Connecting OBS Studio to Your Ubuntu RTMP Server
OBS Studio is one of the most popular tools for sending live video to an RTMP server. It is free, flexible and works well for churches, DJs, gaming channels, webinars, cameras, events and training sessions. Once your Ubuntu RTMP server is ready, connecting OBS is normally straightforward.
Step 1: Open OBS Studio and go to Settings.
Step 2: Select the Stream tab.
Step 3: Choose Custom as the service. This tells OBS that you are not using a preset platform such as YouTube or Twitch.
Step 4: Enter your RTMP server URL. For a basic Nginx RTMP setup, this normally looks like:
rtmp://your-server-ip/live
Step 5: Enter your stream key. During testing you might use test, but production streams should use a private key such as a long random token.
Step 6: Go to Output settings. Choose a sensible bitrate for your server and viewer connection. For 720p video, 2500–4000 kbps is common. For 1080p, 4500–6000 kbps is a typical starting point.
Step 7: Go to Video settings and confirm resolution and frame rate.
Step 8: Click Start Streaming and watch the OBS status bar. If the square turns green and no connection error appears, your encoder is sending data.
Step 9: Test playback using VLC, FFplay or your HLS web player.
If OBS cannot connect, check three things first: the RTMP port is open, Nginx has reloaded successfully, and the application name in OBS matches the Nginx config exactly.
Hosting tip: For Online Audience style hosting guides, remind users to test changes outside busy broadcast times, keep a backup of the last working configuration, and avoid exposing admin services publicly. A clear checklist, sensible firewall rules and careful bitrate choices will prevent most support issues before they happen.