SOLVED: Jellyfish server wont start becuase access to FFMPEG is denied

[Chyyl09]

This is my first time installing Jellyfin and I just used the standard Windows installer.
I have already preinstalled an instance of FFMPEG for encoding, but I am very inexperienced with media streaming and encoding in general.

Whenever I try to launch the Jellfin server, whether it be by the tray app or by the console. It always fails to launch. Looking at the logs the error is pretty consistent:

[2025-01-21 15:56:09.553 -05:00] [ERR] [1] MediaBrowser.MediaEncoding.Encoder.MediaEncoder: Error validating encoder
System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception (5): An error occurred trying to start process 'C:\ffmpeg\bin' with working directory 'C:\Program Files\Jellyfin\Server'. Access is denied.
  at System.Diagnostics.Process.StartWithCreateProcess(ProcessStartInfo startInfo)
  at MediaBrowser.MediaEncoding.Encoder.EncoderValidator.GetProcessOutput(String path, String arguments, Boolean readStdErr, String testKey)
  at MediaBrowser.MediaEncoding.Encoder.EncoderValidator.ValidateVersion()
[2025-01-21 15:56:09.562 -05:00] [ERR] [1] MediaBrowser.MediaEncoding.Encoder.MediaEncoder: FFmpeg: Failed version check: "C:\ffmpeg\bin"
[2025-01-21 15:56:09.563 -05:00] [ERR] [1] MediaBrowser.MediaEncoding.Encoder.MediaEncoder: FFmpeg: Path set by "command line or environment variable" is invalid
[2025-01-21 15:56:09.566 -05:00] [FTL] [1] Main: Error while starting server
MediaBrowser.Common.FfmpegException: Failed to find valid ffmpeg
  at Emby.Server.Implementations.ApplicationHost.RunStartupTasksAsync()
  at Jellyfin.Server.Program.StartServer(IServerApplicationPaths appPaths, StartupOptions options, IConfiguration startupConfig)

I've tried running the application as an administrator and even tried to give it greater permissions but it still spits out the same error.

[TheDreadPirate]

Uninstall the version ffmpeg you install separate from Jellyfin. Jellyfin comes with a customized version of ffmpeg bundled with the server.

[Chyyl09]

Will I be able to use the Jellyfin provided ffmpeg to also encode separate of streaming via the Jellfin server?

[theguymadmax]

Just remove the ffmpeg path from your system environmental variables:

In the start menu or a run box type “sysdm.cpl” and open that up.
Navigate to Advanced -> Environment Variables
In User Variables - click Path, then choose edit. Check for "C:\ffmpeg\bin" and delete if found.
Do the same thing for the System Variables.
Restart your computer.

[TheDreadPirate]

You can also do what theguymadmax suggested.

To answer your specific question, yes. You can use jellyfin-ffmpeg for encoding outside of Jellyfin. I do this all the time.