How can I record LiveKit calls locally using Egress without relying on cloud providers?

Below is one approach to recording calls using LiveKit Egress without relying on cloud storage. Instead of pushing the recording to an external service like S3 or GCP, you can configure Egress to write the output directly to your local filesystem. This local file approach keeps the setup simple and flexible for self-hosted environments.

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Overview

LiveKit Egress supports several output types. For local recordings, you need to:

1. Use the right output URI (using the file:// scheme).
2. Configure your recording command (or configuration file) accordingly.
3. Ensure that the Egress process has write permission to the target directory.

While the default examples in documentation may assume using cloud storage, you can bypass that by specifying a local file instead.

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Step-by-Step Implementation

1. Install and Configure LiveKit Egress

Ensure that you have LiveKit Egress installed. You can download the binary from the LiveKit releases page and follow the installation instructions.

2. Prepare Your Environment

Decide on the target directory for your recordings. For example, you might choose a path such as /tmp/recordings or /var/recordings.

Make sure that the directory exists and that the user running the LiveKit Egress process has write access:

BASHCopied
mkdir -p /tmp/recordings
chmod 755 /tmp/recordings

3. Running Egress with a Local File Output

When you run the recording command, specify the output URI using the file protocol. Below is an example shell script that records a specified room to a local file:

BASHCopied
#!/bin/bash

# Define your LiveKit server URL, room name, and output file
LIVEKIT_SERVER_URL="ws://your-livekit-server"  # e.g., ws://localhost:7880
ROOM_NAME="your-room-name"
OUTPUT_FILE="/tmp/recordings/recording.mkv"

# Execute the Egress recording command
./egress record \
  --url ${LIVEKIT_SERVER_URL} \
  --room ${ROOM_NAME} \
  --output "file://${OUTPUT_FILE}"

Save this script (e.g., as record.sh), give it execute permission (chmod +x record.sh), and run it. The command instructs LiveKit Egress to record the specified room and save the output file locally.

4. Using a Configuration File (Optional)

If you prefer to manage your settings via a configuration file (or environment variables) rather than command-line flags, you can create a config (e.g., egress.yaml) that specifies your output. A sample configuration might look like this:

YAMLCopied
egress:
  # Connection options to your LiveKit server
  url: "ws://your-livekit-server"
  room: "your-room-name"

  # Output settings for local file storage
  output:
    file: "/tmp/recordings/recording.mkv"

Then, start Egress by providing the configuration file:

BASHCopied
./egress record --config egress.yaml

This method keeps the command-line simpler and consolidates settings in one file.

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Considerations and Workarounds

• Local File Limits: Storing files locally means that they are bound to that host. If you plan to scale or have multiple recording servers, you’ll need to implement a mechanism (like a scheduled job or custom script) to collect and move files to a central location if necessary.
• Disk Space and Cleanup: Ensure that you monitor disk usage and implement a cleanup/rotation strategy for old recordings.
• Performance: If you record long sessions or high-quality streams, verify that the local disk performance can handle sustained writes.

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By following the steps above, you can set up LiveKit Egress to record calls directly to your local storage without integrating cloud services. This setup is particularly useful for local, self-hosted, or development environments where simplicity and direct file access are key.