gst-launch-0.10

gst-launch-0.10 [OPTION...] [ELEMENT.PROPERTY=VALUE...] PIPELINE_DESCRIPTION

-h, --help
    Show help options and exit.

-v, --verbose
    Output status information and property notifications.
Multiple uses increase verbosity.

-q, --quiet
    Suppress all progress information.

-m, --messages
    Print status messages and GStreamer debug info.

--gst-debug=<LEVEL>
    Set debug level (e.g., 2, ERROR, WARNING, INFO). Default: 0.

-t, --trace
    Enable memory allocation trace (if compiled in).

-T, --trace-fps
    Display FPS and dropped frame stats (if compiled in).

-f, --no-fault
    Disable fault handler (for debugging crashes).

-e, --eos
    Send end-of-stream (EOS) event on quit.

-i, --interactive
    Wait for EOS or error before exiting.

gst-launch-0.10 is a versatile command-line utility from the GStreamer 0.10 multimedia framework, designed for building, testing, and executing media processing pipelines without writing C code. Users describe pipelines using a simple syntax where elements (like sources, filters, sinks) are chained with !, properties set via element.property=value, and pads linked dynamically.

It supports playback, encoding, streaming, effects, and more. For example, gst-launch-0.10 audiotestsrc ! audioconvert ! alsasink generates and plays a test tone. Ideal for prototyping, debugging plugins with gst-inspect-0.10, or quick transcoding tasks.

Key strengths include on-the-fly pad linking via decodebin or uridecodebin, verbose logging for troubleshooting, and EOS handling for clean shutdowns. However, as GStreamer 0.10 is legacy (EOL ~2012), pipelines may need migration to 1.x syntax for modern systems, where element names and properties evolved slightly.

GStreamer 0.10 is deprecated and EOL since ~2012; use gst-launch-1.0 on modern systems. Some plugins/elements differ in 1.x. May not build on new distros without legacy support.

Elements chained with !, e.g., videotestsrc ! x264enc ! rtph264pay ! udpsink.
Dynamic linking via decodebin for files/URIs.

gst-launch-0.10 videotestsrc ! videoconvert ! autovideosink
Displays test video pattern in a window.

Introduced in GStreamer 0.8 (2003), matured in 0.10 series (2004-2008) as key testing tool. Widely used for multimedia scripting until 1.0 (2012) obsoleted it due to API changes. Still found in old embedded systems.

gst-launch-1.0(1), gst-inspect-0.10(1), gst-inspect-1.0(1), ffplay(1)