HLS hosting checklist

Keep paths and case intact

Relative segment paths resolve from the playlist location. Upload the primary playlist, variant directories, media playlists, and every segment without changing filenames or letter case.

A case-sensitive origin treats segment_001.ts and Segment_001.ts as different objects.

• Extract the ZIP before publishing
• Upload directories recursively
• Do not flatten Master output
• Check the last segment as well as the first

Return useful responses

Players must retrieve every referenced object. Playlists are commonly served as application/vnd.apple.mpegurl and MPEG-TS segments as video/mp2t.

Avoid authentication redirects, HTML error pages with a 200 status, and long redirect chains. A media request expects playlist text or media bytes.

master.m3u8          200  application/vnd.apple.mpegurl
720p/index.m3u8      200  application/vnd.apple.mpegurl
720p/segment_000.ts  200  video/mp2t

Cache deliberately

Completed VOD segments are immutable when their keys never change, so they can use a long cache lifetime. A playlist replaced at the same key needs a shorter policy or deliberate versioning.

Validate the origin before relying on a CDN purge to hide a publishing error.

Run the final pass

Open the public HTTPS URL outside the hosting panel. Test startup, seeking, the ending, synchronization, target devices, console errors, and network responses.

Record the primary URL and keep the original media until the hosted package is verified.