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16. Connection Issues

Troubleshooting connection problems between OBS and the relay, and container startup issues.

16.1 Cannot Connect from OBS

16.1.1 Symptoms

  • OBS shows "Failed to connect to server"
  • Connection timeout

16.1.2 Possible Causes

16.1.2.1 1. Port Not Accessible

Check: Verify port 1935 is exposed:

docker compose ps

Look for 0.0.0.0:1935->1935/tcp

Solution: Ensure docker-compose.yml has correct port mapping: 

ports:
  - "1935:1935"

16.1.2.2 2. IP Address Mismatch

Check: Verify you're using the correct IP address:

ip addr show | grep inet

Solution: - Use the relay PC's local network IP (e.g., 192.168.1.100) - Don't use 127.0.0.1 or localhost from another machine

16.1.2.3 3. Firewall Blocking

Check: Test if port is reachable:

# From gaming PC
telnet <relay-ip> 1935

Solution: - Open port 1935 in firewall - Ubuntu: sudo ufw allow 1935/tcp - Check if Docker networking is working

16.1.2.4 4. IP Range Restriction

Check: Look for "deny publish" in logs:

docker compose logs relay | grep "deny\|publish"

Solution: Adjust PUBLISH_IP_RANGE in env/relay.env: 

# Allow entire local network
PUBLISH_IP_RANGE=192.168.0.0/16

# Allow specific IP
PUBLISH_IP_RANGE=192.168.1.50/32

16.1.3 Network Connectivity Test

If relay can't reach streaming services:

Check: Test if relay can reach the service:

docker compose exec relay ping -c 3 live-jfk.twitch.tv
docker compose exec relay ping -c 3 a.rtmp.youtube.com

Solution: - Check firewall settings - Verify outbound RTMP (port 1935) is allowed - Try different Twitch ingest endpoint (change TWITCH_ENDPOINT)

16.2 Container Won't Start

16.2.1 Symptoms

  • docker compose up exits immediately
  • Container status shows "Exited (1)"

16.2.2 Possible Causes

16.2.2.1 1. Configuration Syntax Error

Check: Look for nginx errors:

docker compose logs relay | grep -i "error\|failed\|emergency"

Solution: - Check for typos in manually edited config files - Rebuild container: docker compose build --no-cache

16.2.2.2 2. Port Already in Use

Check: Error message about port binding:

docker compose up

Look for: bind: address already in use

Solution: - Stop other processes using port 1935 - Find process: sudo lsof -i :1935 - Kill it: sudo kill <PID>

16.2.2.3 3. Missing Dependencies

Solution: Pull latest base image: 

docker compose pull
docker compose build --no-cache

16.3 Advanced Diagnostics

16.3.1 Increase Log Verbosity

Edit build/conf/nginx/nginx.conf and change: 

error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log warn;

to: 

error_log /var/log/nginx/error.log debug;

Rebuild: docker compose build

16.3.2 Check nginx Configuration

# Test nginx config syntax
docker compose exec relay nginx -t

# View active configuration
docker compose exec relay cat /etc/nginx/nginx.conf

16.4 See Also