PeerTube — User Guide
Electric Monk hosts a PeerTube instance for video hosting and streaming at peertube.electricmonk.io.
Features
- Video hosting — upload, transcode, and stream videos
- Live streaming — broadcast live via RTMP
- Federation — videos are discoverable across the PeerTube network (ActivityPub)
- Channels — organize videos into channels
- Playlists — curate collections of videos
- Comments and interactions — like, comment, and subscribe
- Video privacy — public, unlisted, or private videos
- Multiple resolutions — videos are transcoded into multiple quality levels
- S3-backed storage — video files are stored on the Electric Monk S3 infrastructure
- SSO login — authenticate through Authentik (OIDC plugin)
Getting Started
- Go to peertube.electricmonk.io
- Click Login
- Click the Authentik SSO button to authenticate with your Authentik credentials
- On first login, your PeerTube profile is created automatically
Note: The OIDC plugin must be enabled by an admin post-deploy. If SSO login is not available, contact an administrator.
Uploading Videos
- Click the Publish button (top-right, cloud icon)
- Drag and drop a video file, or click to browse
- Fill in the details:
- Title — descriptive title for the video
- Description — supports Markdown formatting
- Channel — select which channel to publish under
- Privacy — Public, Unlisted, Private, or Password-protected
- Category / Tags — help with discoverability
- Click Publish
- PeerTube will transcode the video into multiple resolutions in the background
Supported Formats
PeerTube accepts most common video formats: .mp4, .webm, .ogv, .mkv, .mov, .avi, .flv.
Videos are transcoded to H.264/AAC for broad compatibility.
Upload Limits
Large file uploads are supported (configured for up to 2 GB per upload part). Very large videos may take time to transcode.
Managing Channels
Channels organize your videos by topic or series:
- Click your avatar → My Channels
- Click Create a new channel
- Set the channel name, display name, and description
- When uploading, select the channel to publish under
Live Streaming
- Click Publish → Go live
- Configure stream settings (title, privacy, channel)
- Copy the RTMP URL and Stream Key
- Enter these in your streaming software (OBS, Streamlabs, etc.):
- Server: The RTMP URL shown by PeerTube
- Stream Key: The key shown by PeerTube
- Start streaming from your software
Federation
PeerTube uses ActivityPub for federation — the same open protocol used by Mastodon, Pixelfed, Lemmy, and thousands of other platforms in the Fediverse. This means PeerTube is not an isolated video site; it is part of a larger decentralised social network.
How It Works
Unlike YouTube, where one company owns every video and controls what gets recommended, PeerTube is a network of independent servers (called "instances") run by different people and organisations. Each instance stores its own videos and user accounts. When instances follow each other, videos are shared between them — your video uploaded to peertube.electricmonk.io can appear in the video library of other PeerTube instances that follow your channel.
ActivityPub goes further than just PeerTube-to-PeerTube. Because Mastodon, Pleroma, Misskey, and other Fediverse platforms also speak ActivityPub, a Mastodon user can:
- Follow a PeerTube channel directly from Mastodon
- See new videos appear in their Mastodon timeline as posts
- Comment on videos from Mastodon — their reply shows up as a comment on PeerTube
- Boost/share videos to their followers
This means your content reaches people who have never visited your PeerTube instance and may not even know what PeerTube is.
What This Means for You
- Your videos are not trapped — publishing a video on
peertube.electricmonk.iodoes not limit its audience to people who visit that URL. Federated instances and Fediverse users can all discover and interact with your content. - No algorithm decides your reach — federation distributes your content to subscribers directly. There is no engagement-maximising algorithm throttling or boosting your videos.
- Comments come from everywhere — comments on your videos may come from other PeerTube instances or from Mastodon users. They all appear in the same thread.
- You own your presence — your channel, your videos, and your subscriber relationships live on infrastructure you control. No platform can demonetise, shadow-ban, or delete your content.
Following Remote Channels
- Find a channel on another PeerTube instance
- Copy the channel's full handle (e.g.,
channel@other-instance.example) - On your instance, search for that handle
- Click Subscribe
You can also paste a PeerTube channel URL into Mastodon's search bar to follow it from there.
Video Privacy Levels
| Level | Visibility |
|---|---|
| Public | Listed everywhere, federated, searchable |
| Unlisted | Accessible via direct link only, not listed or federated |
| Private | Only visible to you |
| Password-protected | Requires a password to view |
Embedding Videos
PeerTube provides an embed code for each public/unlisted video:
- Open a video → click Share (below the video)
- Select Embed tab
- Copy the iframe code and paste it into your website or blog
Troubleshooting
Video stuck on "Processing"
- Transcoding can take several minutes for large videos
- Check if the video appears in My Videos with a processing indicator
- If stuck for a long time, contact an administrator
Can't log in with SSO
- Ensure the Authentik OIDC plugin is installed and configured
- Try logging in directly at peertube.electricmonk.io/login
- Verify your Authentik account at auth.electricmonk.io
Video not playing
- Try a different browser or disable browser extensions
- Check that your browser supports H.264 video
- Try a lower resolution if bandwidth is limited