How to Start and Stop All Streams in Centova Cast (Web Interface and ccmanage)

Updated: 8 October 2026 · Applies to: Centova Cast v3 (current release 3.3.4)

To stop every stream on a Centova Cast server at once, log in to the server as root and run /usr/local/centovacast/bin/ccmanage batch --method=stop --username=all. To start them all again, run the same command with --method=start. Without SSH, you can do the same in the admin area: open Accounts › Manage, tick the accounts and click Stop or Start below the list. Both methods come from Centova's own documentation.

Who can do this

• Centova Cast dedicated server or VPS owners (root and the Centova Cast admin login): everything in this article.
• Resellers: according to Centova's reseller manual, the reseller account list has the same batch buttons, so you can start or stop all of your own client streams in one go.
• Hosted stream customers: you control only your own stream, under Server in the left menu of your Centova Cast panel (Start Server, Stop, Restart). Anything that affects the whole server is done by Ucartz: open a support ticket.

Start or stop all streams in the web interface

1. Log in to Centova Cast as admin (or as a reseller).
2. Click Manage under the Accounts heading in the menu. The account list opens.
3. Tick the checkbox next to each account you want to change.
4. Click Stop or Start below the list.

The same row of buttons also has Suspend, Unsuspend and Delete. Delete removes the selected accounts permanently, so check which button you click.

Start or stop all streams from the command line

Log in as root over SSH and run:

# stop every stream on the server
/usr/local/centovacast/bin/ccmanage batch --method=stop --username=all

# start every stream again
/usr/local/centovacast/bin/ccmanage batch --method=start --username=all

ccmanage asks for the Centova Cast admin password, even when you run it as root. According to Centova's API reference, the batch method runs a stream control method on several accounts:

• --username=all means every account. For only some streams, give a comma-separated list: --username=radio1,radio2.
• --method=restart restarts the selected streams. A restart is a full stop and start, so all listeners are disconnected.

If you keep the stream usernames in a file, one per line, paste turns them into the list (tested with GNU coreutils 9.7 on Debian 13):

# cat /root/streams.txt
radio1
radio2
radio3
# paste -sd, /root/streams.txt
radio1,radio2,radio3

/usr/local/centovacast/bin/ccmanage batch --method=stop --username=$(paste -sd, /root/streams.txt)

Run it from a script without the password prompt

For maintenance scripts and cron jobs, Centova provides /usr/local/centovacast/sbin/sumanage. It takes the same commands as ccmanage, works only for root and does not ask for a password. Enable it once with this command and enter the admin password when asked:

/usr/local/centovacast/sbin/setsumanage on

After that, /usr/local/centovacast/sbin/sumanage batch --method=stop --username=all runs unattended. If a script needs to read the result, add --outputmode=json (Centova also documents bash, xml and csv output modes). Centova's documentation also describes enabling sumanage through a password file, /usr/local/centovacast/etc/.ccshadow, which must be updated every time the admin password changes.

Stopping streams is not the same as stopping Centova Cast

• /usr/local/centovacast/centovacast stop (or systemctl stop centovacast.service) stops Centova Cast's own services: the web interface, application server, control daemon, FTP server and image daemon. Centova's recovery steps stop Centova Cast and then kill the stream processes (sc_serv, icecast, ices and similar) separately, so stop the streams first, as shown above, when they must go offline. More on these commands: controlling Centova Cast through the terminal.
• Killing stream processes by hand is not a clean stop either. According to Centova, its process monitoring brings killed streams back within a few minutes. Use the batch stop when streams must stay down.

A safe order for server maintenance

1. Stop all streams: ccmanage batch --method=stop --username=all.
2. If the work needs it, stop Centova Cast: /usr/local/centovacast/centovacast stop.
3. Do the maintenance.
4. Start Centova Cast: /usr/local/centovacast/centovacast start. Check it with /usr/local/centovacast/centovacast status.
5. Start all streams: ccmanage batch --method=start --username=all.
6. Open Accounts › Manage and check that every stream is back online.

Centova uses the same order in its own guide for moving client data to another disk. If a stream refuses to start afterwards, see Server exited immediately after startup and fixing permission problems in Centova Cast.

Need a server where you have full control of every stream? Ucartz Centova Cast dedicated servers come with the Centova Cast licence included, and white-label reseller hosting lets you manage your own client streams.

Official documentation: Managing existing accounts, Management utility invocation, System class method reference.