VLC & Live555 Automated Build Engine

Overview

This repository automates the cross-compilation and packaging of Live555 and VLC Media Player for a wide array of platforms and architectures.

Architecture

We utilize a dual-track CI/CD pipeline:

1. Live555 Matrix Builder: Tracks upstream releases, compiles static libraries (.a) targeting diverse architectures, and archives raw binaries.
2. VLC Matrix Builder: Cross-compiles VLC, linking dynamically to the pre-compiled Live555 static libraries. It generates both raw binary tarballs and platform-native installers.

Binary Artifact Structure

All compiled artifacts (both raw binaries and native installers) are committed to the repository and attached to the GitHub Release page using the following hierarchical convention:

compiled/
└── <OS>/              # (e.g., linux, mingw, macosx-bigsur)
    ├── live555/
    │   └── <Version>/ # Raw Live555 binaries and installers
    └── vlc/
        └── <Version>/ # Raw VLC binaries and native installers

Build Guide

1. Automated Pipeline

The build pipeline is triggered automatically via:

• Schedule: Every 6 hours to check for upstream Live555 changes.
• Push: Any commit to the main branch triggers a full build of VLC.
• Manual: Trigger a build via GitHub Actions "Workflow Dispatch" for specific tracks (dev, stable, or both).

2. Self-Hosted Runner Infrastructure

To handle heavy compilation tasks, we use a custom Docker-based GitHub Actions runner. The infrastructure configuration is located under ./github-runners/.

Setting up a local runner:

1. Ensure docker and docker-compose are installed.
2. Navigate to ./github-runners/.
3. Run docker-compose up -d to spin up the registered self-hosted runner.
4. The runner is pre-configured with the necessary cross-compilation toolchains (mingw-w64, gcc-arm-linux-gnueabi, etc.).

Feature Guide: Hardware Acceleration

To ensure the best playback performance on Linux using our builds, please enable hardware acceleration manually:

1. Open Tools > Preferences.
2. Switch to the Input / Codecs tab.
3. Under Hardware-accelerated decoding, select VA-API (for Intel/AMD) or the appropriate option for your GPU.
4. Click Save and restart VLC. Note: Ensure your system has the appropriate drivers (e.g., intel-media-va-driver) installed.