What FFmpeg is used for on a server

FFmpeg is a command-line toolkit that reads, converts and processes almost any audio and video format. On a server it usually runs behind an application rather than by hand. Common jobs include:

• converting uploaded videos to a web-friendly format (H.264 MP4 or WebM),
• creating thumbnails and preview images from videos,
• extracting or converting audio,
• resizing and compressing media to save bandwidth,
• packaging video for streaming, for example as HLS segments.

Video processing is CPU-heavy. A single high-resolution conversion can keep several cores busy for minutes, so plan the server size around how much media you process.

Before you start

• ✓ Root or sudo access to a VPS or dedicated server.
• ✓ A supported Linux release. Check yours with cat /etc/os-release.
• ✓ Enough disk space for the source files and the converted output.
• ✓ A test file to confirm the install works.

Install FFmpeg on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 9

FFmpeg comes from RPM Fusion, which depends on EPEL and on the CRB repository.

sudo dnf install -y epel-release dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled crb
sudo dnf install -y https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install -y ffmpeg ffmpeg-devel
ffmpeg -version

Install FFmpeg on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 8

Version 8 uses the PowerTools repository instead of CRB.

sudo dnf install -y epel-release dnf-plugins-core
sudo dnf config-manager --set-enabled powertools
sudo dnf install -y https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/el/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %rhel).noarch.rpm
sudo dnf install -y ffmpeg ffmpeg-devel
ffmpeg -version

You only need ffmpeg-devel if you compile software against the FFmpeg libraries. To run FFmpeg, the ffmpeg package is enough.

Install FFmpeg on Debian 12 and 13

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ffmpeg
ffmpeg -version

Install FFmpeg on Ubuntu 22.04 and 24.04

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ffmpeg
ffmpeg -version

The Debian and Ubuntu packages are in the main repositories, so no extra repository is needed.

Check that FFmpeg works

# Version and build options
ffmpeg -version

# Is the H.264 encoder available?
ffmpeg -hide_banner -encoders | grep -i 264

# Quick test: convert a file and check the output
ffmpeg -i input.mov -c:v libx264 -c:a aac test.mp4

Everyday FFmpeg commands

In the conversion command, -crf sets the quality: lower numbers give better quality and larger files, and 23 is a common default. -preset trades speed for file size: slow makes smaller files but takes longer.

Which video codec to use

If you are not sure, use H.264 for the main file. Add other formats only when you need the smaller size.

Convert a whole folder

This loop converts every MOV file in the current folder to MP4 and keeps the original files.

for f in *.mov; do
  ffmpeg -n -i "$f" -c:v libx264 -crf 23 -preset medium -c:a aac -b:a 128k "${f%.mov}.mp4"
done

The -n option skips files that were already converted, so you can safely run the loop again.

Run FFmpeg safely on a production server

• Run jobs one at a time. Use a queue in your application instead of starting a conversion for every upload at once.
• Lower the priority. Start conversions with nice -n 10 so the website keeps its share of the CPU.
• Limit threads with -threads when the server also serves visitors.
• Clean up temporary files. Failed jobs can leave large partial files behind, so remove old files from your work folder on a schedule.
• Run as a normal user, not as root, and only on files your application controls.

GPU hardware encoding

On a server with an NVIDIA GPU, FFmpeg can encode with NVENC, which is much faster than CPU encoding for H.264 and H.265. This needs the NVIDIA driver and an FFmpeg build with NVENC support. Check whether your build has it:

ffmpeg -hide_banner -encoders | grep -i nvenc

# If listed, encode on the GPU
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -c:v h264_nvenc -preset p5 -c:a copy output.mp4

If nothing is listed, the build does not include NVENC. GPU encoding suits services that process a lot of video, such as streaming platforms and media libraries.

Troubleshooting

Keep FFmpeg updated

FFmpeg reads untrusted files, so security fixes matter. Update it with the rest of the system: sudo dnf upgrade or sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade. Avoid copying random static binaries from the internet, because they do not receive updates.

For other software on the same server, see our guides to installing MongoDB on a cPanel server and upgrading to Debian 13.