This post details the steps I took to install Red5 from source on a CentOS 5.5 base server.

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1. Install Java using yum. (The -y flag provides a ‘yes’ answer to all prompts.)

yum -y install java-1.6.0-openjdk java-1.6.0-openjdk-devel

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2. Install the Apache ant binary. I downloaded the most recent release one directly from Apache’s archives. The version installed using yum (and default repositories) will not compile Red5.

cd /usr/src
wget http://archive.apache.org/dist/ant/binaries/apache-ant-1.8.1-bin.tar.bz2
tar jxvf apache-ant-1.8.1-bin.tar.bz2
mv apache-ant-1.8.1 /usr/local/ant

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3. Set important Java environment variables.

export ANT_HOME=/usr/local/ant
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java
export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/ant/bin
export CLASSPATH=.:$JAVA_HOME/lib/classes.zip

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4. You should also add them to bashrc so they’re available the next time you log in.

echo 'export ANT_HOME=/usr/local/ant' >> /etc/bashrc
echo 'export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java' >> /etc/bashrc
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/ant/bin' >> /etc/bashrc
echo 'export CLASSPATH=.:$JAVA_HOME/lib/classes.zip' >> /etc/bashrc

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5. Install subversion with yum. If you did a base install of CentOS, subversion will not be preinstalled.

yum -y install subversion

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6. Check out the Red5 source.

cd /usr/src
svn checkout http://red5.googlecode.com/svn/java/server/trunk/ red5

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7. Build Red5 with ant.

mv red5 /usr/local/
cd /usr/local/red5
ant prepare
ant dist

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8. Start Red5.

cp -r dist/conf .
./red5.sh

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9. Create a startup script (optional):

vi /etc/init.d/red5

Then enter this text into the file.

#!/bin/bash
# chkconfig: 2345 80 80
# description: Red5 streaming server
# processname: red5

. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions

[ -r /etc/sysconfig/red5 ] && . /etc/sysconfig/red5

RETVAL=0

case "$1" in
	start)
	echo -n "Starting red5: "
	cd /usr/local/red5
	/usr/local/red5/red5.sh >/dev/null 2>/dev/null &&
	RETVAL=$?
	if [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ]; then
		echo $! > /var/run/red5.pid
		touch /var/lock/subsys/red5
	fi
	[ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && success $"red5 startup" || failure $"red5 startup"
	echo
	;;
	stop)
	echo -n $"Stopping down red5: "
	killproc -p /var/run/red5.pid
	RETVAL=$?
	echo
	[ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && rm -f /var/lock/subsys/red5
	;;
	restart)
	$0 stop
	$0 start
	;;
	status)
	status red5 -p /var/run/red5.pid
	RETVAL=$?
	;;
	*)
	echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status}"
	RETVAL=1
esac

exit $RETVAL

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10. Set permissions on the script.

chmod a+x /etc/init.d/red5
chkconfig red5 on

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11. Add necessary ports to the iptables file.

vi /etc/sysconfig/iptables

Then add the following lines:

-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 5080 -j ACCEPT
-A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state NEW -m tcp -p tcp --dport 1935 -j ACCEPT

You may also want to add exceptions for 8443, 8088, 9035, 1936, and 9999 if necessary for your application,

service iptables restart

You may want to restart the server, and the Red5 test page can be accessed at http://localhost(or servername):5080/