Roku Direct Publisher

[unknwnprod]

I am using Bluehost and have heard you can turn off mod_security to get roku the access to the JSON file for direct publisher. I chatted with blue host and they put in a ticket to whitelist roku based on my errors. They answered me the next day stating that they would not whitelist roku for security reasons.

Can someone tell me how to turn off mod security in the cpanel? I do not see an access icon for that in my cpanel.

Thanks, Jason

[tim1607]

Having worked for a couple of hosting companies I can tell you that turning off mod_security is not going the help you stream from Bluehost.  What they didn't tell you is that you are not going to be able to stream from a shared account, you are looking to host the json file you may need to check out their VPN's, that way you can use the account for what you want. They can unlock anything that you want them to on a VPN account.
I recommend taking a look at their "Acceptable use policy" and their "User Agreement". Both of those indicate that they host websites, not storage for other services of any kind.
If you have a Bluehost VPN or a dedicated server you might be able to do it but there may be bandwidth limitations.  I have a vimeo pro account, that is great as a content distribution site, then you might be able to host you JSON files there, but I never had any luck with that in my Bluehost account.  I have a couple of dedicated servers on other host companies that host my json files, and I have one set up with another channels worth of my videos too. I use "https://www.server4you.com" it works, and has no bandwidth restrictions , also "https://www.wholesaleinternet.com" but there is a 100TB bandwidth restriction, I haven't tried setting that one up for direct video distribution so I don't know how that one does.

[unknwnprod]

I am using a Vimeo Pro account to host the videos. I am using WordPress to build the JSON feed url using a wordpress app called WP Smart TV. Everything gets bundled fine (lists, thumbnails, the splash pages, etc.) It just gets locked up during the Feed url stage. My entire Direct Publisher site has all purple checks except the "feedstatus".

Does that change anything?

Jason

 

[tim1607]

Hi Jason,

I quite honestly think that they won't fix it, the lack of functionality is intentional. I never could get a hand coded json to go through when I was trying it on my bluehost account. That was why I went with a dedicated server to host my json.  A VPS may be a better solution.
Shared hosting accounts are notorious for promising unlimited everything, but they are really designed for simple websites.  The don't play well with things other than just a website since all of the resources are shared by, probably, 10,000 websites on that single server.
There may be others who have had better experiences in a shared hosting environment feeding the JSON files, but I have not seen that in what I have read. Also, my experience has shown that to not work for this kind of a service.