# WowzaStreamingEngineManager as a non root user

**URL:** <https://community.wowza.com/t/wowzastreamingenginemanager-as-a-non-root-user/40288>\
**Category:** Wowza Streaming Engine\
**Created:** [April 3, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/wowzastreamingenginemanager-as-a-non-root-user/40288 "2014-04-03T07:50:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Dennis\_Peper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Dennis\_Peper](https://community.wowza.com/u/Dennis_Peper)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/wowzastreamingenginemanager-as-a-non-root-user/40288/1 "2014-04-03T07:50:20Z")

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Hi all,

Is it possible to run the WowzaStreamingEngineManager service as a non root user?

I have tried editing /etc/init.d/WowzaStreamingEngineManager and placing sudo -u user in front of $WMSMGRDAEMON\_CMD in the start section.

These errors appeared in the log when attempting to start and the service start command did not return:

/usr/local/WowzaStreamingEngine/manager/bin/startmgr.sh: line 17: ulimit: open files: cannot modify limit: Operation not permitted

/usr/local/WowzaStreamingEngine/manager/bin/startmgr.sh: line 54: /var/run/WowzaStreamingEngineManager.pid: Permission denied

I guess more modifications could be made to resolve these two issues. Are there instructions available for running WowzaStreamingEngineManager as a non root user?

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![sal\_jefferson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sal\_jefferson](https://community.wowza.com/u/sal_jefferson)\
**Post date:** [April 3, 2014, 11:12am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/wowzastreamingenginemanager-as-a-non-root-user/40288/2 "2014-04-03T11:12:50Z")

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Take a look at this guide:

[How to run Wowza Media Server as non-root user on port 80](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-run-wowza-media-server-as-non-root-user-on-port-80)

Salvadore

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**Author:** ![Dennis\_Peper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Dennis\_Peper](https://community.wowza.com/u/Dennis_Peper)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:20am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/wowzastreamingenginemanager-as-a-non-root-user/40288/3 "2014-04-23T08:20:24Z")

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Hi Salvadore, this shows how to run Wowza Media Server as a non root user. I am after instructions to run the Wowza Streaming Engine _Manager_ as a non root user.

Thanks!

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**Author:** ![Paul\_Shields](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.wowza.com/paul_shields/32/390_2.png) [@Paul\_Shields](https://community.wowza.com/u/Paul_Shields)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/wowzastreamingenginemanager-as-a-non-root-user/40288/4 "2014-04-28T17:19:59Z")

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Hi Dennis

For the Streaming Engine Manager to run as a non-root user you could look at modifying the startmgr.sh script in /usr/local/WowzaStreamingEngine/manager/bin (default location). The following is a quick test I carried out which started up the Manager as a non-root user.

Please note that this is not a supported or documented solution. I will however feed this into our backlog queue, but we can’t give any commitment for when a request will be implemented and supported.

Find the block of code like this:

```auto
 if ["$WMSMGRCOMMAND" = "start"]; then
           $RUNCMD $CMD $BACKGRND &
        else
           $CMD
        fi

```

Modify the line beginning $RUNCMD to the following:

```auto
 if ["$WMSMGRCOMMAND" = "start"]; then
            sudo -u $USER-g $GROUP $CMD $BACKGRND &
        else
           $CMD
        fi

```

You will of course need to replace the $USER and $GROUP variables with your non-root user/group. You will also need to ensure that this user has permission to access the files within [install-dir]/manager/ and that the various lock and pid files are writable, but the basics are there to get something quickly up and running.

Regards

Paul

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**Author:** ![Paul\_Shields](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/community.wowza.com/paul_shields/32/390_2.png) [@Paul\_Shields](https://community.wowza.com/u/Paul_Shields)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2014, 10:55am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/wowzastreamingenginemanager-as-a-non-root-user/40288/5 "2014-05-22T10:55:35Z")

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Please note that we now have an updated article covering how to run Wowza as a [named user](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-run-wowza-streaming-engine-as-a-named-user-linux-and-os-x%28Linux-and-OS-X%29).

.