This article covers the technical requirements of setting up your audio streaming platform to run your business. To operate the MediaCP you will require three primary components including a Domain Name, a Server or VPS and the MediaCP license itself.
A domain name points a name such as "mediacp.net" to your MediaCP software, and is required in order to provide secure access.
A Server or VPS provides a platform to install the MediaCP software on. A VPS offers a great starting point for your platform.
A MediaCP license is required for each server or vps that you install the product on.
Purchase your domain name
The first step is to purchase a domain name. If you already have a domain name, then you can skip this step.
You can purchase a relatively cheap domain name from Namecheap.com. This is our recommended go-to for domain purchases because they are cheap, provide decent enough support and comes packed with features.
Determine the MediaCP address
Now we must determine which address to use for the MediaCP software. Since the top-level domain name is typically used to point to your own website, we recommend using a sub-domain.
In this tutorial we’ll be using streaming.mediacp.net (not a real address). Some other suggestions are radio.mediacp.net, audio.mediacp.net, panel.mediacp.net. It is entirely up to you.
Purchase and setup a new VPS
A VPS is a great way to get started quickly and affordably, we recommend Vultr since they offer a great stable platform in almost every region of the world. The benefit of most VPS services is that as you grow and gain more customers, you can gradually upgrade to a more VPS with one-click from Vultr.
Which VPS do i choose?
Vultr offers a number of options and we recommend starting with a Cloud Compute instance since it is a good all-rounder and slightly cheaper to increase memory when you start adding more clients.
The System Requirements state that you will need at least 2 GB of memory so the 1 vCPU / 2 GB Memory option is a great start and will be enough for a small amount of audio services with AutoDJ.
- Navigate to the Vultr website using this link and you will recieve a $100 credit at Vultr.
- Scroll down until you see the $10 instance as shown above and click “Deploy Now”
- You will first need to sign up if you don’t already have an account
- Now select the Cloud Compute option and the location where you want to deploy your service as shown in the image below.
- Scroll down and select Debian 11 as the operating system
- Select the instance size of your preference
- Finally scroll the rest of the way to the bottom of the page and enter your MediaCP address/domain that we determined in the section above. In this example we use streaming.mediacp.net then you can press the Deploy button
- The VPS may take a few minutes before it is ready. Once ready copy the IP address provided to somewhere safe, we’ll be using this to point our domain name to the server.
Connect your domain
Now that the VPS is ready and your domain name is registered, we can connect the domain to the newly provisioned VPS. Select your provider below for instructions on how to do this.
- Login to Namecheap
- Click on the Manage button next to your domain name
- Click on the Advanced DNS tab near the top of the page
- Click on the + ADD NEW RECORD button
- Enter the first part of your sub-domain into the Host field. For example, in relation to streaming.mediacp.net we’ll enter only “streaming” into the Host Field. When ready, press the green tick to save the changes.
- Your domain name is now ready to be used with the MediaCP
If your domain name servers are pointing to Cloudflare then you will need to add an A record within Cloudflare. It is important to not enable the proxy, since it could cause problems with access to your services.
- Login to Cloudflare
- Select the DNS item from the left side menu
- Click on +Add record
- Now fill out the following details, where “streaming” is the first part of our domain “streaming.mediacp.net”
- Type: A
- Name: streaming
- IPv4 address: (paste from vultr)
- Proxy status: (OFF) DNS only
- TTL: Auto
Install MediaCP
The MediaCP Support team provide a free installation service for all new trials, and also paid licenses. This is the best way to get started and ensure everything is running optimally. Alternatively, if you would like to install the product yourself it is also fairly straight forward and we have provided instructions below.
Installation services are typically completed within the next business day, please note this excludes weekends.
- Open the Installation Service Request Form
- Copy and paste the IP Address and Root Password from Vultr into the form as shown in the image below.
- Read and agree to the Terms & Conditions then press the Submit Installation Request.
- A ticket requesting to install the MediaCP software will now be created and you will receive an email confirmation.
- Download and install Putty for Windows
- Open Putty and enter the IP address for your new VPS into the Hostname field then press the Open button at the bottom.
- Enter the username of ‘root’ and press return.
- Enter the root password you have been provided from Vultr and press return
- Install curl in case it was not already installed by default
apt -y install curl;
- Copy and paste the following to begin the MediaCP installation process
su -c "$(curl -sSL http://install.mediacp.net)"
- Enter your MediaCP license when prompted, then press return.
- You will be presented with a list of options, enter “1” and press return to begin installation of the MediaCP
- Enter your domain name when requested, in our example we used streaming.mediacp.net
- You may be asked about installing a Video Engine, for Audio Streaming it is not required; and this guide does not cover this so enter “3” and press return which selects [3] Do not install
- The installation process will now continue and may take 15-20 minutes to install all components.
- Once completed, copy and paste the URL presented into your browser to finalise the install.
- Enter your preferred username, password, email address and timezone settings. Don’t worry, all of this can be changed at a later date also. Press save to continue.
- Continue through the prompts to complete the installation, for most users the default options are OK.
