How can I stay updated with the latest stable version of FFmpeg on Ubuntu?

Question

I'm trying to keep my Ubuntu 24.04 installation updated with the latest version of FFmpeg, but everything keeps falling short in one way or another:

• The Ubuntu application packages are outdated, as are the snaps
• Any PPAs I've found online are either outdated or freeze FFmpeg to my Ubuntu version
• I can't find any .deb packages.
• The static binaries at https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/ appear to be nightly builds, but I don't want those. I'm just trying to maintain the latest stable point release.

So far, the best I've been able to do is compile from source using a build script I found here, but that takes a while, and I'd like to find a more elegant solution. It seems like a utility as widespread as FFmpeg should have better options. In fact, I'm surprised FFmpeg doesn't come with its own built-in update utility.

Is there an option I missed?

• RonJohn: Honest questions: (1) What's inelegant about running a script? (2) How often are new stable releases pushed that building them from source becomes onerous? Especially if that build script generates .deb files.
• slhck: @RonJohn I can kind of relate. I have compiled ffmpeg many times using custom scripts of my own, but they tend to break here and there, and I find it easier to just work with existing binaries unless I need some particular build flavor.
• RonJohn: @slhck I'm thinking of mplayer, with frequent updates, and has a policy of only answering mailing list questions if you build from latest source. My scripts would break every six months, but were usually easy to fix.
• 123MilitaryNerd: @RonJohn This is all part of an effort to run a single script that will update everything on my machine. I want an automated way to check for ffmpeg updates and then install them if so. I wouldn't mind running a build script so much if the script could also investigate whether there's been a new release since the last build. I just want to a) not have to manually check for updates and b) only compile and/or install when new updates are released.
• RonJohn: "Make the computer serve the Man" has been my motto for a long time. It's very doable in bash (with maybe some perl or python).

Answer 1

If you want to use a package manager, you can also try Homebrew builds, which also include recipes for Linux. They are up-to-date as of now.

brew install ffmpeg

Also see Homebrew on Linux if you don't have it yet.

• slhck: If you need build options beyond the default, I also co-maintain a tap for ffmpeg: github.com/homebrew-ffmpeg/homebrew-ffmpeg

Answer 2

The builds from https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/ include nightly builds of the stable releases as well, they're just a bit further down in the list of assets.

This would be the latest build of the 7.1 release:

https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases/download/latest/ffmpeg-n7.1-latest-linux64-gpl-7.1.tar.xz

Just check the list of assets on https://github.com/BtbN/FFmpeg-Builds/releases for other builds that match your architecture.

I am also maintaining a Homebrew tap for FFmpeg:

brew tap homebrew-ffmpeg/ffmpeg
brew install homebrew-ffmpeg/ffmpeg/ffmpeg

But I would not particularly recommend using Homebrew for that, unless you need it for other purposes.

Some notes:

• I also wouldn't recommend relying on Ubuntu packages or snaps.
• johnvansickle.com used to provide builds of both master and stable releases, but the builds are a bit outdated

PS: "I'm surprised ffmpeg doesn't come with its own built-in update utility" — I'm actually not surprised at all. Consider that ffmpeg has no official binary distribution channel. Many builds of ffmpeg are customized, and a significant portion of ffmpeg users rely on specific build scripts or other modifications to get binaries/library builds with particular features, in particular in commercial settings. Even if ffmpeg had a default binary distribution, it's hard to consider all possibilities for auto-updates (e.g., permission issues, network connectivity, ...).

• 123MilitaryNerd: That makes sense. I guess I figured that ffmpeg was like most software, i.e. the vast majority of users would just need a standard default build, and only a small sliver would need any customizations.
• 123MilitaryNerd: Why would you not recommend using Homebrew for ffmpeg?
• slhck: @123MilitaryNerd If you already have Homebrew installed, and you're fine using the precompiled version for your system (i.e., the official Homebrew ffmpeg), go for it! It's just that under Linux I find the benefits of having brew minimal, compared to macOS. If you install the custom Homebrew-ffmpeg tap, it'll recompile on every upgrade, which is slow, that's why a prebuilt binary will be easier to use (albeit a bit harder to upgrade unless you have a script for it).
• Peter - Reinstate Monica: I am not familiar with Ubuntu but generally thought of it as providing fairly current versions of its components. Why would you not rely on the regular Ubuntu updates? Are they still lagging that far behind? Could anything be done to improve that?
• slhck: @Peter-ReinstateMonica Ubuntu's packages are severely outdated, mostly because older Ubuntu versions can't just change major versions of FFmpeg's due to the dependencies of other packages relying on FFmpeg's API being stable. For instance, Ubuntu 22.04 – which is still widely used – only has ffmpeg 4.x bundled. Ubuntu 24.04 has ffmpeg 6.1. Current ffmpeg is 7.1