Quick Start

Download the latest release for your platform from the releases page.

Server Setup (GPU machine)

1. Extract the release. Keep ffmpeg-over-ip-server, ffmpeg, and ffprobe in the same directory — the server finds them automatically.

2. Create a config file ffmpeg-over-ip.server.jsonc in the same directory:

{
  "address": "0.0.0.0:5050",
  "authSecret": "pick-a-strong-secret"
}

3. Make sure port 5050 is open (firewall, cloud security group, etc.), then start the server:

./ffmpeg-over-ip-server

Client Setup (media server)

1. Extract ffmpeg-over-ip-client somewhere convenient.

2. Create a config file ffmpeg-over-ip.client.jsonc next to the binary or in your home directory:

{
  "address": "192.168.1.100:5050",  // your server's IP
  "authSecret": "pick-a-strong-secret"
}

3. Set up ffprobe so your media server can probe files too — symlink or copy the client binary:

ln -s ffmpeg-over-ip-client ffprobe
# or: cp ffmpeg-over-ip-client ffprobe

4. Point your media server at both binaries. For Jellyfin, set the FFmpeg path in Dashboard > Playback to ffmpeg-over-ip-client.

Windows

On Windows, use the .exe binaries from the release. Config files work the same way — place ffmpeg-over-ip.client.jsonc next to the binary or in your user directory (C:\Users\<you>\). For ffprobe, copy and rename the client binary:

copy ffmpeg-over-ip-client.exe ffprobe.exe

Verify

Test the connection by running a command through the client:

./ffmpeg-over-ip-client -version

You should see the server's ffmpeg version and build info. If you get a connection error, double-check the address, port, and auth secret.