How to Install FFmpeg on Linux: Ubuntu, Debian, AlmaLinux

Updated: 17 October 2026 · Applies to: FFmpeg 6.1 to 9.0 on Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04, Debian 13, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 9 and 10 (EPEL and RPM Fusion), RHEL 9 and 10; Fedora in a separate article

To install FFmpeg on Ubuntu or Debian, run sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg. On AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux and RHEL, enable EPEL and RPM Fusion first and then run sudo dnf install ffmpeg (steps below). Check the result with ffmpeg -version. FFmpeg is free, open-source software and works from the command line; graphical programs such as HandBrake build on it.

Which version you get

• Ubuntu 24.04: FFmpeg 6.1.1. Ubuntu 26.04: FFmpeg 8.0.1.
• Debian 13: FFmpeg 7.1.5.
• AlmaLinux 9: 7.1.5 (EPEL ffmpeg-free and RPM Fusion ffmpeg). AlmaLinux 10: 7.1.2 (EPEL ffmpeg-free) or 7.1.5 (RPM Fusion ffmpeg). Rocky Linux and RHEL use the same EPEL and RPM Fusion repositories.
• Newest release from ffmpeg.org: 9.0.2. Use a static build (further down) if you need it.

The distribution packages are older than the newest release but receive security updates with the rest of the system, so they are the best choice for most servers.

Is FFmpeg open source?

Yes. According to ffmpeg.org, FFmpeg is licensed under the GNU LGPL version 2.1 or later; some optional parts are GPL version 2 or later, and a build that includes them (--enable-gpl) is GPL as a whole. The Ubuntu, Debian and RPM Fusion builds are such GPL builds: ffmpeg -L prints "ffmpeg is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License". Free software does not settle patent questions: ffmpeg.org notes that formats such as H.264 may be covered by patents, which matters if you sell a product or service built on them.

Install FFmpeg on Ubuntu and Debian

1. Install the package (it brings ffmpeg, ffprobe and the small player ffplay):

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install ffmpeg

2. Check the version and the most used encoders. Output on Ubuntu 26.04:

   $ ffmpeg -version | head -1
   ffmpeg version 8.0.1-3ubuntu2 Copyright (c) 2000-2025 the FFmpeg developers
   $ ffmpeg -hide_banner -encoders | grep -E "libx264 |libx265|aac |libmp3lame|libopus"
    V....D libx264              libx264 H.264 / AVC / MPEG-4 AVC / MPEG-4 part 10 (codec h264)
    V....D libx265              libx265 H.265 / HEVC (codec hevc)
    A....D aac                  AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)
    A....D libmp3lame           libmp3lame MP3 (MPEG audio layer 3) (codec mp3)
    A....D libopus              libopus Opus (codec opus)

These builds include the common codecs (H.264, H.265, VP9, AV1, AAC, MP3, Opus), so nothing else is needed.

Install FFmpeg on AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux and RHEL

FFmpeg is not in the main repositories. You have two choices:

1. ffmpeg-free from EPEL (fewer codecs):

   sudo dnf install epel-release
   sudo dnf install ffmpeg-free

   This build has no libx264 or libx265 encoder. It does have H.264 through OpenH264 (libopenh264), VP9, AV1, AAC, MP3 and Opus, and it can copy streams without re-encoding.
2. ffmpeg from RPM Fusion (all common codecs). RPM Fusion needs EPEL and the CRB repository. The commands from RPM Fusion's configuration page:

   sudo dnf install epel-release
   sudo /usr/bin/crb enable
   sudo dnf install --nogpgcheck https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/el/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm
   sudo dnf install ffmpeg

   crb enable answered CRB repo is enabled and named: crb on AlmaLinux 9 and 10. On RHEL, enable CodeReady Builder with subscription-manager instead, as RPM Fusion describes. On the first install, dnf asks you to import the EPEL and RPM Fusion signing keys; answer y.

If ffmpeg-free is already installed, dnf install ffmpeg stops with package ffmpeg-7.1.5-1.el10.x86_64 from rpmfusion-free-updates conflicts with ffmpeg-free. Replace it with sudo dnf install --allowerasing ffmpeg: dnf then removes ffmpeg-free and installs the full build.

On Fedora, dnf install ffmpeg gives ffmpeg-free; for the full build see install FFmpeg on Fedora. On a cPanel server, see install FFmpeg on a cPanel server.

Newest version: static build

The download page of ffmpeg.org links ready-made 64-bit Linux builds hosted on GitHub. They need no installation and do not update themselves, so check for new releases yourself. Tested on AlmaLinux 10:

curl -LO https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases/download/latest/ffmpeg-n9.0-latest-linux64-gpl-9.0.tar.xz
tar -xJf ffmpeg-n9.0-latest-linux64-gpl-9.0.tar.xz
sudo cp ffmpeg-n9.0-latest-linux64-gpl-9.0/bin/ffmpeg ffmpeg-n9.0-latest-linux64-gpl-9.0/bin/ffprobe /usr/local/bin/
ffmpeg -version | head -1

The archive was 145 MB; ffmpeg -version then printed ffmpeg version n9.0.2-25-g67b60c310b-20261011, with the x264 and x265 encoders included. The bin folder also holds ffplay. Two things to know if a distribution package is installed as well: /usr/local/bin comes first in the PATH, so ffmpeg now runs the static build (command -v ffmpeg shows which one), but sudo ffmpeg on AlmaLinux still ran the packaged 7.1.5, because sudo's secure_path there is /sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin.

Everyday commands

ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac output.mp4   # convert to MP4 (H.264 and AAC)
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vn -c:a libmp3lame -b:a 192k audio.mp3                    # extract the audio as MP3
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -ss 00:01:00 -to 00:02:00 -c copy clip.mp4                  # cut without re-encoding
ffprobe -hide_banner input.mp4                                                 # show streams and codecs

We tested these on Ubuntu 26.04 with a generated test video, and the H.264 conversion also on AlmaLinux 10 with RPM Fusion's build. -pix_fmt yuv420p keeps the result playable in common players and browsers: without it, our test source was encoded with the High 4:4:4 Predictive profile; with it, the profile was High.

Is there a GUI for FFmpeg on Linux?

FFmpeg itself has no graphical interface; ffplay only opens a playback window. For point-and-click conversion on a Linux desktop, use a program built on FFmpeg:

• HandBrake (sudo apt install handbrake): video converter that uses FFmpeg's libraries (1.7.2 on Ubuntu 24.04, 1.9.2 on Debian 13).
• WinFF (sudo apt install winff): Debian describes it as a "graphical video and audio batch converter using ffmpeg".
• For editing rather than converting, the video editors Shotcut and Kdenlive are in the same repositories.

On a server or VPS you only need the command-line ffmpeg.

Common problems

• Unknown encoder 'libx264', followed by Error opening output files: Encoder not found: your build has no x264 encoder (EPEL's ffmpeg-free in our test). Install RPM Fusion's ffmpeg or a static build, or use -c:v libopenh264.
• sudo ffmpeg runs an older version (or cannot find ffmpeg) after a static install: sudo leaves /usr/local/bin out of its secure_path, as on AlmaLinux 10 in our test. Run ffmpeg without sudo, or give the full path /usr/local/bin/ffmpeg.
• High CPU use: video encoding is heavy. Use -preset faster with libx264, or -c copy when the format does not need to change.

Official documentation: FFmpeg downloads, FFmpeg licence and legal, ffmpeg documentation and RPM Fusion configuration.