How to install Red5 on cPanel server

Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Red5 open-source media server 2.0.46 with Java 21 on Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, AlmaLinux 9 or Rocky Linux 9 (with or without cPanel)

Red5 is an open-source media server written in Java. It receives and plays live streams over RTMP and serves video on demand. Older guides installed it through Apache Tomcat in cPanel's EasyApache and used Red5 1.0.7 with an init script. Current Red5 includes everything it needs and runs as its own service, so you do not need Tomcat or cPanel for it.

Before you start

• A VPS or dedicated server with root access. Red5 uses up to 1 GB of Java memory by default, so allow at least 2 GB RAM.
• If the server also runs cPanel, Red5 can share it, but a separate VPS keeps your websites and streams apart.
• These ports free and open in the firewall: 1935 (RTMP) and 5080 (HTTP). Red5 also defines 5443 (HTTPS), 8443 (RTMPS) and 9999 (JMX) in conf/red5.properties.

Install Red5

1. Install Java 21.
   On Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 13:

   apt update
   apt install -y openjdk-21-jre-headless

   On AlmaLinux or Rocky Linux:

   dnf install -y java-21-openjdk-headless

2. Find the Java home folder and note the result:

   dirname $(dirname $(readlink -f $(which java)))

3. Download Red5 and unpack it to /opt/red5:

   cd /opt
   curl -LO https://github.com/Red5/red5-server/releases/download/v2.0.46/red5-server-2.0.46.tar.gz
   tar xzf red5-server-2.0.46.tar.gz
   mv red5-server red5

4. Create a user for Red5 so it does not run as root:

   useradd -r -s /sbin/nologin -d /opt/red5 red5
   chown -R red5:red5 /opt/red5

5. Create the service file /etc/systemd/system/red5.service, replacing the JAVA_HOME value with the folder from step 2:

   [Unit]
   Description=Red5 media server
   After=network.target
   
   [Service]
   Type=simple
   User=red5
   WorkingDirectory=/opt/red5
   Environment=RED5_HOME=/opt/red5
   Environment=JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-21-openjdk-amd64
   ExecStart=/opt/red5/red5.sh
   ExecStop=/opt/red5/red5-shutdown.sh
   Restart=on-failure
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target

6. Start Red5 and enable it at boot:

   systemctl daemon-reload
   systemctl enable --now red5
   systemctl status red5

7. Open http://SERVER-IP:5080 in your browser. The Red5 start page confirms the server is running.

Open the firewall

With CSF, add 1935 and 5080 to TCP_IN in /etc/csf/csf.conf and run csf -ra. With firewalld:

firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=1935/tcp --add-port=5080/tcp
firewall-cmd --reload

Stream to Red5

In OBS Studio or another encoder, use the server address rtmp://SERVER-IP/live and any stream key, for example mystream. Players can then read the stream from the same address and key.

Change the memory limit

Red5 starts Java with a 1 GB heap. For more viewers, set your own options by adding a line such as Environment="JVM_OPTS=-Xms512m -Xmx4g" to the service file, then run systemctl daemon-reload and systemctl restart red5.

Troubleshooting

• "Please set JAVA_HOME" in journalctl -u red5: the JAVA_HOME line in the service file does not match the folder from step 2.
• Port already in use: check with ss -ltnp | grep -E ':1935|:5080', then stop the other program or change the ports in /opt/red5/conf/red5.properties.
• Encoder cannot connect: make sure port 1935 is open in the server firewall and in any provider firewall.

Official source and releases: Red5 on GitHub.

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