How to Install A SHOUTcast DNAS Server on Linux

Updated Monday, March 25, 2019 by Linode Written by Chris Ciufo

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SHOUTcast is software designed for streaming media over the internet. The SHOUTcast system uses a classic client-server configuration. You can install SHOUTcast on your server and use it to broadcast a stream of music to clients connected to the server. A Shoutcast media server could benefit from large amounts of disk space, so consider using our Block Storage service with this setup.

Note
Be sure to check the broadcast tools download page for the newest version of SHOUTcast.

SHOUTcast DNAS Software

The SHOUTcast DNAS (Distributed Network Audio Server) software is the server version of the software that allows you to broadcast to listeners. To use SHOUTcast, you’ll need to download and install SHOUTcast DNAS on your Linode.

Download and Install SHOUTcast

There are several versions of this software, so make sure you are downloading the correct one. The Linux version is offered in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You’ll need to download whichever version corresponds to the operating system you have installed on your Linode.

Create a user for running SHOUTcast, so you are not running it as root. Enter the following command:
```
adduser shoutcast
```
Change to the new user’s home directory by entering the following command:
```
cd /home/shoutcast
```
Create a directory for SHOUTcast:
```
mkdir sc
```
Now we can download the DNAS package. In this example, we will download the 32-bit version:
```
wget http://download.nullsoft.com/shoutcast/tools/sc_serv2_linux_x64-latest.tar.gz
```
Extract the SHOUTcast files to the new directory by entering the following command:
```
tar -xzf sc_serv2_linux_x64-latest.tar.gz -C sc
```
Change the ownership from root to the SHOUTcast user:
```
chown -R shoutcast.shoutcast /home/shoutcast/sc
```

The SHOUTcast DNAS software is now installed on your Linode.

Configure SHOUTcast

Now, you’ll want to modify the configuration. This is necessary to specify passwords and set the SHOUTcast port. Here’s how to configure SHOUTcast:

Open the SHOUTcast configuration file:
```
nano sc/sc_serv_basic.conf
```

This will bring up the configuration file for editing, as shown below.

/home/shoutcast/sc/sc_serv_basic.conf

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; NOTE: for any relative paths specified are relative to
; sc_serv and not to where the conf file is being stored

; here we will setup where the log and other related files
; will be stored. make sure that these folders exist else
; sc_serv will throw an error and will close itself down.
; we will make the logs save to the sc_serv2 directory
logfile=logs/sc_serv.log
w3clog=logs/sc_w3c.log
banfile=control/sc_serv.ban
ripfile=control/sc_serv.rip


; for testing we will make the server only work locally
; (i.e. localhost / 127.0.0.1) though if this is left out
; or set to publicserver=always then we attempt to make a
; connection to the YP for listing - do not forget to add
; in a 'streamauthhash' value for any public streams made
;publicserver=never


; if you're wanting to use a different port to use for any
; connections then you can use this option e.g. to use 80
; otherwise port 8000 is used as the default to listen on.
;portbase=80


; password used by sc_trans or the Winamp dsp plug-in
; NOTE: remember to change this to something else
password=testing


; password used for accessing the administation pages
; NOTE: remember to change this to something else
adminpassword=changeme


; now we will specify the details of the stream we're going
; to serve which can be done as follows
streamid=1
streampath=/test.aac

; or

; it can be done like this which is how it needs to be done
; if you are going to provide multiple streams from sc_serv
;streamid_1=1
;streampath_1=/test.aac
;streamid_2=2
;streampath_2=/test2.aac

Set the password and adminpassword variables to whatever you want them to be.
The portbase variable should be set to use a port you are not using for anything else. The default port for SHOUTcast is 8000.

Note
If you set the portbase variable to anything besides 8000, be sure to uncomment it by deleting the semicolon in front of the variable.
Save the changes to the SHOUTcast configuration file by pressing Control-X, and then Y.

Now that the configuration is set and saved, we can start the server.

Start SHOUTcast

Now, you can start the SHOUTcast server. Here’s how:

You’ll want to run your shoutcast in a screen session. Let’s jump into a screen session by entering the following command:
```
screen
```
Start the SHOUTcast server by entering the following command:
```
./sc_serv sc_serv_simple.conf
```

After you issue the start command, you should see the startup output ending with:

2011-11-02 14:50:03     I       msg:[MICROSERVER] Listening for connection on port 8000
2011-11-02 14:50:03     I       msg:[MICROSERVER] Listening for connection on port 8001

You can detach from your screen session at this point. To do so, hold down the Control key and press A, let go, and then press D.
You should be back at the command prompt outside of your screen session. If you need to reattach later on, simply type:
```
screen -raAd
```

Your SHOUTcast server is now running! You can now connect to it and begin your broadcast.

SHOUTcast Transcoder

The SHOUTcast Transcoder allows you to schedule DJ play times, broadcast an automatic playlist in a specific time slot, schedule time slots for relayed broadcasts, etc.

Note
To encode your streams in MP3 format, you must purchase a license key from WinAmp, which costs \$5 USD.

Download and Install SHOUTcast Transcoder

We’ll use the same shoutcast user to set up the Transcoder software. Here’s how to download and install the transcoder:

Change directories by entering the following command:
```
cd /home/shoutcast
```
Create a new directory for the transcoder by entering the following command:
```
mkdir sct
```

Download the SHOUTcast transcoder archive by entering the following command:

wget http://download.nullsoft.com/shoutcast/tools/sc_trans_linux_10_07_2011.tar.gz

Extract the SHOUTcast transcoder files by entering the following command:
```
tar -xzf sc_trans_linux_10_07_2011.tar.gz -C sct
```

Change ownership from root to the SHOUTcast user:

chown -R shoutcast.shoutcast /home/shoutcast/sct

Change directories by entering the following command:
```
cd sct
```
Change permissions by entering the following command:
```
chmod a+x sc_trans
```

The SHOUTcast transcoder is now installed on your Linode.

Configure the SHOUTcast Transcoder

This example will walk you through a basic configuration.

Open the configuration file by entering the following command:
```
nano /home/shoutcast/sct/sc_trans_basic.conf
```

You can modify the bitrate to change the sound quality of the music and limit the amount of bandwidth consumed. If you purchase MP3 licensing, you can modify the encoder section to add the MP3 encoding and your unlock data: