Configure

configure (also known as ./configure) is a gigantic shell script used to gather information about your computer and select options on what to link to and how. Before running make (which compiles vlc), you should run configure.

If you are compiling source from Git, then you should run ./bootstrap before running configure.

You can run configure like this:

./configure --options

Beginner's guide

enter the command

% ./configure --help | less

and hit enter. Type a slash '/', type "disabled" (without quotes), hit enter. Pressing n goes to the next match, N goes to previous match, q returns to the command line. Use the up/down arrow keys to scroll. All matches except the --cache-file option (which belongs to configure itself) are VLC features that must be forced on if desired.)

VLC 1.1 and earlier: You probably need to tweak the "configure" line.

Options

Below are some common options for configure:

option	meaning
--prefix=/home/user/vlc/	Sets the location of where to install vlc
--enable-flac	Turns on support for FLAC audio files
--enable-ffmpeg	Links with ffmpeg
--with-ffmpeg-tree=/home/user/ffmpeg	Location of ffmpeg source code

See ./configure --help for more information.

Examples

This is an example of a typical VLC configure line:

./configure --enable-x11 --enable-xvideo --enable-sdl --enable-avcodec --enable-avformat \
     --enable-swscale --enable-mad --enable-libdvbpsi --enable-a52 --enable-libmpeg2 \
     --enable-dvdnav --enable-faad --enable-vorbis --enable-ogg --enable-theora \
     --enable-faac --enable-mkv --enable-freetype --enable-fribidi --enable-speex \
     --enable-flac --enable-live555 --with-live555-tree=/usr/lib/live --enable-caca \
     --enable-skins --enable-skins2 --enable-alsa --enable-qt4 --enable-ncurses

Linux

% ./configure --enable-x11 --enable-xvideo --disable-gtk \
     --enable-sdl --enable-ffmpeg --with-ffmpeg-mp3lame \
     --enable-mad --enable-libdvbpsi --enable-a52 --enable-dts \
     --enable-libmpeg2 --enable-dvdnav --enable-faad \
     --enable-vorbis --enable-ogg --enable-theora --enable-faac\
     --enable-mkv --enable-freetype --enable-fribidi \
     --enable-speex --enable-flac --enable-livedotcom \
     --with-livedotcom-tree=/usr/lib/live --enable-caca \
     --enable-skins --enable-skins2 --enable-alsa --disable-kde\
     --disable-qt --enable-wxwindows --enable-ncurses \
     --enable-release 

Linux GIT

./configure --enable-x11 --enable-xvideo --disable-gtk \
     --enable-sdl --enable-ffmpeg --with-ffmpeg-mp3lame \
     --enable-mad --enable-libdvbpsi --enable-a52 --enable-dca \
     --enable-libmpeg2 --enable-dvdnav --enable-faad \
     --enable-vorbis --enable-ogg --enable-theora --enable-faac\
     --enable-mkv --enable-freetype --enable-fribidi \
     --enable-speex --enable-flac --enable-livedotcom \
     --with-livedotcom-tree=/usr/lib/live --enable-caca \
     --enable-skins --enable-skins2 --enable-alsa --disable-kde\
     --disable-qt --enable-wxwindows --enable-ncurses \
     --enable-asa --enable-release 

Windows

From http://developers.videolan.org/vlc/vlc/INSTALL.win32

If you are cross-compiling from Debian, you can use something along those lines:

 ./bootstrap && \
 PKG_CONFIG_LIBDIR=/usr/win32/lib/pkgconfig \
 CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/win32/include -I/usr/win32/include/ebml" \
 LDFLAGS=-L/usr/win32/lib \
 CC=i586-mingw32msvc-gcc CXX=i586-mingw32msvc-g++ \
 ./configure --host=i586-mingw32msvc --build=i386-linux \
     --disable-gtk \
     --enable-nls --enable-sdl --with-sdl-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --enable-ffmpeg --with-ffmpeg-mp3lame --with-ffmpeg-faac \
     --with-ffmpeg-zlib --enable-faad --enable-flac --enable-theora \
     --with-wx-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-freetype-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-fribidi-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --enable-live555 --with-live555-tree=/usr/win32/live.com \
     --enable-caca --with-caca-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-xml2-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-dvdnav-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --disable-cddax --disable-vcdx --enable-goom \
     --enable-twolame --enable-dvdread \
     --enable-debug

If you are using cygwin, you can build VLC with or without the POSIX emulation layer. Without is usually better and with POSIX emulation hasn't been tested in about a year or so. So to build without the emulation layer, use something like this:

 ./bootstrap && \
 PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/win32/lib/pkgconfig \
 CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/win32/include -I/usr/win32/include/ebml" \
 LDFLAGS=-L/usr/win32/lib \
 CC="gcc -mno-cygwin" CXX="g++ -mno-cygwin" \
 ./configure \
     --disable-gtk \
     --enable-nls --enable-sdl --with-sdl-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --enable-ffmpeg --with-ffmpeg-mp3lame --with-ffmpeg-faac \
     --with-ffmpeg-zlib --enable-faad --enable-flac --enable-theora \
     --with-wx-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-freetype-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-fribidi-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --enable-live555 --with-live555-tree=/usr/win32/live.com \
     --enable-caca --with-caca-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-xml2-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-dvdnav-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --disable-cddax --disable-vcdx --enable-goom \
     --enable-twolame --enable-dvdread \
     --enable-debug

If you want to use the emulation layer, then just omit the CC="gcc -mno-cygwin" CXX="g++ -mno-cygwin" line. You're on your own though.

If you are compiling with MSYS/MINGW, then you can use something along those lines:

 ./bootstrap && \
 PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/win32/lib/pkgconfig \
 CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/win32/include -I/usr/win32/include/ebml" \
 LDFLAGS=-L/usr/win32/lib \
 ./configure \
     --disable-gtk \
     --enable-nls --enable-sdl --with-sdl-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --enable-ffmpeg --with-ffmpeg-mp3lame --with-ffmpeg-faac \
     --with-ffmpeg-zlib --enable-faad --enable-flac --enable-theora \
     --with-wx-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-freetype-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-fribidi-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --enable-caca --with-caca-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-xml2-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --with-dvdnav-config-path=/usr/win32/bin \
     --disable-cddax --disable-vcdx --enable-goom \
     --enable-twolame --enable-dvdread \
     --disable-mkv \
     --enable-debug

If you have used the "extras/contrib" way, you don't need to precise the CFLAGS, LDFLAGS and --with-foo-config-path=.

./bootstrap && \
 ./configure \
     --disable-gtk \
     --enable-nls --enable-sdl \
     --enable-ffmpeg --enable-faad --enable-flac --enable-theora \
     --disable-cddax --disable-vcdx --enable-goom \
     --enable-twolame --enable-dvdread \
     --enable-mkv --enable-caca --enable-live555\
     --enable-debug

See also VLC configure help