Docker Integration

You can use ffmpeg-over-ip in Docker environments by mounting the binary and configuration as volumes. This allows containers to use ffmpeg remotely without needing GPU passthrough or other special setup.

Client in Docker

Mount the client binary as /usr/bin/ffmpeg so your app uses it transparently:

docker run \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip-client:/usr/bin/ffmpeg \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip.client.jsonc:/etc/ffmpeg-over-ip.client.jsonc \
  your-image

For ffprobe support, add a symlink or a second mount:

docker run \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip-client:/usr/bin/ffmpeg \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip-client:/usr/bin/ffprobe \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip.client.jsonc:/etc/ffmpeg-over-ip.client.jsonc \
  your-image

Server in Docker

docker run \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip-server:/usr/bin/ffmpeg-over-ip-server \
  -v ./ffmpeg:/usr/bin/ffmpeg \
  -v ./ffprobe:/usr/bin/ffprobe \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip.server.jsonc:/etc/ffmpeg-over-ip.server.jsonc \
  --runtime=nvidia \
  your-image

All three binaries (ffmpeg-over-ip-server, ffmpeg, ffprobe) must be in the same directory inside the container.

Unix Sockets (same-machine setups)

If the server and client run on the same machine (e.g., server on the host, client in a container), use a Unix socket instead of TCP to avoid network overhead and host.docker.internal configuration:

Server config:

{
  "address": "unix:/tmp/ffmpeg-over-ip.sock",
  "authSecret": "your-secret",
}

Client config:

{
  "address": "unix:/tmp/ffmpeg-over-ip.sock",
  "authSecret": "your-secret",
}

Then mount the socket into the container:

docker run \
  -v /tmp/ffmpeg-over-ip.sock:/tmp/ffmpeg-over-ip.sock \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip-client:/usr/bin/ffmpeg \
  -v ./ffmpeg-over-ip.client.jsonc:/etc/ffmpeg-over-ip.client.jsonc \
  your-image

Debugging

Enable debug and log in the server config to see what commands are being executed and how rewrites are applied:

{
  "address": "0.0.0.0:5050",
  "authSecret": "your-secret",
  "log": "stdout",
  "debug": true,
  "rewrites": [
    ["h264_nvenc", "h264_qsv"],
  ],
}

For the client, set the log to a file you can tail from inside the container:

{
  "address": "192.168.1.100:5050",
  "authSecret": "your-secret",
  "log": "/tmp/ffmpeg-over-ip.client.log",
}

Then tail it:

docker exec -it <container> tail -f /tmp/ffmpeg-over-ip.client.log