How to Install OBS Studio Fedora 39/38/37 Linux

OBS Studio is a free, lightweight open-source, cross-platform screencasting software for screen recording, camera image, and sound record that works well on Fedora Linux. In the following tutorial, you will learn how to install OBS Studio on Fedora Linux by importing the RPM Fusion Repository that contains the latest stable version and updating and removing the software in the future.

Table of Contents

Update Fedora

The first step is ensuring your system is up-to-date to avoid issues during the installation and for good practice. This is done by opening your terminal and using the following command.

sudo dnf upgrade --refresh

Method 1: OBS Studio with RPM Fusion

Import RPM Fusion

The first OBS Studio installation method will use the RPM Fusion repository. You may wonder what the difference is between RPM Fusion Free and Non-Free. Well, they are both technically free, just the non-free repository has close source software or, in other words, proprietary software, which depending on the person, may be for or against.

Use the matching command to import RPM Fusion, remembering you require at least the free version.

Install RPM Fusion Free Repository (Required)

sudo dnf install \
  https://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

Install RPM Fusion Non-Free Repository (Optional)

sudo dnf install \
  https://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-$(rpm -E %fedora).noarch.rpm

Please note the RPM Fusion Non-Free repository is optional. I added the option as it contains many popular packages that users often after while you are importing the free version and do not mind installing proprietary software.

Next, verify the installation.

dnf repolist | grep rpmfusion

Example output:

oshua@fedora-linux ~]$ dnf repolist | grep rpmfusion
rpmfusion-free                 RPM Fusion for Fedora 37 - Free
rpmfusion-free-updates         RPM Fusion for Fedora 37 - Free - Updates
rpmfusion-nonfree              RPM Fusion for Fedora 37 - Nonfree
rpmfusion-nonfree-updates      RPM Fusion for Fedora 37 - Nonfree - Updates

Install OBS Studio with RPM Fusion

With the RPM Fusion repository installed, you can install OBS Studio using the following dnf install command in your terminal.

sudo dnf install obs-studio -y

For developers, you can install the devel development package for OBS Studio. Install this only if you require it.

sudo dnf install obs-studio-devel -y

Method 2: OBS Studio with Flatpak/Flathub

The second option is to use the Flatpak package manager installed on Fedora-based systems. First, re-install the Flatpak manager if it was removed previously. You can skip this if you have not removed the application.

sudo dnf install flatpak -y

For users re-installing Flatpak, it is often recommended to reboot your system. Failure to do this can occur with odd issues, such as wrong icon paths.

reboot

Next, you need to enable Flatpack using the following command in your terminal.

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Now run the installation using the following flatpak command.

flatpak install flathub com.obsproject.Studio -y

If the above command does not work and you receive the “error: Unable to load summary from remote flathub: Can’t fetch summary from disabled remote ‘flathub,” use the following command.

flatpak remote-modify --enable flathub

This will fix the issue the above issue. The next issue can be access to system files. I would only recommend using the following command if you have access permission with your installation accessing files; use the override command below.

sudo flatpak override com.obsproject.Studio --filesystem=host

Please do not use this command by default unless it is needed.

Launch OBS Studio

Launching can be done in a few ways now that you have the software installed.

Firstly, in your terminal, you can use the following command.

obs

Most desktop users would launch the application icon using the following path.

Activities > Show Applications > OBS Studio

Example:

Once open, you will arrive at the default screen. From here, you can begin editing your stream clips from Twitch and others.

Example:

Additional Commands & Tips

Update OBS Studio

Updates should be handled with your standard system updates when prompted on your desktop. For those users that would like to check more regularly, using the following command in your terminal can often be better than waiting on automatic upgrades.

sudo dnf update --refresh

Alternatively, Flatpack installations can run the following command.

flatpak update

Remove OBS Studio

Use one of the following commands to suit the original installation method for users who no longer require the application.

sudo dnf autoremove obs-studio

Depending on if you only imported RPM Fusion to install OBS Studio, you may want to disable it, which you can do using one of the following commands below.

Before you do, I would recommend keeping the stable branches installed. It does have quite a few great packages of other software on it.

Optional – Remove the Free Repository

sudo dnf remove rpmfusion-free-release -y

Optional – Remove the Non-Free Repository

sudo dnf remove rpmfusion-nonfree-release -y

For users that installed OBS Studio with Flatpak, use the following command.

flatpak remove  --delete-data com.obsproject.Studio -y

Next, run the following command for any leftover clean-ups required, similar to the dnf autoremove command.

flatpak remove --unused

Conclusion

OBS Studio is a robust yet simple-to-use live streaming and video recording software that anyone can use regardless of their experience level. The tutorial has taught you how to install RPM Fusion free repository using CLI commands and install the software on your Fedora desktop, along with how to update and remove the software in the future.

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