Compile FFmpeg on Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS

This guide supports Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 LTS. If you are using a different Ubuntu version see the main Compile FFmpeg on Ubuntu Guide. This guide will enable several external encoders and decoders: libfaac (AAC encoder), libmp3lame (MP3 encoder), libvorbis (Vorbis encoder), libvpx (VP8 encoder/decoder), and libx264 (H.264 encoder). These are optional and may be omitted if desired.

Note: Copy and paste the whole code box for each step.

Preparation

Remove any existing packages:

sudo apt-get remove ffmpeg x264 libx264-dev yasm

Get the dependencies (Ubuntu Desktop users):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install build-essential git-core checkinstall texi2html libfaac-dev \
  libsdl1.2-dev libvorbis-dev libx11-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev pkg-config zlib1g-dev

Get the dependencies (Ubuntu Server or headless users):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get -y install build-essential git-core checkinstall texi2html libfaac-dev \
  libvorbis-dev pkg-config zlib1g-dev

Installation

Yasm

Yasm is an assembler and is recommended for x264 and FFmpeg.

cd
wget http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/releases/yasm-1.2.0.tar.gz
tar xzvf yasm-1.2.0.tar.gz
cd yasm-1.2.0
./configure
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=yasm --pkgversion="1.2.0" --backup=no --deldoc=yes --default

x264

H.264 video encoder. The following commands will get the current source files, compile, and install x264.

cd
git clone git://git.videolan.org/x264
cd x264
./configure --enable-static
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=x264 --pkgversion="2:0.svn$(date +%Y%m%d)-0.0ubuntu1" \
  --backup=no --deldoc=yes --default

LAME

MP3 audio encoder.

sudo apt-get -y remove liblame-dev
sudo apt-get -y install nasm
cd
wget http://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/lame/lame/3.99/lame-3.99.5.tar.gz
tar xzvf lame-3.99.5.tar.gz
cd lame-3.99.5
./configure --enable-nasm --disable-shared
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=lame-ffmpeg --pkgversion="3.99.5" --backup=no \
  --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default

libvpx

VP8 video encoder and decoder.

sudo apt-get -y install curl
cd
git clone http://git.chromium.org/webm/libvpx.git
cd libvpx
./configure
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=libvpx --pkgversion="$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M)-git" \
  --backup=no --deldoc=yes --fstrans=no --default

FFmpeg

cd
git clone --depth 1 git://source.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg
cd ffmpeg
./configure --enable-gpl --enable-version3 --enable-nonfree --enable-libfaac \
  --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libx264 \
  --enable-x11grab
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=ffmpeg --pkgversion="4:git-$(date +%Y%m%d)" --backup=no \
  --deldoc=yes --default
hash x264 ffmpeg ffplay

Note: Ubuntu Server users should omit --enable-x11grab.

Finish

Installation is now complete and FFmpeg is now ready for use. You can keep the x264, libvpx, and ffmpeg directories in your home directory if you plan on updating later. See Updating FFmpeg below for more details. Instructions on updating FFmpeg are next followed by instructions on reverting all changes made by this guide.

---

Updating FFmpeg

Development of FFmpeg and x264 is active and an occasional update can give you new features and bug fixes. First, remove some packages and then update the dependencies as shown under Preparation (follow the "Remove any existing packages" step and then the appropriate "Get the dependencies step"). Then continue as shown below.

x264

cd ~/x264
make distclean
git pull

Now run ./configure, make, and make install as shown in the Install x264 section.

libvpx

sudo apt-get -y remove libvpx
cd ~/libvpx
make clean
git pull

Now run ./configure, make, and make install as shown in the Install libvpx section.

FFmpeg

cd ~/ffmpeg
make distclean
git pull

Now run ./configure, make, and make install as shown in the Install FFmpeg section.

---

Reverting Changes Made by This Guide

To remove FFmpeg/x264 and other packages added for this guide:

sudo apt-get autoremove build-essential checkinstall ffmpeg git-core lame-ffmpeg \
  libfaac-dev libsdl1.2-dev libvorbis-dev libvpx libx11-dev libxext-dev libxfixes-dev \
  nasm texi2html x264 yasm zlib1g-dev

Lastly, delete the ffmpeg, x264, yasm, and lame directories in your home folder.

If You Need Help

Feel free to ask your questions at the #ffmpeg IRC channel or the ffmpeg-user mailing list.