Channel from the cluster — a channel on another server as a source
Updated 23 Oct 2026In a cluster, a channel on one server can be the source of a channel on another server: for example a station that receives the channels and a server that distributes them further. Choose the server and the channel from the lists — Castreon builds the address and connects by itself, with no addresses, tokens or fingerprints copied by hand.
Available from Castreon 1.8.0, in the Enterprise edition, on the servers of the same cluster.
How the stream travels
- The stream passes between servers only on the cluster port (default 33444), over TLS 1.3 with certificates on both sides — not on the source server’s public
/live/…addresses. - The source server gives the channel only to servers in the cluster. Castreon checks the certificate of the chosen server and whether the server is still in the cluster; a server removed from the cluster loses the stream within a few seconds.
- On the receiving server, Castreon passes the stream to FFmpeg on
127.0.0.1— this step does not leave the server.
What the source server needs
The stream is taken from the source channel’s HTTP-TS output. A channel that has only other outputs (for example HLS) appears in the list with “— no HTTP-TS” and cannot be chosen.
On the source server: the channel → Edit → Outputs → Add output → HTTP-TS → Save (the channel restarts once).
Why HTTP-TS: it is a continuous stream, with low delay, that carries all the channel’s tracks — several audio tracks, DVB subtitles, teletext — exactly as the source has them. The already encoded stream is not re-encoded for this output.
If the source channel’s profile has several qualities, only one goes out over HTTP-TS: the one chosen on the channel’s HTTP-TS output.
A new channel from the cluster
On the receiving server (on the controller, choose it first in the top bar):
- Channels → new channel → under Sources, the Channel from the cluster type.
- Cluster server — from the list of the cluster’s servers.
- Channel on that server — from the list of that server’s channels, searchable. The channel Name is filled in by itself, if it is empty.
- The profile: without a profile (passthrough), picture and sound pass through as they come; with a profile, the channel is transcoded on this server.
- Save and start the channel.
Next to each channel in the list you see its state: “— no HTTP-TS”, “— stopped” or “— on demand” (an “On demand” channel starts by itself at the first request). If channels with HTTP-TS are missing, on the controller the Open the channels on “…” button opens the source server’s channel list in a new tab; after you have turned on HTTP-TS there, click Reload list.
The chosen channel stays chosen even if it is renamed on the source server — the link is made by channel, not by name.
As a backup source
Channel from the cluster is a source type like any other: it can be the channel’s first source or a backup one, in the same Sources list (for example the local satellite first and another server’s channel as backup). Switching to the backup and back follows the channel’s rules.
Switch to cluster
If a server already pulls channels from another server of the same cluster through the /live/… addresses, you can move the sources in one step: Settings → Sources from other servers → in the server’s group, Switch to cluster.
- Only sources whose channels exist on the source server and have the HTTP-TS output turned on are moved; the others are shown as unchanged.
- Running channels restart one by one.
- The old address stays on the source: you bring it back in the editor by changing the type back to URL.
Common problems
- “the server does not answer on the cluster port” — address, port or firewall between the two servers.
- “the channel on the source server has no HTTP-TS output enabled” — turn it on there; the source then works by itself.
- “the channel is stopped on the source server” — start the channel there or make it “On demand”.
- “the chosen channel no longer exists on the source server” — it was deleted; choose another channel.
- Does the source use a channel on this server? For a channel on the same server, choose the another channel source type.