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:

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

Subtitle Extraction

Subtitle extraction requires configuration at two levels:

Server-Level Configuration 

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:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install ffmpeg

Configuration:

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

Installation (using Homebrew):

brew install ffmpeg

Configuration:

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:

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

Advanced Configuration

Format Support

Control which media formats support thumbnail previews:

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:

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

Performance Settings

Cache Directory 

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 

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:

# 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:

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. Check if a thumbnail preview is generated
  3. For subtitle extraction, enable it in share settings and verify subtitles appear in the video player

Next Steps