Backup streams (fallback)

What should happen when your main encoder drops? With a fallback, listeners who connect while the main stream is down are sent to a backup stream automatically, instead of seeing an error.

Set it up

Add fallback to the mount people use, naming another mount:

[[mounts]]
path = "/live.mp3"
fallback = "/automation.mp3"
secret_file = "secrets/live-source"

[[mounts]]
path = "/automation.mp3"
secret_file = "secrets/automation-source"

Listeners keep the address /live.mp3. There is no redirect: Quikcast simply attaches them to the backup behind the scenes. Run your always-on playlist into /automation.mp3, and your live show into /live.mp3.

How it behaves

• Choosing a stream. Each new listener gets the first mount in the chain that currently has a working source. If none do, they get a 404.
• Coming back. When the main stream returns, MP3 and AAC listeners on the backup move back to it at a safe point in the audio, without reconnecting. Other formats stay on the backup until they reconnect.
• When the backup itself drops. Its listeners are disconnected and reconnect, at which point the chain is evaluated again.
• Limits. A listener served by the backup counts against the backup's limit, not the main stream's.
• Chains. A chain can be up to eight mounts long. Unknown targets, loops and chains that are too long are rejected at startup.

Players must support the backup's format

Quikcast never converts audio. If your main stream is MP3 and your backup is Ogg, a listener whose player cannot play Ogg will not hear the backup. Use the same format and similar bitrate for both.

Fallback and relays together

A relay can feed the backup. For example, pull another station into /automation.mp3 so your listeners hear it when your live show is off. See Relay another station.

Why not "live over automation" switching?

Fallback reacts to a stream being absent. It does not interrupt a playing stream because another source appeared. For a DJ who takes over from a running playlist, do the switching in Liquidsoap and send Quikcast the result.