      <button id="pauseBtn" disabled>Pause</button>
      <button id="stopBtn" disabled>Stop</button>
      <button id="muteBtn">Mute</button>
    </div>
    <div id="status" class="status info">Ready, click Play to start</div>
  </div>
  <script>
    const videoElement = document.getElementById('videoElement');
    const playBtn = document.getElementById('playBtn');
    const pauseBtn = document.getElementById('pauseBtn');
    const stopBtn = document.getElementById('stopBtn');
    const muteBtn = document.getElementById('muteBtn');
    const statusDiv = document.getElementById('status');
    const streamUrl = 'http://192.168.159.129:8099/live/stream.live.flv';
    let flvPlayer = null;

    function updateStatus(message, type) {
      statusDiv.textContent = message;
      statusDiv.className = `status ${type}`;
      console.log(`[${type.toUpperCase()}] ${message}`);
    }

    function updateButtons(play, pause, stop) {
      playBtn.disabled = !play;
      pauseBtn.disabled = !pause;
      stopBtn.disabled = !stop;
    }

    if (!flvjs.isSupported()) {
      updateStatus('Your browser does not support FLV playback.', 'error');
      playBtn.disabled = true;
    }

    playBtn.addEventListener('click', function() {
      try {
        if (flvPlayer) flvPlayer.destroy();
        flvPlayer = flvjs.createPlayer({type: 'flv', url: streamUrl, isLive: true}, {
          enableWorker: false,
          lazyLoad: true,
          lazyLoadMaxDuration: 180,
          deferLoadAfterSourceOpen: false,
          autoCleanupSourceBuffer: true,
          enableStashBuffer: false
        });
        flvPlayer.attachMediaElement(videoElement);
        flvPlayer.load();
        flvPlayer.on(flvjs.Events.ERROR, (type, detail, info) => {
          console.error('FLV player error:', type, detail, info);
          updateStatus(`Play error: ${detail}`, 'error');
        });
        flvPlayer.on(flvjs.Events.LOADING_COMPLETE, () => {
          updateStatus('Stream loaded', 'success');
        });
        videoElement.play().then(() => {
          updateStatus('Playing live stream', 'success');
          updateButtons(false, true, true);
        }).catch(err => {
          console.error('Play failed:', err);
          updateStatus('Play failed: ' + err.message, 'error');
        });
      } catch (e) {
        console.error('Create player failed:', e);
        updateStatus('Create player failed: ' + e.message, 'error');
      }
    });

    pauseBtn.addEventListener('click', function() {
      if (videoElement && !videoElement.paused) {
        videoElement.pause();
        updateStatus('Playback paused', 'info');
        updateButtons(true, false, true);
      }
    });

    stopBtn.addEventListener('click', function() {
      if (flvPlayer) {
        flvPlayer.pause();
        flvPlayer.unload();
        flvPlayer.destroy();
        flvPlayer = null;
      }
      videoElement.src = '';
      videoElement.load();
      updateStatus('Playback stopped', 'info');
      updateButtons(true, false, false);
    });

    muteBtn.addEventListener('click', function() {
      videoElement.muted = !videoElement.muted;
      muteBtn.textContent = videoElement.muted ? 'Unmute' : 'Mute';
      updateStatus(videoElement.muted ? 'Muted' : 'Unmuted', 'info');
    });

    videoElement.addEventListener('loadstart', () => updateStatus('Loading video stream...', 'info'));
    videoElement.addEventListener('canplay', () => updateStatus('Video ready', 'success'));
    videoElement.addEventListener('playing', () => {
      updateStatus('Playing live stream', 'success');
      updateButtons(false, true, true);
    });
    videoElement.addEventListener('pause', () => {
      updateStatus('Playback paused', 'info');
      updateButtons(true, false, true);
    });
    videoElement.addEventListener('error', () => {
      updateStatus('Video playback error', 'error');
      updateButtons(true, false, false);
    });
  </script>
</body>
</html>