Media upload

Media upload registers media resources with ApsaraVideo VOD, enabling downstream services such as media asset management, media processing, and content delivery. This topic covers supported formats, upload methods, storage settings, and post-upload workflows.

Supported media formats

ApsaraVideo VOD supports uploading videos, audio, images, and auxiliary media assets (watermarks, subtitles, and material files). Files can be local or online (uploaded from a URL).

Note

File extensions are required. Extensions are case-insensitive — MP4 and mp4 are equivalent.

Media type	File formats
Video	MPEG formats: MP4, TS, 3GP, MPG, MPEG, MPE, DAT, VOB, ASF, and more. AVI format: AVI. Windows Media Video formats: WMV and ASF. Flash Video formats: FLV and F4V. Real Video formats: RM and RMVB. QuickTime format: MOV. Matroska format: MKV. HLS format: M3U8. Note The console supports M3U8 uploads only from URLs. To upload local M3U8 files, use the API or SDK. Upload media files by using ApsaraVideo VOD API. Other formats: DV, GIF, M2T, M4V, MJ2, MJPEG, MTS, OGG, QT, SWF, and WEBM.
Audio	MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, RA, M4A, FLAC, APE, AC3, AMR, CAF, and ACM.
Image	PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF, and HEIC.
Auxiliary media asset	Watermark file: PNG, GIF, APNG, and MOV. Subtitle file: SRT, ASS, STL, TTML, and VTT. Material file: JPG, GIF, PNG, MP4, MAT, and ZIP.

Note

ApsaraVideo VOD accepts only the listed file types. For other types, Upload files to OSS.

Upload methods

ApsaraVideo VOD provides manual and programmatic upload methods.

	Upload method	Use cases	Description
Manual upload	Upload files by using the ApsaraVideo VOD console	Quick and easy media asset uploads. Note Large file uploads through the console may fail if your session expires. Use the PC client for large files.	Log in to the ApsaraVideo VOD console to upload media files after activating the service. Supports uploading audio and video from local files or URLs.
Manual upload	Upload files by using the Windows client	Large file uploads and long-running upload tasks.	Download and install required. Only a Windows client is available. Supports only local file uploads.
Program integration	Upload files by using an upload SDK	For automated uploads and large-scale video migrations. For uploading online media files. Note Use an upload SDK if possible. If the provided SDKs do not support your language, use an OSS native SDK instead.	The server-side upload SDK encapsulates obtaining upload credentials and an upload URL and integrates OSS upload capabilities. Requires minimal configuration. Supported languages include Java, Python, PHP, and C/C++.
	Upload files by using an OSS SDK	For automated uploads and large-scale video migrations. For uploading online media files.	With an OSS native SDK, you must implement the full upload logic: obtain an upload URL and credentials from ApsaraVideo VOD, Base64-decode them, and call OSS operations to complete the upload. Supported languages include Java, Python, PHP, .NET, Go, Node.js, and C/C++. Note For Java, Python, PHP, and C/C++, use the ApsaraVideo VOD upload SDK instead.
	Upload files by URL	For files accessible via public URLs.	You can upload files only to the China (Shanghai) and Singapore regions. This method does not support local file uploads.

Feature comparison by upload method

The following table compares upload features by method:

Group	Feature	Console	PC client	Upload SDK (server)	Upload SDK (client)	UploadMediaByURL	Upload using OSS SDK	Upload OSS objects
Media asset management	Media title	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
	Media category	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
	Media tags	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
	Video thumbnail	Not supported	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
Audio and video transcoding^①	Transcoding template group	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
	Workflow	Supported	Not supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
	No transcoding	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
Upload control^②	Upload progress	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported	Supported
	Resumable upload	Not supported	Not supported	Supported only by the server-side upload SDK for Java	Supported	Not supported	Supported only by the OSS SDK for Java	Not supported
	Multipart upload	Enabled by default	Enabled by default	Enabled by default	Enabled by default	Enabled by default	Enabled by default	Enabled by default

Audio and video transcoding^①

Configure transcoding during upload by specifying a transcoding template group or media workflow. Transcoding starts automatically after upload. You can also disable transcoding. However, only files in the following formats are playable without transcoding: MP4, FLV, M3U8, MP3, and WEBM.

Specify a transcoding template group: Select Transcoding Template Group during upload. Transcoding starts automatically after upload. This is the default method.
Specify a media workflow: Create a workflow with a transcoding job, then select Media Workflow during upload. The workflow runs automatically after upload.
To disable transcoding during upload, select the No Transcoding template in the transcoding template group.

Upload control^②

Multipart upload: Splits a file into parts, uploads them separately, and reassembles them. Enabled by default.

Note
If a multipart upload fails, remaining parts are automatically deleted after seven days. To delete them immediately, call the DeleteMultipartUpload operation.
Monitor upload progress and status.
Resumable upload: Resumes interrupted uploads from the last successfully uploaded part.

Note
The client upload SDK includes built-in resumable upload and automatically resumes from the breakpoint.

Storage

Storage regions

ApsaraVideo VOD uses Object Storage Service (OSS) to store media assets across global storage nodes. Each node corresponds to a region with a dedicated storage address.

Storage address

Note

Data is isolated by region and not shared across regions, even within the same account. Ensure the upload region matches your intended service region.

Setting	Description
Enable VOD system storage address	When you activate ApsaraVideo VOD, a default storage bucket (VOD system bucket) is created in each region, ready for immediate use. Manage storage buckets.
Add a storage address	Add your own OSS buckets to ApsaraVideo VOD for transcoding, snapshot capture, and playback of files in those buckets. Manage storage buckets.
Change the default storage address	After adding multiple storage addresses, you can change the default. Uploads go to the default address unless you specify otherwise. Manage storage buckets.

The following table lists supported regions and their IDs.

Note

Console and PC client uploads use the storage address of the selected region. SDK and API uploads accept a storage address parameter, such as the StorageLocation parameter in the URL-based pull upload operation.

Region	Region ID
China (Shanghai)	cn-shanghai
China (Beijing)	cn-beijing
China (Shenzhen)	cn-shenzhen
Japan (Tokyo)	ap-northeast-1
Singapore	ap-southeast-1
Indonesia (Jakarta)	ap-southeast-5
Germany (Frankfurt)	eu-central-1
US (Silicon Valley)	us-west-1

Billing

ApsaraVideo VOD storage is billed by pay-as-you-go (postpaid) or resource plans (prepaid).

Pay-as-you-go: Billing for media asset storage.
Resource plans: ApsaraVideo VOD storage plan.

Upload event notifications

ApsaraVideo VOD sends event notifications after each upload via HTTP(S) or MNS callbacks. Configure callbacks to receive processing status updates. The following table describes the upload events.

Note

Full event details: Event details.

Event name	Type	Description
Video Upload Complete	FileUploadComplete	Triggered after an audio or video file upload completes. Note For non-transcoded audio or video files, the playback URL is available only after the FileUploadComplete event. If you disable transcoding during upload, you can still call the Submit media transcoding jobs operation to transcode the file after receiving the FileUploadComplete event notification.
Image Upload Complete	ImageUploadComplete	Triggered after an image file upload completes.
Auxiliary Media Upload Complete	AttachedMediaUploadComplete	Triggered after an auxiliary media asset upload completes.
Video Upload from URL Complete	UploadByURLComplete	Triggered when the UploadMediaByURL operation finishes pulling and uploading a video.
Transcode complete for a single stream	StreamTranscodeComplete	Triggered when a video stream is transcoded into a specific definition and format (for example, SD in MP4). Note For transcoded files, wait for the StreamTranscodeComplete event before getting the playback URL. Playback may fail before this callback is received.
Video Transcode Complete	TranscodeComplete	Triggered when all streams for a video finish transcoding. Note Wait for the TranscodeComplete event to ensure all definitions are available. Playback may fail before this callback.

Upload authorization

For developer uploads, authorize with upload credentials or Security Token Service (STS) tokens to prevent malicious uploads and unauthorized playback.

Comparison between upload credentials and STS tokens.
Authorization details by upload method:
Since January 31, 2024, ApsaraVideo VOD no longer supports the x-oss-object-acl OSS header for modifying file permissions. To prohibit public-read uploads to your ApsaraVideo VOD OSS buckets:
1. Authorize ApsaraVideo VOD to access your OSS resources. Click Cloud Resource Access Authorization.
2. Create a custom policy to prohibit uploading objects with a public-read object ACL to your OSS buckets. Policy content and instructions: Prohibit uploading objects with a public-read object ACL to your OSS buckets.
3. Grant the custom policy that you created in the previous step to the AliyunVODDefaultRole role.
  
  Log in to the RAM console to grant permissions (Manage RAM user permissions).
  
  In the left-side navigation pane, click Roles. Find and click AliyunVODDefaultRole. On the Permissions tab, click Add Permissions. In the panel that appears, select the Custom Policy tab, and then select the target policy.

Upload acceleration

Upload acceleration improves long-distance and large file (GB/TB) transfers. Ideal for cross-region uploads, such as transferring videos from the Chinese mainland to a Singapore region bucket.

How to enable

To enable upload acceleration, submit a ticket. Provide your Account ID and the bucket to accelerate.

Billing

Upload acceleration is billed by usage (billing for transfer acceleration).

Note

You are not charged for this feature if you do not use it.

Limitations

All upload methods support acceleration except uploading files through the ApsaraVideo VOD console.

Next steps

Note

Uploaded assets are assigned a status based on processing stage. Assets with Uploading, Upload Failed, or Blocked status can only be deleted. Assets with Normal status support all operations: transcoding, snapshot capture, review, and playback. Status: video status and Status: image status.

The following table describes post-upload services and playback considerations.

Service	Description	References
Media asset management (post-upload)	Manage uploaded media files, including source videos, transcoded streams, and images.	Media asset management
Media processing	Post-upload operations include transcoding, automated review, online editing, and AI processing. Note ApsaraVideo VOD automatically extracts metadata (resolution, duration, bitrate) and captures thumbnails and sprites for videos. These pre-processing operations are free.	Media processing
Audio and video playback	Uploaded files are not immediately playable. Event notifications inform you when a file is ready. Non-transcoded files: playback URL is available after the FileUploadComplete event. Transcoded files: playback URL is available after the StreamTranscodeComplete event. Wait for the TranscodeComplete event to ensure all definitions are ready.	Receive event notifications such as FileUploadComplete. Call an API to get the audio and video playback URL.