Configure FFmpeg paths, subtitle extraction, and media processing options for video thumbnails and subtitle support.

Basic Configuration

Path to the directory where ffmpeg and ffprobe executables are installed (only needed if not in PATH):

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integrations:
  media:
    ffmpegPath: "/usr/local/bin"  # Directory containing ffmpeg and ffprobe

Subtitle Extraction

Subtitle extraction requires configuration at two levels:

Server-Level Configuration

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integrations:
  media:
    extractEmbeddedSubtitles: false  # Enable server-wide subtitle extraction

Must be enabled at the server level first to allow subtitle extraction functionality.

Share-Level Configuration

For shares, subtitle extraction must be enabled in both places:

For non-share file viewing, only server-level configuration is needed:

Installation by Platform

FFmpeg is included in the official FileBrowser image, no installation or configuration needed.

Installation:

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sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg

Configuration:

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integrations:
  media:
    ffmpegPath: "/usr/bin"

Installation (using Homebrew):

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brew install ffmpeg

Configuration:

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integrations:
  media:
    ffmpegPath: "/usr/local/bin"

Installation:

  1. Download FFmpeg from ffmpeg.org
  2. Extract to a directory (e.g., C:\Program Files\ffmpeg)
  3. Add the bin directory to your system PATH

Configuration:

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integrations:
  media:
    ffmpegPath: "C:\\Program Files\\ffmpeg\\bin"

Advanced Configuration

Format Support

Control which media formats support thumbnail previews:

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integrations:
  media:
    convert:
      imagePreview:
        heic: false  # Enable HEIC image preview conversion
      videoPreview:
        mp4: true    # Enable MP4 video thumbnails (default: true)
        mkv: true    # Enable MKV video thumbnails (default: true)
        avi: true    # Enable AVI video thumbnails (default: true)
        # ... more formats available

Supported video formats: 3g2, 3gp, asf, avi, f4v, flv, m2ts, m4v, mkv, mov, mp4, mpeg, mpg, ogv, ts, vob, webm, wmv

Debug Mode

Enable debug output for troubleshooting:

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integrations:
  media:
    debug: false  # Enable FFmpeg debug output

Performance Settings

Cache Directory

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server:
  cacheDir: "tmp"  # Path to cache directory

What’s stored:

  • Generated video thumbnails
  • Extracted subtitles from media files
  • Processed image previews

Requirements:

  • Must be writable by the FileBrowser process
  • Should have sufficient disk space for thumbnails
  • Can be cleared periodically to free space

Processing Workers

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server:
  numImageProcessors: 4  # Number of parallel thumbnail processors

Defaults to the number of CPU cores available. FFmpeg operations use half this number (minimum 1 worker).

Environment Variables

Configure via environment variables instead of config file:

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# FFmpeg path
export FILEBROWSER_FFMPEG_PATH="/usr/local/bin"

# Cache directory
export FILEBROWSER_CACHE_DIR="/var/cache/filebrowser"

# Enable subtitle extraction
export FILEBROWSER_EXTRACT_EMBEDDED_SUBTITLES="true"

Complete Configuration Example

Full media integration configuration:

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server:
  cacheDir: "/var/cache/filebrowser"
  numImageProcessors: 4

integrations:
  media:
    ffmpegPath: "/usr/bin"
    debug: false
    extractEmbeddedSubtitles: true  # Enable subtitle extraction
    convert:
      imagePreview:
        heic: true  # Enable HEIC conversion
      videoPreview:
        mp4: true
        mkv: true
        avi: true
        mov: true
        webm: true

Test in FileBrowser

  1. Navigate to a video file in FileBrowser
  2. Ensure user profile settings have “video previews” enabled
  3. Check if a thumbnail preview is generated
  4. For subtitle extraction, enable it in share settings and verify subtitles appear in the video player

Next Steps