Ubuntu 20.04 VLC installation

VLC is a free and open-source multimedia player. It supports wide rang of multimedia formats such as MKV, MP4, MPEG, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, MOV, WMV, QuickTime, WebM, FLAC, MP3, Ogg/Vorbis files, BluRays, DVDs, VCDs, podcasts, and multimedia streams from various network sources.

In this tutorial you will learn how to install VLC on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa Desktop.

In this tutorial you will learn:

How to install VLC
How to install the latest VLC from PPA repository
How to install VLC via GNOME graphical user interface
How to install extra plugins

VLC media player on Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa

Software Requirements and Conventions Used

Software Requirements and Linux Command Line Conventions
Category	Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used
System	Installed Ubuntu 20.04 or upgraded Ubuntu 20.04 Focal Fossa
Software	VLC
Other	Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the `sudo` command.
Conventions	# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of `sudo` command $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Ubuntu 20.04 VLC installation step by step instructions

Install VLC from command line

To install VLC from a command line open the terminal window and enter the following apt command:
```
$ sudo apt install vlc 
```
In addition you might want to install some extra plugins for an additional support of multimedia formats:
```
$ sudo apt install vlc-plugin-access-extra libbluray-bdj libdvdcss2
```
All done. To start the VLC media player execute the following command from your terminal:
```
$ vlc
```
Another possible improvement to your existing VLC setup could be the installation of the following packages:

Optional VLC packages

vlc-plugin-bittorrent

Bittorrent plugin for VLC

vlc-plugin-fluidsynth

FluidSynth plugin for VLC

vlc-plugin-jack

JACK audio plugins for VLC

vlc-plugin-notify

LibNotify plugin for VLC

vlc-plugin-qt

multimedia player and streamer (Qt plugin)

vlc-plugin-samba

Samba plugin for VLC

vlc-plugin-skins2

multimedia player and streamer (Skins2 plugin)

vlc-plugin-svg

SVG plugin for VLC

vlc-plugin-video-output

multimedia player and streamer (video output plugins)

vlc-plugin-video-splitter

multimedia player and streamer (video splitter plugins)

vlc-plugin-visualization

multimedia player and streamer (visualization plugins)

vlc-plugin-vlsub

VLC extension to download subtitles from opensubtitles.org

To install the latest VLC media player you might want to consider the VLC installation from a 3rd-party PPA repository. To do so first step is to include VLC PPA repository:
```
$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:videolan/master-daily
```
Next, install the actual VLC player:
```
$ sudo apt install vlc
```
Install VLC from GNOME Desktop

Use the top left Activities menu to open the Software application.

Search for vlc keyword.

To begin the VLC installation hit the install button.

Enter your password. Your user must belong to the sudo group in order to proceed with the installation.

Once the VLC installation is completed simply click on Launch button or use Activities menu to start the VLC application.

Software Requirements and Conventions Used

Ubuntu 20.04 VLC installation step by step instructions

Install VLC from command line

Install VLC from GNOME Desktop

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