How to Install Latest FFmpeg (4) From PPA on Ubuntu 16.04

John on March 16, 2021

If you try to install FFmpeg using the package manager on Ubuntu 16.04 you will notice that the newest version it will give you is 2.8.11, which is a long way off from the latest version.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to install FFmpeg 4 on Ubuntu 16.04  from a PPA (Personal Package Archive).

Step 1

The first step is to add the jonathonf/ffmpeg-4 repository using the following command:

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

If you get an error like:

sudo: unable to execute /usr/bin/add-apt-repository: No such file or directory

You will need to update the symbolic link for python3 to the correct Python version on your system like this (for me it is 3.6 but it may be different on your system):

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3.6 /usr/bin/python3

Step 2

Now update the Ubuntu package manager:

sudo apt update

Step 3

Finally, install the latest version of FFmpeg:

sudo apt install ffmpeg -y

(the y flag is to save  having to confirm a bunch of things.)

Now you can confirm your system is running FFmpeg 4:

ffmpeg -V

ffmpeg version 4.3.2-0york0~16.04 Copyright (c) 2000-2021 the FFmpeg developers