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FFmpeg

How to Keep FFmpeg Streaming After an SSH Disconnect on Oracle Cloud

Use a remote tmux session and FFmpeg’s -nostdin option to keep a stream process running after you close SSH, then reconnect to inspect it.

By VGSources Team 4 min read
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Start FFmpeg inside a tmux session on your Oracle Cloud instance, add FFmpeg’s -nostdin option, then detach from tmux before closing SSH. The process runs on the remote instance, so closing your local terminal does not by itself stop it. Reconnect to the same instance as the same user to inspect or reattach to the session.

Keep FFmpeg running with tmux

This method preserves an interactive remote terminal that you can return to later. The tmux manual says a session survives accidental SSH disconnection and intentional detaching. tmux(1) manual

  1. Connect to the Oracle Cloud instance: ssh OPC_USER@INSTANCE_PUBLIC_IP. Replace the placeholders with your Oracle Linux username and instance address.
  2. Create a tmux session: tmux new-session -s ffmpeg-stream. Run this on the instance, not in a local tmux session that merely contains your SSH connection.
  3. Start FFmpeg inside the session: use your real input and output details, adding -nostdin among the global options. For example: ffmpeg -nostdin -i INPUT -f FLV OUTPUT_URL. The example is a placeholder pattern, not a complete stream command; use the format, credentials and destination required by your setup.
  4. Detach without stopping the process: press Ctrl-b, release the keys, then press d. You can now close SSH.
  5. Return later: SSH into the same instance as the same user, then run tmux ls to list sessions and tmux attach-session -t ffmpeg-stream to reconnect to this one. If you gave it another name, use that name instead.

When attached, inspect FFmpeg’s output to see whether it is progressing. A tmux session still existing does not prove that the destination is receiving a healthy stream.

Why add -nostdin?

FFmpeg normally enables interaction through standard input unless standard input is itself an input. The option -nostdin disables that interaction. FFmpeg recommends it for background tasks to prevent input checks; on Linux and macOS, redirecting standard input from /dev/null is an alternative. FFmpeg FAQ · FFmpeg documentation

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This solves FFmpeg’s console-input behavior; it does not preserve the session. tmux handles persistence across SSH disconnection. With the tmux method, you can reattach and type q in FFmpeg’s terminal to request a clean stop.

Choose another method if your workflow needs it

Method Best suited to What it does not provide by itself
tmux Detaching and later returning to the same terminal to inspect or interact with FFmpeg. Process supervision or protection from instance failure.
systemd A repeatable, unattended process with service state and an intentionally configured restart policy. A guarantee that a restarted FFmpeg process will reconnect successfully or resume a stream without interruption.
nohup A simple, one-off background job when you do not need to reattach to its terminal. A reattachable terminal or a configured service restart policy.

Use systemd for managed services

A systemd unit can define the FFmpeg command with ExecStart and restart behavior with Restart. Configure the actual binary path, arguments, environment and credentials for your instance; an example unit cannot safely assume those details. Restart behavior depends on why a process exits, and clean systemctl stop or restart operations are not treated as failures for automatic restart. See Oracle’s Oracle Linux service management documentation.

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Use nohup for a lightweight background job

nohup runs a command with hangup signals ignored and handles standard input and output according to its documented behavior. Redirect output to a known writable log file, then confirm the process and stream health after disconnecting. It does not give you tmux-style reattachment. See the GNU Coreutils nohup documentation.

What an SSH disconnect does—and does not—protect against

Closing SSH disconnects your local terminal; it is different from an instance reboot or termination, FFmpeg crashing, an out-of-memory kill, an unavailable source, or a broken network path from the instance to the stream destination. tmux keeps the terminal session available across disconnection, but does not supervise FFmpeg or recover a failed host. systemd can manage process execution and configured restarts, but a restart alone cannot ensure that the destination accepts the connection or that streaming resumes without interruption.

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Troubleshoot a missing or stopped stream

  • The tmux session is missing: verify that SSH connected to the same instance and that you logged in as the user who started it. Check tmux ls in that account; a different user or tmux server/socket may show a different set of sessions.
  • FFmpeg stopped or appears suspended: reattach to the tmux session and inspect the pane output. For a systemd service, inspect its service state and logs. Confirm that the background FFmpeg invocation includes -nostdin.
  • The session is present but the stream is unhealthy: a live tmux session only shows that the session exists. Check FFmpeg’s output, then verify the output URL, credentials, input source and network connection from the instance separately.
  • The instance or process failed: tmux alone does not restart FFmpeg after a crash or restore service after host failure. If you need process restart behavior, configure and verify a systemd policy suited to the failure modes you intend to handle.

Do not confuse OCI Streaming with a persistent FFmpeg session

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Streaming is a managed service for ingesting and consuming high-volume event data. It is a separate messaging product, not a way to keep an FFmpeg process on a compute instance running after SSH logout. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Streaming FAQ

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