A Hetzner Cloud Volume stores your source videos on a Hetzner Cloud Server; it does not create or send a YouTube stream. Attach the volume to the server, format and mount it, copy your videos to the mounted path, then configure an encoder on that server to read and loop them while sending its feed to YouTube. For a manual mount, make it persistent across reboots and ensure the encoder starts only after the volume is mounted.
How the volume fits into a YouTube loop stream
The volume is networked block storage attached to a Cloud Server. Once mounted, it appears as a directory in the server’s filesystem, and the encoder can read video files from that directory. The encoder—not the volume—sends the live audio-video feed to YouTube.
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YouTube distinguishes the stream, the incoming feed, from the broadcast, the viewer-facing event. One broadcast is bound to one stream. The distinction is described in Google’s broadcast and stream documentation. You can set up an encoder through software such as OBS and YouTube Studio; the YouTube API lifecycle documentation is relevant if you build an API-driven workflow.
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| Choice | What it does | Best fit |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic setup | Hetzner formats and mounts the volume during creation. The documented filesystem choices are EXT4 and XFS, and the default mount path is /mnt/HC_Volume_${VOLUME_ID}. |
A new volume when you want the shorter setup route. |
| Manual setup | You identify the block device, choose and create a filesystem if appropriate, and mount it at a path you select, such as /mnt/videos. You also configure boot-time mounting if needed. |
When you need control over filesystem, mount point, or Linux configuration. |
Hetzner documents both routes in its volume creation guide. EXT4 and XFS are both supported for automatic formatting; the cited documentation does not establish a general performance winner for this workload.
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Create and attach the volume
- In Hetzner Console, select the project containing the Cloud Server that will run your encoder.
- Create a Cloud Volume in that project, choose its capacity and location, and attach it to the intended server. Confirm the server and volume are in a compatible location before creation.
- Choose automatic setup for Hetzner to format and mount the new volume, or manual setup if you intend to configure it yourself. Do not choose formatting for a volume that contains data you need to keep.
- Note the mount path or device information shown in the console. A volume can be attached to one server at a time; a Cloud Server can have up to 16 volumes, according to Hetzner’s volume overview and FAQ.
Mount a volume manually on Linux
The following workflow is for Linux administration on the target Cloud Server. Hetzner’s community tutorial uses Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04 examples and was dated 2025-02-14; device names and commands can differ by distribution and server configuration. Consult the current Hetzner Linux formatting and mounting tutorial before applying commands.
- Identify the device. Use the operating system’s block-device tools to inspect available devices, sizes, models, serials, and existing mount points. Verify which device is the new volume before doing anything destructive.
- Format only a confirmed new volume. If the volume is new and safe to erase, create a filesystem of your choice. A
mkfscommand destroys existing filesystem data on the selected device. Never paste a tutorial’s example device name such as/dev/sdbwithout confirming it identifies your volume. - Create a mount point and mount it. For example, use a dedicated directory such as
/mnt/videos, then mount the confirmed device there using the filesystem and device identifier appropriate to your system. - Verify the mount before copying media. Run
findmntordf -hand confirm the expected volume and available capacity. If the volume is not mounted, files copied into the directory may instead consume space on the server’s root disk. - Make a manual mount persistent. Configure the mount in
/etc/fstabusing a stable device identifier and the correct filesystem and options for your system. Test the entry before relying on it, and verify after a reboot that the volume is mounted before the encoder starts.
Copy videos and point the encoder at them
- Create a dedicated media directory under the verified mount, for example
/mnt/videos/loop. - Copy the source videos into that directory. Check that the Linux account running the encoder can read the files and traverse the directories.
- In your chosen encoder or media automation tool, set the input file or playlist paths to the mounted directory and configure its repeat or loop behavior. Exact loop controls differ by application; use that application’s current documentation for settings, syntax, and restart behavior.
- Configure the encoder’s YouTube ingest details, including the stream key, through the encoder and YouTube Studio workflow you use. Keep the key private. Test the feed before making the broadcast public.
- Confirm that live streaming is enabled for the channel. If using the YouTube Live Streaming API directly, Google documents an API lifecycle of creating a broadcast and stream, binding them, testing, going live, and concluding the broadcast in its Life of a Broadcast guide. API-driven account access uses OAuth; the API does not support service-account authentication for a YouTube account. See Google’s OAuth documentation and its LiveStreams insert requirements.
Confirm your planned content complies with YouTube’s applicable copyright rules and channel policies. A technically valid loop does not grant rights to music or video, and the storage setup does not determine whether content is eligible to remain live or be monetized.
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Keep the volume and files available after a restart
An automatically mounted volume uses Hetzner’s setup path. With a manual mount, boot persistence depends on your system configuration, such as a correct /etc/fstab entry. For unattended operation, also configure your encoder process or supervisor to start after the mount is available; a persistent mount alone does not guarantee the encoder will restart or the YouTube broadcast will resume. Hetzner’s volume FAQ covers volume behavior, while the encoder’s own documentation must supply restart details.
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- Capacity: Hetzner lists volume sizes from 10 GB to 10 TB. Volumes can be increased but not reduced. After increasing a provider volume, expand the filesystem inside Linux as well; increasing the block device alone may not make the added space usable.
- Performance: Hetzner lists up to 5,000 sustained read/write IOPS and up to 200 MB/s sustained throughput, with burst limits up to 7,500 IOPS and 300 MB/s. These are provider-published limits, not a guarantee of the speed your encoder or workload will achieve.
- Location: Hetzner’s FAQ lists volume locations including Falkenstein, Helsinki, Nuremberg, Ashburn, Hillsboro, and Singapore. Confirm current availability and location in the console when creating the server and volume.
- Backups: Hetzner says volume blocks are stored on three physical servers, but this replication is not a user-accessible backup or restore point. Hetzner states that it does not provide backups or snapshots for volumes, and server backups and snapshots exclude attached volumes. Keep an independent copy of irreplaceable source videos.
See Hetzner’s volume overview for published capacity, performance, mounting, and backup details, and its FAQ for resizing and attachment constraints.
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Troubleshoot common problems
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to check or do |
|---|---|---|
| Copied files do not appear on the volume, or the root disk is filling. | The volume was not mounted when files were copied; the mount-point directory exists on the root disk even when the volume is absent. | Check findmnt or df -h. Mount the volume, verify the destination, then move or recopy files to the mounted path. |
| The encoder reports that a file is missing or cannot be read. | The configured path is wrong, the volume did not mount, or the encoder account lacks read/traverse permission. | Verify the mount and exact file path, then inspect ownership and permissions for the account running the encoder. |
| The volume is missing after reboot. | A manual mount was not made persistent, or its configuration refers to the wrong device or filesystem. | Review the /etc/fstab entry and device identifier, test the mount, and confirm boot behavior. Do not start the encoder until the mount is active. |
| Formatting fails or existing data disappears. | The wrong block device may have been selected or a device with existing data was formatted. | Stop further writes. Identify devices by size, model, serial, and mount state before any format operation; restore from an independent backup if available. |
| The broadcast does not start or YouTube rejects the feed. | The channel may not be enabled for live streaming, ingest details may be wrong, or the broadcast and stream may not be correctly configured. | Check channel eligibility, stream key and encoder settings, then test the feed. For API workflows, follow Google’s documented lifecycle and review API eligibility errors. |
| The loop stops after a server restart. | The volume may not be mounted before the encoder starts, or the encoder process is not configured to restart. | Verify mount ordering and the encoder’s process-supervisor or restart configuration; follow that software’s documentation. |
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