It worked for me.
Here is my configuration:
hasStreamAliases=true in config.lua
hasGroupNameAliases=true in webconfig.lua
Start EMS
Input commands in this order:
a.) createHlsStream targetFolder=/var/evostreamms/media/hls localstreamnames=start groupname=custom_group_hls
b.) pullstream localstreamname=start uri=rtmp://(ems_ipaddress)/vod/start.mp4
c.) addgroupnamealias groupname=custom_group_hls aliasname=hls1
Please note that you can also assign groupname for your HLS.
Everything worked fine for me.
Kindly double check from your side.