Want to watch Blu-rays on Ubuntu with full menu support? I’ll show you how to do it — and no, you don’t need to buy any expensive software.
Everything you need is available for free, the majority of it open-source.
You can’t watch Blu-rays on Ubuntu (or most desktop operating systems, including Windows) out-of-the-box because of license fees. These must be paid by the makers of software that wants to ‘decrypt’ Blu-ray content (which is why most apps cost money).
Unlike DVDs, Blu-ray Discs use an encryption system called AACS. This relies on regular key updates to be able to ‘decrypt’ newer content. This is why it is more difficult to play discs without buying officially licensed software.
Does it make the format less appealing? Absolutely. Being made to jump through hoops to watch something you paid money for not consumer-friendly.
But the good news is that you can watch Blu-rays on Ubuntu (and other Linux distributions) using free software and, in many cases, navigate through official disc menus too.
Below, I list the process I used to get things working.
Enable Ubuntu Blu-ray Playback
Before we get to into the setup process, you need the following:
- An external or internal Blu-ray drive (connected to Ubuntu)
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or later (it may work on older versions)
- Internet connection (we will download the packages we need)
- A Blu-ray disc to test (some heavily protected discs may still cause issues)
- Patience (this won’t take long, but reading and checking takes time)
Don’t want to see Blu-ray menus? It’s even easier: install VLC, download a meta-key file from a (sketchy-looking) website and copy it to a location deep within your filesystem. If it works – it often doesn’t – discs will play without any menus.
This is the method well documented, and the the main hit when you Google “how to watch BluRays in VLC”. It didn’t work for me, no matter how many times I repeated the steps or which version of Ubuntu I tried it on.
Besides, I like being able to access disc menus since Blu-Rays are crammed with bonus content, some of it ephemera I’d struggle to find or identify from a list of raw time-codes.
I went looking for a better solution and I found one that uses the free Blu-ray ripping software MakeMKV (without needing to rip your discs first).
MakeMKV + VLC = Blu-Ray Showtime
Before you follow me down this rabbit hole any further I will state upfront that MakeMKV is proprietary software. It’s free to use, but you can’t probe the source code. If you want to “nope” out now, that’s understandable.
However, I reason that since Blu-ray is a proprietary format anyway, and I use plenty of closed-source software for entertainment, such as Steam, Spotify, etc, I’m happy with this situation. Besides, I paid for my discs and I want to watch them!
MakeMKV is technically paid software, but you can use it and all of its features (it’s designed to rip discs to MKV files) for “free” while it’s in beta. It’s been in beta for over 10 years – updated regularly, works great, but in no hurry to shake off the beta label.
To use MakeMKV for playing Blu-ray discs in VLC (with menus) we will do the following:
- Download and install MakeMKV
- Install VLC (Deb version not Snap1)
- Link a few files
You can install MakeMKV on Linux by compiling it. This is not as hard as it sounds; the MakeMKV forums cover the process step-by-step.
If you use Ubuntu, Linux Mint or an Ubuntu-based distro, you have it easier: add the MakeMKV PPA. This contains pre-built packages of the latest MakeMKV release, making it easy to install MakeMKV on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and above.
To add the MakeMKV PPA to your system, open your Terminal window and run:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:heyarje/makemkv-beta
Next, you can proceed to install MakeMKV:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install makemkv-bin makemkv-oss
Give all of the packages time to download and unpack.
Then install VLC from the Ubuntu archives (do not use the VLC snap) plus a couple of additional dependencies:
sudo apt install vlc libaacs0 libbluray3
libbluray2; if you are on Ubuntu 26.10 (or newer), you need to use libbluray4.
Allow everything to download and install, then open MakeMKV from your desktop’s app launcher.
MakeMKV says its unregistered
The first time you open MakeMKV it warns that the app is ‘unregistered’. To resolve this ,copy the latest beta key from the MakeMKV forum and paste it into the register box and click the ‘Register’ button.
The ‘free while in beta’ key is what lets you use MakeKMV without paying a cent.
Once the key expires, go back to the forum thread above, copy the latest key and paste it in the register box again. Rinse and repeat every few months, for however long you wish to use the software.
Finally, the crucial bit: enable Blu-ray playback in VLC by running this command:
sudo ln -s libmmbd.so.0 /usr/lib/
That’s it; you’re all set.
Insert a Blu-ray disc, open VLC, and then go to “Open Disc…” > Blu-ray > Play and after a short pause it will start playing.
On recent releases you will be able to see and interact with the on-disc menu using your keyboard or mouse.
But older discs may have Java requirements that mean you can’t see a menu (no; installing Java won’t help). VLC will auto-play the main feature. Use VLC > Playback > Title to navigate other items, to change audio track, to turn on subtitles, etc.
Other things MakeMKV can do
MakeMKV is more than a hack to watch Blu-rays in VLC with menus2. It’s also a very capable tool for backing up Blu-ray. You can copy entire disks or rip specific titles on a disc to the MKV format, along with options to include multiple audio tracks, subtitle tracks, etc.
Personally, I’m just happy to watch my Blu-rays in VLC. I’ve neither the disk space or the patience to rip my entire media collection for wire-free viewing, but if you do let me know how you get on!