3 This is GStreamer, a framework for streaming media.
9 https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org
11 Our documentation, including tutorials, API reference and FAQ can be found at
13 https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/documentation/
15 You can subscribe to our mailing lists:
17 https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/gstreamer-announce
19 https://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/gstreamer-devel
21 We track bugs, feature requests and merge requests (patches) in GitLab at
23 https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/
25 You can join us on IRC - #gstreamer on irc.oftc.net
27 This repository contains all official modules supported by the GStreamer
28 community which can be found in the `subprojects/` directory.
32 ### Install git and python 3.5+
34 If you're on Linux, you probably already have these. On macOS, you can use the
35 [official Python installer](https://www.python.org/downloads/mac-osx/).
37 You can find [instructions for Windows below](#windows-prerequisites-setup).
39 ### Install meson and ninja
41 Meson 0.59 or newer is required.
43 On Linux and macOS you can get meson through your package manager or using:
45 $ pip3 install --user meson
47 This will install meson into `~/.local/bin` which may or may not be included
48 automatically in your PATH by default.
50 You should get `ninja` using your package manager or download the [official
51 release](https://github.com/ninja-build/ninja/releases) and put the `ninja`
54 You can find [instructions for Windows below](#windows-prerequisites-setup).
56 ### Build GStreamer and its modules
58 You can get all GStreamer built running:
65 This will automatically create the `build` directory and build everything
68 NOTE: On Windows, you *must* run this from [inside the Visual Studio command
69 prompt](#running-meson-on-windows) of the appropriate architecture and version.
71 ### External dependencies
73 All mandatory dependencies of GStreamer are included as [meson subprojects](https://mesonbuild.com/Subprojects.html):
74 libintl, zlib, libffi, glib. Some optional dependencies are also included as
75 subprojects, such as ffmpeg, x264, json-glib, graphene, openh264, orc, etc.
77 Mandatory dependencies will be automatically built if meson cannot find them on
78 your system using pkg-config. The same is true for optional dependencies that
79 are included as subprojects. You can find a full list by looking at the
80 `subprojects` directory.
82 Plugins that need optional dependencies that aren't included can only be built
83 if they are provided by the system. Instructions on how to build some common
84 ones such as Qt5/QML are listed below. If you do not know how to provide an
85 optional dependency needed by a plugin, you should use [Cerbero](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/gstreamer/cerbero/#description)
86 which handles this for you automatically.
88 Plugins will be automatically enabled if possible, but you can ensure that
89 a particular plugin (especially if it has external dependencies) is built by
90 enabling the gstreamer repository that ships it and the plugin inside it. For
91 example, to enable the Qt5 plugin in the gst-plugins-good repository, you need
92 to run meson as follows:
95 meson -Dgood=enabled -Dgst-plugins-good:qt5=enabled builddir
98 This will cause Meson to error out if the plugin could not be enabled. You can
99 also flip the default and disable all plugins except those explicitly enabled
103 meson -Dauto_features=disabled -Dgstreamer:tools=enabled -Dbad=enabled -Dgst-plugins-bad:openh264=enabled
106 This will disable all optional features and then enable the `openh264` plugin
107 and the tools that ship with the core gstreamer repository: `gst-inspect-1.0`,
108 `gst-launch-1.0`, etc. As usual, you can change these values on a builddir that
109 has already been setup with `meson configure -Doption=value`.
111 ### Building the Qt5 QML plugin
113 If `qmake` is not in `PATH` and pkgconfig files are not available, you can
114 point the `QMAKE` env var to the Qt5 installation of your choosing before
115 running `meson` as shown above.
117 The plugin will be automatically enabled if possible, but you can ensure that
118 it is built by passing `-Dgood=enabled -Dgst-plugins-good:qt5=enabled` to `meson`.
120 ### Building the Intel MSDK plugin
122 On Linux, you need to have development files for `libmfx` installed. On
123 Windows, if you have the [Intel Media SDK](https://software.intel.com/en-us/media-sdk),
124 it will set the `INTELMEDIASDKROOT` environment variable, which will be used by
125 the build files to find `libmfx`.
127 The plugin will be automatically enabled if possible, but you can ensure it by
128 passing `-Dbad=enabled -Dgst-plugins-bad:msdk=enabled` to `meson`.
130 ### Building plugins with (A)GPL-licensed dependencies
132 Some plugins have GPL- or AGPL-licensed dependencies and will only be built
133 if you have explicitly opted in to allow (A)GPL-licensed dependencies by
134 passing `-Dgpl=enabled` to Meson.
136 List of plugins with (A)GPL-licensed dependencies (non-exhaustive) in gst-plugins-bad:
137 - dts (DTS audio decoder plugin)
138 - faad (Free AAC audio decoder plugin)
139 - iqa (Image quality assessment plugin based on dssim-c)
140 - mpeg2enc (MPEG-2 video encoder plugin)
141 - mplex (audio/video multiplexer plugin)
142 - ofa (Open Fingerprint Architecture library plugin)
143 - resindvd (Resin DVD playback plugin)
144 - x265 (HEVC/H.265 video encoder plugin)
146 List of plugins with (A)GPL-licensed dependencies (non-exhaustive) in gst-plugins-ugly:
147 - a52dec (Dolby Digital (AC-3) audio decoder plugin)
148 - cdio (CD audio source plugin based on libcdio)
149 - dvdread (DVD video source plugin based on libdvdread)
150 - mpeg2dec (MPEG-2 video decoder plugin based on libmpeg2)
151 - sidplay (Commodore 64 audio decoder plugin based on libsidplay)
152 - x264 (H.264 video encoder plugin based on libx264)
156 Since *1.18.0* when doing a static build using `--default-library=static`, a
157 shared library `gstreamer-full-1.0` will be produced and includes all enabled
158 GStreamer plugins and libraries. A list of libraries that needs to be exposed in
159 `gstreamer-full-1.0` ABI can be set using `gst-full-libraries` option. glib-2.0,
160 gobject-2.0 and gstreamer-1.0 are always included.
163 meson --default-library=static -Dgst-full-libraries=app,video builddir
166 GStreamer *1.18* requires applications using gstreamer-full-1.0 to initialize
167 static plugins by calling `gst_init_static_plugins()` after `gst_init()`. That
168 function is defined in `gst/gstinitstaticplugins.h` header file.
170 Since *1.20.0* `gst_init_static_plugins()` is called automatically by
171 `gst_init()` and applications must not call it manually any more. The header
172 file has been removed from public API.
174 One can use the `gst-full-version-script` option to pass a
175 [version script](https://www.gnu.org/software/gnulib/manual/html_node/LD-Version-Scripts.html)
176 to the linker. This can be used to control the exact symbols that are exported by
177 the gstreamer-full library, allowing the linker to garbage collect unused code
178 and so reduce the total library size. A default script `gstreamer-full-default.map`
179 declares only glib/gstreamer symbols as public.
181 One can use the `gst-full-plugins` option to pass a list of plugins to be registered
182 in the gstreamer-full library. The default value is '*' which means that all the plugins selected
183 during the build process will be registered statically. An empty value will prevent any plugins to
186 One can select a specific set of features with `gst-full-elements`, `gst-full-typefind-functions`, `gst-full-device-providers` or `gst-full-dynamic-types` to select specific feature from a plugin.
187 When a feature has been listed in one of those options, the other features from its plugin will no longer be automatically included, even if the plugin is listed in `gst-full-plugins`.
189 The user must insure that all selected plugins and features (element, typefind, etc.) have been
190 enabled during the build configuration.
192 To register features, the syntax is the following:
193 plugins are separated by ';' and features from a plugin starts after ':' and are ',' separated.
196 * `-Dgst-full-plugins=coreelements;playback;typefindfunctions;alsa;pbtypes`: enable only `coreelements`, `playback`, `typefindfunctions`, `alsa`, `pbtypes` plugins.
197 * `-Dgst-full-elements=coreelements:filesrc,fakesink,identity;alsa:alsasrc`: enable only `filesrc`, `identity` and `fakesink` elements from `coreelements` and `alsasrc` element from `alsa` plugin.
198 * `-Dgst-full-typefind-functions=typefindfunctions:wav,flv`: enable only typefind func `wav` and `flv` from `typefindfunctions`
199 * `-Dgst-full-device-providers=alsa:alsadeviceprovider`: enable `alsadeviceprovider` from `alsa`.
200 * `-Dgst-full-dynamic-types=pbtypes:video_multiview_flagset`: enable `video_multiview_flagset` from `pbtypes
202 All features from the `playback` plugin will be enabled and the other plugins will be restricted to the specific features requested.
204 All the selected features will be registered into a dedicated `NULL` plugin name.
206 This will cause the features/plugins that are not registered to not be included in the final gstreamer-full library.
208 This is an experimental feature, backward incompatible changes could still be
211 # Development environment
213 ## Development environment target
215 GStreamer also contains a special `devenv` target that lets you enter an
216 development environment where you will be able to work on GStreamer
217 easily. You can get into that environment running:
220 ninja -C builddir devenv
223 If your operating system handles symlinks, built modules source code will be
224 available at the root for example GStreamer core will be in
225 `gstreamer/`. Otherwise they will be present in `subprojects/`. You can simply
226 hack in there and to rebuild you just need to rerun `ninja -C builddir`.
228 NOTE: In the development environment, a fully usable prefix is also configured
229 in `gstreamer/prefix` where you can install any extra dependency/project.
231 An external script can be run in development environment with:
234 ./gst-env.py external_script.sh
237 For more extensive documentation about the development environment go to [the
238 documentation](https://gstreamer.freedesktop.org/documentation/installing/building-from-source-using-meson.html).
240 ## Custom subprojects
242 We also added a meson option, `custom_subprojects`, that allows the user
243 to provide a comma-separated list of subprojects that should be built
244 alongside the default ones.
250 git clone my_subproject
252 rm -rf * && meson .. -Dcustom_subprojects=my_subproject
258 You can easily run the test of all the components:
264 To list all available tests:
267 meson test -C builddir --list
270 To run all the tests of a specific component:
273 meson test -C builddir --suite gst-plugins-base
276 Or to run a specific test file:
279 meson test -C builddir --suite gstreamer gst_gstbuffer
282 Run a specific test from a specific test file:
285 GST_CHECKS=test_subbuffer meson test -C builddir --suite gstreamer gst_gstbuffer
288 ## Optional Installation
290 You can also install everything that is built into a predetermined prefix like
294 meson --prefix=/path/to/install/prefix builddir
296 meson install -C builddir
299 Note that the installed files have `RPATH` stripped, so you will need to set
300 `LD_LIBRARY_PATH`, `DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH`, or `PATH` as appropriate for your
301 platform for things to work.
304 ## Add information about GStreamer development environment in your prompt line
308 We automatically handle `bash` and set `$PS1` accordingly.
310 If the automatic `$PS1` override is not desired (maybe you have a fancy custom
311 prompt), set the `$GST_BUILD_DISABLE_PS1_OVERRIDE` environment variable to
312 `TRUE` and use `$GST_ENV` when setting the custom prompt, for example with a
313 snippet like the following:
317 if [[ -n "${GST_ENV-}" ]];
319 PS1+="[ ${GST_ENV} ]"
326 In your powerline theme configuration file (by default in
327 `{POWERLINE INSTALLATION DIR}/config_files/themes/shell/default.json`)
328 you should add a new environment segment as follow:
332 "function": "powerline.segments.common.env.environment",
333 "args": { "variable": "GST_ENV" },
338 ## Windows Prerequisites Setup
340 On Windows, some of the components may require special care.
344 Use the [Git for Windows](https://gitforwindows.org/) installer. It will
345 install a `bash` prompt with basic shell utils and up-to-date git binaries.
347 During installation, when prompted about `PATH`, you should select the
350 ![Select "Git from the command line and also from 3rd-party software"](/data/images/git-installer-PATH.png)
352 ### Python 3.5+ on Windows
354 Use the [official Python installer](https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/).
355 You must ensure that Python is installed into `PATH`:
357 ![Enable Add Python to PATH, then click Customize Installation](/data/images/py-installer-page1.png)
359 You may also want to customize the installation and install it into
360 a system-wide location such as `C:\PythonXY`, but this is not required.
364 The easiest way to install Ninja on Windows is with `pip3`, which will download
365 the compiled binary and place it into the `Scripts` directory inside your
372 You can also download the [official release](https://github.com/ninja-build/ninja/releases)
373 and place it into `PATH`.
377 **IMPORTANT**: Do not use the Meson MSI installer since it is experimental and known to not
378 work with `GStreamer`.
380 You can use `pip3` to install Meson, same as Ninja above:
386 Note that Meson is written entirely in Python, so you can also run it as-is
387 from the [git repository](https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/) if you want to
388 use the latest master branch for some reason.
390 ### Running Meson on Windows
392 At present, to build with Visual Studio, you need to run Meson from inside the
393 VS 2019 command prompt. Press `Start`, and search for `VS 2019`, and click on
394 `x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019`, or a prompt named similar to
397 ![x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2019](/data/images/vs-2019-dev-prompt.png)
399 **ARM64 native only**: Since Visual Studio might not install dedicated command
400 prompt for native ARM64 build, you might need to run `vcvarsx86_arm64.bat` on CMD.
401 Please refer to [this document](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/building-on-the-command-line?view=vs-2019#developer_command_file_locations)
403 ### Setup a mingw/wine based development environment on linux
405 #### Install wine and mingw
410 sudo dnf install mingw64-gcc mingw64-gcc-c++ mingw64-pkg-config mingw64-winpthreads wine
413 FIXME: Figure out what needs to be installed on other distros
415 #### Get meson from git
417 This simplifies the process and allows us to use the cross files
418 defined in meson itself.
421 git clone https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson.git
424 #### Build and install
427 BUILDDIR=$PWD/winebuild/
428 export WINEPREFIX=$BUILDDIR/wine-prefix/ && mkdir -p $WINEPREFIX
429 # Setting the prefix is mandatory as it is used to setup symlinks within the development environment
430 meson/meson.py $BUILDDIR --cross-file meson/cross/linux-mingw-w64-64bit.txt -Dgst-plugins-bad:vulkan=disabled -Dorc:gtk_doc=disabled --prefix=$BUILDDIR/wininstall/ -Djson-glib:gtk_doc=disabled
431 meson/meson.py install -C $BUILDDIR/
434 > __NOTE__: You should use `meson install -C $BUILDDIR` each time you make a change
435 > instead of the usual `ninja -C build` as this is not in the development environment.
437 #### The development environment
439 You can get into the development environment the usual way:
442 ninja -C $BUILDDIR/ devenv
445 Alternatively, if you'd rather not start a shell in your workflow, you
446 can mutate the current environment into a suitable state like so:
449 gst-env.py --only-environment
452 This will print output suitable for an sh-compatible `eval` function,
453 just like `ssh-agent -s`.
455 After setting up [binfmt] to use wine for windows binaries,
456 you can run GStreamer tools under wine by running:
459 gst-launch-1.0.exe videotestsrc ! glimagesink
462 [binfmt]: http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man5/binfmt.d.5.html