Senta Troubleshooting: Streams, Crashes, Licenses

The stream doesn’t start, or fails immediately

Open the stream log via the log link in the stream’s row on the Streams page — it shows ffmpeg’s own output. The most common causes:

• a wrong or unreachable input file path (especially if file system access isn’t configured correctly);
• the destination port is already taken by another process;
• an error in the profile’s own command (a typo in an ffmpeg option).

No Input/Output fields when creating a stream

The profile’s command is missing the ${i} and/or ${o} variables — Senta uses them to decide which fields to show when creating a stream. Open the profile and add these variables to the command; see Add profile and Profile variables for details.

A stream keeps crashing and restarting on its own

That’s the built-in Restart on crash mechanism - if enabled in the stream’s settings, Senta automatically restarts a crashed stream after a configured delay, up to a limited number of attempts per period (Restart limit). See Restart on crash for details and configuration.

An ffmpeg process keeps using more and more memory

Senta can automatically detect uncontrolled memory growth in ffmpeg processes and restart the affected stream - see the Monitoring section in the stream settings (short-term check: more than 100 MB growth in 10 minutes or 200 MB in 20 minutes; long-term check: more than 3% growth per hour for five consecutive hours). All three checks are enabled by default - disable the relevant one in the stream settings if this behavior isn’t wanted.

The license won’t activate, or the whole web interface redirects to the License Not Active page

Without an active license (or one that is still being checked), Senta blocks access to the entire web interface, not just specific features like the Integration API - the app redirects to the License Not Active page, and streams don’t start. The page shows the reason and the Activate button. See Add license for the full walkthrough. Until license sales through the Cesbo profile start, use the test key.

What the reason means:

• License activation required - this server has no license yet, or it was updated from a version that used the license hash from the previous billing portal. Click Activate.
• License activated, waiting for the license server - the check repeats automatically, or click Re-check now.
• The license has expired - renew the license in your Cesbo profile at app.cesbo.com and click Re-check now.
• The license was revoked or this device was removed from it - the device was removed from the license in your Cesbo profile. Activate the license again.
• License servers are unreachable - the server has no internet access. Check the firewall and proxy.
• The license server answer was tampered with - a proxy or firewall between the server and Cesbo changed the answer. Check the network.
• The license file cannot be read - the activation file next to the config (for example, /etc/senta/senta.license.json) is damaged. Activate the license again.

Messages during activation:

• The activation server ... is unreachable - the server can’t connect to the license servers. Check internet access, the firewall and proxy.
• Cannot save the license file ... - the Senta process can’t write to the config folder.
• This license has reached its device limit - remove a device in your Cesbo profile or choose which one to replace.
• Link expired or no longer valid - click Start again and open the new link.
• The license server rejected this server's time - the server clock is off. Enable NTP.

Senta takes long to restart, or the database takes too much disk space

Senta keeps stream logs, stream events and their reports in an SQLite database (by default /opt/senta/db). Old records are deleted automatically by the Settings options:

• Log storage duration (days) - FFmpeg logs, 7 days by default;
• Stream events storage duration (days) - stream events and their reports, 365 days by default;
• Database size limit (GB) - when the database holds more data than this, the oldest logs are deleted, then stream events. Checked every 5 minutes, 0 (the default) means no limit.

0 in a storage duration means keep forever. Senta doesn’t compact the database on start, so a large database no longer slows down restarts. The database file doesn’t shrink after old records are deleted - SQLite reuses the freed space for new records, so the file stops growing.

How to get an API key

The API key section lives on the Settings page - it becomes reachable once the license reaches valid or processing status (see above). See API for details.

Caution

If you’ve already generated an API key and use it in integrations, don’t click Regenerate unless you need to - it revokes the old key and breaks every integration still using it.

An additional server stays offline

Check, in order:

1. Whether the remote server’s IP/port is reachable from the main server’s network (no firewall in between).
2. Whether the API Key matches character-for-character the one set on the remote server.
3. Whether the Senta process is actually running on the remote server.

See Servers for the full setup.

The file browser is empty or shows an access error

The Display file system flag in Settings turns the feature on, but the Senta binary must be started by a user who actually has permission to the directory in question - otherwise the browser stays empty or shows an access error even with the flag on. See Working with Files.

I have several FFmpeg versions installed - how do I pick one

See Alternative FFmpeg versions - it explains how to configure and pick a specific binary for a profile.

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