Set up CDN routing behaviors for MediaTailor - AWS Elemental MediaTailor
CDN routing behavior configurationCDN routing best practicesNext steps

Set up CDN routing behaviors for MediaTailor

This section explains how to set up your content delivery network (CDN) to route different types of requests appropriately for AWS Elemental MediaTailor integration. Proper routing configuration ensures that manifest requests, content segments, and ad segments are handled correctly.

Configuring CDN routing behaviors is a critical step in creating an efficient content delivery pipeline. By setting up specific routing rules for different content types, you can optimize caching, improve delivery performance, and ensure personalized ad insertion works correctly.

Important

Failure to include CORS headers in either the cached object or on the CDN response to viewers can cause playback failures.

CDN routing behavior configuration

Set up your CDN to route different types of requests appropriately.

Content segment routing

Content segment routing directs requests for your actual content segments to your origin server. Like ad segment routing, content segment routing also requires proper CORS configuration to ensure smooth playback in web-based players.

For detailed configuration guidance, see the CloudFront example at Precedence 4: Content origin path behavior. This example provides specific settings that you should follow for CloudFront or adapt for other CDNs.

Key configuration requirements for content segment routing include:

  • Use path patterns that match your content segment file extensions (like *.ts, *.mp4, or *.m4s)

  • Route requests to your content origin (such as an Amazon S3 Bucket or MediaPackage endpoint)

  • For optimal cache-hit ratio, include only query string parameters that cause your origin to modify the response in the cache key and forward the origin request

  • Apply an appropriate cache policy with greater than 24-hour TTL values

  • Include CORS response headers to your viewers

Ad segment routing

Ad segment routing is critical for delivering personalized advertisements to viewers. When configuring ad segment routing, you must implement proper CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing) handling to prevent cache poisoning issues that can cause playback failures in web-based players.

For detailed configuration guidance, see the CloudFront example at Precedence 0: Ad segments path behavior. This example provides specific settings that you should follow for CloudFront or adapt for other CDNs.

Key configuration requirements for ad segment routing include:

  • Use the path pattern /tm/* specifically for MediaTailor ad segments

  • Route requests to segments.mediatailor.region.amazonaws.com

  • For optimal cache-hit ratio, do not include any viewer request headers, cookies, or query string parameters in the cache key or in the origin request

  • Apply an appropriate cache policy with greater than 24-hour TTL values

  • Include CORS response headers to your viewers

Manifest request routing

To route multivariant playlist, media playlist, and MPD requests to MediaTailor, use the following general settings. For CloudFront configuration, see Configuring manifest cache behavior.

  1. In your CDN configuration interface, create behaviors for different manifest types.

  2. Set path patterns to match multivariant playlist and media playlist file extensions (*.m3u8 for HLS) and MPD file extensions (*.mpd for DASH).

  3. Configure the origin setting in your CDN to point to your MediaTailor configuration endpoint.

  4. For ad insertion, disable caching of personalized multivariant playlists, media playlists, and MPDs. Because ad insertion provides personalized manifests, your CDN shouldn't cache them. If a different playback device than the one intended receives a cached playlist or MPD, it could result in issues with playback or tracking. For comprehensive caching guidance including TTL recommendations for all content types, see Caching optimization for CDN and MediaTailor integrations.

  5. Configure header forwarding for all headers. For minimum requirements, see Required headers for MediaTailor CDN integration.

  6. Enable query string forwarding to pass ad targeting parameters.

HLS multivariant playlist

HLS multivariant playlist requests follow these formats:

https://<playback-endpoint>/v1/index/<hashed-account-id>/<origin-id>/<index>.m3u8

Example:

https://777788889999.mediatailor.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v1/master/a1bc06b59e9a570b3b6b886a763d15814a86f0bb/Demo/assetId.m3u8
HLS media playlist

HLS media playlist requests follow these formats:

https://<playback-endpoint>/v1/manifest/<hashed-account-id>/<session-id>/<manifestNumber>.m3u8

Player requests to https://CDN_Hostname/some/path/asset.m3u8 are routed to the MediaTailor path https://mediatailor.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/v1/session/configuration/endpoint based on the keyword *.m3u8 in the request.

Example:

https://777788889999.mediatailor.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v1/manifest/a1bc06b59e9a570b3b6b886a763d15814a86f0bb/c240ea66-9b07-4770-8ef9-7d16d916b407/0.m3u8
DASH MPD

DASH MPD requests follow these formats:

https://<playback-endpoint>/v1/dash/<hashed-account-id>/<origin-id>/<assetName>.mpd

Player requests to https://CDN_Hostname/some/path/asset.mpd are routed to the MediaTailor path https://mediatailor.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/v1/dash/configuration/endpoint based on the keyword *.mpd in the request.

Example:

https://777788889999.mediatailor.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/v1/dash/a1bc06b59e9a570b3b6b886a763d15814a86f0bb/Demo/0.mpd

CDN routing best practices

When configuring CDN routing behaviors, follow these best practices to ensure optimal performance and reliability:

Use specific path patterns

Create specific path patterns that accurately match your content structure to ensure proper routing.

Prioritize behavior order

In most CDNs, behaviors are evaluated in order. Place more specific behaviors before more general ones.

Test behavior patterns

Verify that your path patterns correctly match the expected requests before deploying to production.

Document your configuration

Maintain documentation of your CDN routing behaviors to facilitate troubleshooting and future updates.

Next steps

After configuring your CDN routing behaviors, the next step is to configure CDN mapping in MediaTailor. See Set up CDN mapping in MediaTailor for instructions.