[PR #12463] [MERGED] Prevent server from starting if the ffmpeg path is invalid #13209

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OVERLORD · 2026-02-07T07:09:00+03:00

OVERLORD commented

2026-02-07 07:09:00 +03:00

📋 Pull Request Information

Original PR: https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/pull/12463
Author: @gnattu
Created: 8/17/2024
Status: ✅ Merged
Merged: 8/28/2024
Merged by: @crobibero

Base: master ← Head: bail-out-when-ffmeg-invalid

📝 Commits (5)

8fc4f62 Prevent server from starting if the ffmpeg path is invalid
4c9b06b Allow invalid ffmpeg on github actions
2decba9 Use dedicated env var to skip ffmpeg check
e72e1af Better comment
b54317f Use Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration

📊 Changes

6 files changed (+43 additions, -73 deletions)

View changed files

📝 Emby.Server.Implementations/ApplicationHost.cs (+6 -1)
📝 Emby.Server.Implementations/ConfigurationOptions.cs (+2 -1)
📝 MediaBrowser.Controller/Extensions/ConfigurationExtensions.cs (+13 -0)
📝 MediaBrowser.Controller/MediaEncoding/IMediaEncoder.cs (+2 -8)
📝 MediaBrowser.MediaEncoding/Encoder/MediaEncoder.cs (+18 -63)
📝 tests/Jellyfin.Server.Integration.Tests/JellyfinApplicationFactory.cs (+2 -0)

📄 Description

We've received numerous reports from users that Jellyfin is failing to play certain files, and it turns out that many of these issues are due to invalid FFmpeg configurations, such as incorrect installation, stale configuration values, or an unsupported FFmpeg version. The server currently still starts in this situation, leading users to mistakenly believe it's a server bug rather than a configuration error.

This PR makes the server be prevented from starting and print a helper text to help the user fix the installation if the FFmpeg path is not found, not supported, or not executable.

This also removed the internal logic to update the config file's ffmpeg path as we are no longer using that.

For debug purposes that want to run jellyfin without ffmpeg, set the env var JELLYFIN_FFMPEG__NOVALIDATION=true to bypass this check.

Changes

Issues

Some of the reports that turns out to be a config/installation issue. These might not be all of them:

#11543
#11577
#11696
#12042
#12411
#12458

_{🔄 This issue represents a GitHub Pull Request. It cannot be merged through Gitea due to API limitations.}

## 📋 Pull Request Information **Original PR:** https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/pull/12463 **Author:** [@gnattu](https://github.com/gnattu) **Created:** 8/17/2024 **Status:** ✅ Merged **Merged:** 8/28/2024 **Merged by:** [@crobibero](https://github.com/crobibero) **Base:** `master` ← **Head:** `bail-out-when-ffmeg-invalid` --- ### 📝 Commits (5) - [`8fc4f62`](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/commit/8fc4f62ecd268d5de5b4ed2a7c5ef1dbe4096064) Prevent server from starting if the ffmpeg path is invalid - [`4c9b06b`](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/commit/4c9b06b3382f098d4d84a461ace389648af8f203) Allow invalid ffmpeg on github actions - [`2decba9`](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/commit/2decba9e4ca06df180375388952cfbfbbafbad5b) Use dedicated env var to skip ffmpeg check - [`e72e1af`](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/commit/e72e1af75e76f1f8675e5121b62397815c3d7cbb) Better comment - [`b54317f`](https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin/commit/b54317f4ee4d5badc08719370773f9448a5d7438) Use Microsoft.Extensions.Configuration ### 📊 Changes **6 files changed** (+43 additions, -73 deletions) <details> <summary>View changed files</summary> 📝 `Emby.Server.Implementations/ApplicationHost.cs` (+6 -1) 📝 `Emby.Server.Implementations/ConfigurationOptions.cs` (+2 -1) 📝 `MediaBrowser.Controller/Extensions/ConfigurationExtensions.cs` (+13 -0) 📝 `MediaBrowser.Controller/MediaEncoding/IMediaEncoder.cs` (+2 -8) 📝 `MediaBrowser.MediaEncoding/Encoder/MediaEncoder.cs` (+18 -63) 📝 `tests/Jellyfin.Server.Integration.Tests/JellyfinApplicationFactory.cs` (+2 -0) </details> ### 📄 Description We've received numerous reports from users that Jellyfin is failing to play certain files, and it turns out that many of these issues are due to invalid FFmpeg configurations, such as incorrect installation, stale configuration values, or an unsupported FFmpeg version. The server currently still starts in this situation, leading users to mistakenly believe it's a server bug rather than a configuration error. This PR makes the server be prevented from starting and print a helper text to help the user fix the installation if the FFmpeg path is not found, not supported, or not executable. This also removed the internal logic to update the config file's ffmpeg path as we are no longer using that. For debug purposes that want to run jellyfin without ffmpeg, set the env var `JELLYFIN_FFMPEG__NOVALIDATION=true` to bypass this check.  **Changes**  **Issues**  Some of the reports that turns out to be a config/installation issue. These might not be all of them: #11543 #11577 #11696 #12042 #12411 #12458 --- <sub>🔄 This issue represents a GitHub Pull Request. It cannot be merged through Gitea due to API limitations.</sub>

OVERLORD added the pull-request label 2026-02-07 07:09:00 +03:00

OVERLORD closed this issue

2026-02-07 07:09:01 +03:00

OVERLORD referenced this issue

2026-02-07 07:14:05 +03:00

[PR #13209] [MERGED] Transcode to audio codec satisfied other conditions when copy check failed. #13506

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master

release-10.11.z

renovate/skiasharp-monorepo

JPVenson-patch-1

renovate/morestachio-5.x

release-10.9.z

openapi-cache

release-10.10.z

explicit-load

explicit-load-v2

feature/entity-framework

only-count-folder-item

fix/ci-workflow-refactor

release-10.8.z

release-10.7.z

EraYaN-add-management-interface

release-10.6.z

release-10.5.z

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Reference: starred/jellyfin#13209