https://ffmpeg.org/trac/ffmpeg/wiki/UbuntuCompilationGuideLucid

Compile FFmpeg on Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 LTS

Contents

1. Preparation
2. Installation
3. Finish
4. Optional Installation
5. Updating FFmpeg
6. Reverting Changes Made by This Guide
7. If You Need Help

This guide supports Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.04 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), libopencore-amr (AMR encoder/decoder), libtheora (Theora 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 install -y build-essential git-core checkinstall texi2html libfaac-dev \
    libopencore-amrnb-dev libopencore-amrwb-dev libsdl1.2-dev libtheora-dev \
    libvorbis-dev libx11-dev libxfixes-dev pkg-config zlib1g-dev

Get the dependencies (Ubuntu Server or headless users):

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential git-core checkinstall texi2html libfaac-dev \
    libopencore-amrnb-dev libopencore-amrwb-dev libtheora-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 --depth 1 git://git.videolan.org/x264
cd x264
./configure --enable-static
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=x264 --default --pkgversion="3:$(./version.sh | \
    awk -F'[" ]' '/POINT/{print $4"+git"$5}')" --backup=no --deldoc=yes

Note: See  using snapshots if you are having connection issues with the Git server.

LAME

MP3 audio encoder.

sudo apt-get remove libmp3lame-dev
sudo apt-get 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 --default \
    --deldoc=yes

libvpx

VP8 video encoder and decoder.

cd
git clone --depth 1 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 \
    --default --deldoc=yes

FFmpeg

cd
git clone --depth 1 git://source.ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg
cd ffmpeg
./configure --enable-gpl --enable-libfaac --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libopencore-amrnb \
    --enable-libopencore-amrwb --enable-libtheora --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx \
    --enable-libx264 --enable-nonfree --enable-version3 --enable-x11grab
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=ffmpeg --pkgversion="5:$(./version.sh)" --backup=no \
    --deldoc=yes --default
hash x264 ffmpeg ffplay ffprobe

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. Some optional steps are next followed by instructions on updating FFmpeg and finally instructions on reverting all changes made by this guide.

---

Optional Installation

qt-faststart

This is a useful tool if you're showing your H.264 in MP4 videos on the web. It relocates some data in the video to allow playback to begin before the file is completely downloaded. Usage: qt-faststart input.mp4 output.mp4.

cd ~/ffmpeg
make tools/qt-faststart
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=qt-faststart --pkgversion="$(./version.sh)" --backup=no \
    --deldoc=yes --default install -Dm755 tools/qt-faststart /usr/local/bin/qt-faststart

Add lavf support to x264

This allows x264 to accept just about any input that FFmpeg can handle and is useful if you want to use x264 directly.

cd ~/x264
make distclean
./configure --enable-static
make
sudo checkinstall --pkgname=x264 --pkgversion="3:$(./version.sh | \
  awk -F'[" ]' '/POINT/{print $4"+git"$5}')" --backup=no --deldoc=yes \
  --fstrans=no --default

---

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:

sudo apt-get -y remove ffmpeg x264 libx264-dev libvpx-dev
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential git-core checkinstall texi2html libfaac-dev \
    libopencore-amrnb-dev libopencore-amrwb-dev libsdl1.2-dev libtheora-dev \
    libvorbis-dev libx11-dev libxfixes-dev pkg-config zlib1g-dev

x264

cd ~/x264
make distclean
git pull

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

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 remove x264 ffmpeg qt-faststart build-essential git-core checkinstall \
  nasm yasm texi2html libfaac-dev lame-ffmpeg libsdl1.2-dev libtheora-dev libvorbis-dev \
  libx11-dev libxfixes-dev zlib1g-dev

Lastly, delete the x264, libvpx, and ffmpeg 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.