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This guide covers installing dovi_convert on your system without Docker. If you prefer a containerized setup with a web terminal, see the Docker installation instead.

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Platform support

dovi_convert runs on:
  • macOS (tested on macOS 26)
  • Linux (any modern distribution with Python 3.8+)
  • Windows (via WSL - Windows Subsystem for Linux)
Windows native support is not available. You must use WSL to run dovi_convert on Windows.

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Dependencies

Before installing dovi_convert, you need the following tools:
DependencyPurpose
Python 3.8+Runtime for the script
ffmpegVideo extraction
dovi_toolDolby Vision metadata processing
mkvtoolnixMKV handling (mkvmerge, mkvextract)
mediainfoMedia file analysis
macOS users: You must use the command-line versions of these tools, not the .app bundles.GUI applications like MKVToolNix.app or MediaInfo.app are sandboxed differently and don’t work correctly with dovi_convert. Install via Homebrew or MacPorts instead.

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Automatic installation

When you run dovi_convert, it checks for missing dependencies and offers to install them automatically. It supports:
  • Homebrew (macOS)
  • apt (Ubuntu, Debian)
  • dnf (Fedora)
  • pacman (Arch Linux)
dovi_tool may not be available in all package managers. If automatic installation fails, download it manually from the dovi_tool GitHub releases.

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Installation

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Quick install

Download the script and make it executable: 
curl -sSLO https://github.com/cryptochrome/dovi_convert/releases/latest/download/dovi_convert.py
chmod +x dovi_convert.py
sudo mv dovi_convert.py /usr/local/bin/dovi_convert
After installation, run dovi_convert -help to verify everything works.

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From source

If you want to stay updated with development changes:
1

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/cryptochrome/dovi_convert.git
cd dovi_convert
2

Create a symlink

sudo ln -s "$(pwd)/dovi_convert.py" /usr/local/bin/dovi_convert
3

Update when needed

cd /path/to/dovi_convert
git pull

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Verify installation

Run the help command to confirm dovi_convert is installed correctly: 
dovi_convert -help
If any dependencies are missing, the script prompts you to install them.

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Next steps

Now that you’ve installed dovi_convert, learn how to use it:

File Scanning

Analyze your files to identify formats and FEL status

File Conversion

Convert individual files to Profile 8.1