Sourcing from files

You can configure either a broadcast or an on-demand publishing point to stream a single file from a directory.

If you are using a broadcast publishing point, set the publishing point path to reference the directory and the name of the file you want to stream, such as C:\WMPub\WMRoot\Myfile.wma.

If you are using an on-demand publishing point, you can set the publishing point path to the directory and name of the file you want to stream, such as C:\WMPub\WMRoot \myfile.wma, or you can set the publishing point to simply reference the directory, such as C:\WMPub\WMRoot, and make the connection URL for the publishing point specify the file in the directory that you want to stream. For more information about streaming files from a directory, see Sourcing from a directory.

Notes

• The server does not use your user account to access files and streams; it uses the Network Service account by default. If you are sourcing from a file that is in a folder other than C:\WMPub, make sure that the folder is shared and that the Network Service account has at least read permissions for the folder. If the Network Service account does not have permissions for a folder, the server will not be able to connect to it. For more information about rights and permissions, see Understanding rights. .
• Content streamed by Windows Media Services must meet the minimum supported content length of the player to ensure reliable playback. The minimum supported content length for Windows Media Player 9 Series is 5 seconds. The minimum supported content length for previous versions of Windows Media Player is 30 seconds.
• If your publishing point is accessing files on a computer running Windows 2000 Server as a source of content, you may have difficulty streaming the content due to differences in the way that Windows 2000 Server and Windows Server 2003 handle user account authorization and privileges. If the two computers are members of the same domain, on-demand publishing points that have the WMS NTFS ACL Authorization plug-in enabled and attempt to retrieve content from a computer running Windows 2000 Server will cause remote clients to receive an "Access denied" error message. Local clients, such as the Test stream feature of Windows Media Services, are not affected. If the two computers are not members of the same domain, see To access content on a computer running Windows 2000 Server.

Related topics

• About publishing point types
• Announcing content
• Sourcing from playlists, files, and encoders
• To access the Add Publishing Point Wizard
• To add a publishing point using the advanced method
• To stream a Windows Media file from an on-demand publishing point