How to Install FFmpeg 4.2 in Ubuntu 18.04 / Linux Mint 19.x

FFMPEG

FFmpeg multimedia libraries 4.2 was released a few weeks ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 18.04, Linux Mint 19.x.

FFmpeg 4.2, codename “Ada”, is a major release that features:

  • tpad filter, dedot filter, freezedetect filter, lagfun filter, asoftclip filter, colorhold filter, xmedian filter, asr filter, derain filter, deesser filter, anlmdn filter, maskfun filter
  • chromashift and rgbashift filters, truehd_core bitstream filter, AV1 frame split bitstream filter, showspatial multimedia filter
  • dhav demuxer, vividas demuxer, KUX demuxer, IFV demuxer
  • hymt decoder, ARBC decoder, agm decoder, lscr decoder, VP4 video decoder, hcom demuxer and decoder
  • PCM-DVD encoder
  • GIF parser
  • removed libndi-newtek
  • libaribb24 based ARIB STD-B24 caption support (profiles A and C)
  • Support decoding of HEVC 4:4:4 content in vdpau, nvdec and cuviddec
  • AV1 decoding support through libdav1d
  • mov muxer writes tracks with unspecified language instead of English by default
  • added support for using clang to compile CUDA kernels

How to Install FFmpeg 4.2 in Ubuntu:

The unofficial PPA has built the packages for Ubuntu 18.04 and its derivatives.

1. Open terminal either via Ctrl+Alt+T keyboard shortcut, or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:

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sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jonathonf/ffmpeg-4

Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter.

2. You can then upgrade FFmpeg libraries via Software Updater (Update Manager):

Or run commands in terminal:

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

Once installed, you may check the software version via command ffmpeg -v

How to Restore:

For any reason, you can downgrade FFmpeg to the stock version in Ubuntu universe repositories by purging the PPA via command:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:jonathonf/ffmpeg-4