FFmpeg Static Library Builder for linux/amd64 (or other platform, if PLATFORM ENV is specified)

This project builds FFmpeg static libraries (.a files) for linux/amd64 architecture from source. It uses Docker to provide a consistent cross-platform build environment, allowing you to build Linux binaries from macOS.

Prerequisites

• Docker (with support for linux/amd64 platform by default)
• Bash shell
• Internet connection (to clone FFmpeg repository)

Quick Start

Simply run the build script:

./build.sh

This will:

1. Build a Docker image with all necessary build dependencies
2. Clone the FFmpeg repository
3. Compile FFmpeg as static libraries
4. Output the .a files to the output/lib/ directory

Generated Libraries

The build process will generate the following static libraries:

• libavcodec.a - Audio/video codec library
• libavdevice.a - Device handling library
• libavfilter.a - Audio/video filtering library
• libavformat.a - Audio/video container format library
• libavutil.a - Utility library
• libpostproc.a - Video post-processing library
• libswresample.a - Audio resampling library
• libswscale.a - Video scaling and color conversion library

All libraries will be located in output/lib/ after a successful build.

Header files will be in output/include/.

Custom FFmpeg Version

You can specify a different FFmpeg version by setting the FFMPEG_VERSION environment variable:

# Build a specific release version
FFMPEG_VERSION=n6.1 ./build.sh

Default version: n5.1.4 (FFmpeg 5.1.4)

Build Configuration

The libraries are built with the following configuration:

• Static libraries only (no shared libraries)
• Position Independent Code (PIC) enabled
• No programs (ffmpeg, ffprobe, etc.)
• No documentation
• Debug symbols disabled
• Optimized for library usage

Clean Build

To perform a clean build, remove the output directory:

rm -rf output/
./build.sh

Platform Notes

• Target Platform: linux/amd64 (default)
• Build Platform: Can be run from macOS (including M1/M2/M3/M4) or Linux
• Docker Platform: The build uses --platform ${PLATFORM} to ensure consistent output regardless of host architecture

Troubleshooting

Docker Platform Issues

If you encounter platform-related errors, ensure Docker Desktop has support for linux/amd64 enabled. On Apple Silicon Macs, this requires Rosetta 2:

softwareupdate --install-rosetta

Build Failures

If the build fails:

1. Check Docker is running: docker ps
2. Remove cached containers: docker system prune
3. Try a clean build by removing output/ directory

Slow Builds

The first build will take longer as it needs to:

• Download the Docker base image
• Install build dependencies
• Clone the FFmpeg repository
• Compile all libraries

Subsequent builds will be faster if you keep the output/ directory.

License

This build script is provided as-is. FFmpeg itself is licensed under LGPL 2.1+ or GPL 2+ depending on configuration. See the FFmpeg License for details.