Do all Aws Ec2 instances support ffmpeg streaming?

Question

Hello, I was trying earlier today to stream my webcam over to my ec2 instance but was unable to. I read in the ffmpeg documentation a paragraph about "servers which can receive from ffmpeg" , here you can find the link https://trac.ffmpeg.org/wiki/StreamingGuide , and it (also) linked to a page containing a list of servers,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_streaming_media_systems#Servers , including Amazon Prime and Music, but not Aws. This led me to think this was the reason I could not stream my webcam over as I am perfectly capable of doing it with other applications such as Gstreamer or Opencv. I have also tested UDP connectivity with netcat to see if I was actually able to send data over to the server. I checked my ports, security groups and firewall rules, all are working (otherwise I couldn't stream with Gstreamer or OpenCv).

I know there are some streaming specific aws instances, the vt1's come into my mind, that do support it, so I wanted to ask if this support goes across all instances or in some this support is absent?

re:Post Agent · Answer

All AWS EC2 instances can support FFmpeg streaming, but there are some important considerations to keep in mind:

1. FFmpeg itself is not pre-installed on EC2 instances. You need to install it manually on your chosen EC2 instance.

2. The ability to stream using FFmpeg is not limited by the EC2 instance type, but rather by the instance's resources (CPU, memory, network capacity) and how you've configured your network and security settings.

3. Streaming directly from a local webcam to an EC2 instance is not typically feasible because EC2 instances are virtual machines in the cloud without direct access to local hardware like webcams.

4. The fact that you can stream with GStreamer and OpenCV suggests that the issue is not with EC2 support for streaming, but rather with your FFmpeg configuration or how you're trying to use it.

5. For webcam streaming, you generally need to capture the video locally and then stream it to your EC2 instance, or use a service like AWS Kinesis Video Streams as an intermediary.

6. While specialized instances like VT1 are optimized for video transcoding, any EC2 instance can run FFmpeg if properly set up.

7. The list of streaming media systems you referenced is not an exhaustive list of platforms that can work with FFmpeg. FFmpeg is a versatile tool that can be used with many systems, including on EC2 instances.

If you're having trouble with FFmpeg specifically, you might want to review your FFmpeg command and ensure it's correctly configured for your use case. Also, consider using AWS services designed for video ingestion and processing, like Amazon Kinesis Video Streams or AWS Elemental MediaLive, which can provide more robust solutions for live video streaming to the cloud.  
**Sources**  
[Webcam Streaming EC2 | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUAJZwcAFYSKSsors9si-s4Q/webcam-streaming-ec2)  
[Live streaming from intgrated camera to ec2 instance returns poor quality stream | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUnmF7fh6FTUaNm8uR8D5RtA/live-streaming-from-intgrated-camera-to-ec2-instance-returns-poor-quality-stream)

Roman Chekmazov · Answer

When you said it's not working what do you mean?

It doesn't see the stream or something else.

How do you connect to EC2?

Are you using remote desktop application (RDP, TeamViewer)?

Do all Aws Ec2 instances support ffmpeg streaming?

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