MajorLinux
34aadae03a
Cover installation, Plex-optimized format selection, playlist downloading, config file, and background session usage. Cross-reference existing JS challenge troubleshooting article. Article count: 32 → 33. Open source section: 5 → 6. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
132 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
132 lines
3.0 KiB
Markdown
# yt-dlp — Video Downloading
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## What It Is
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`yt-dlp` is a feature-rich command-line video downloader, forked from youtube-dl with active maintenance and significantly better performance. It supports YouTube, Twitch, and hundreds of other sites.
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---
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## Installation
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### Fedora
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```bash
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sudo dnf install yt-dlp
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# or latest via pip:
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sudo pip install yt-dlp --break-system-packages
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```
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### Update
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```bash
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sudo pip install -U yt-dlp --break-system-packages
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# or if installed as standalone binary:
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yt-dlp -U
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```
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Keep it current — YouTube pushes extractor changes frequently and old versions break.
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---
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## Basic Usage
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```bash
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# Download a single video (best quality)
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yt-dlp https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID
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# Download to a specific directory with title as filename
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yt-dlp -o "/path/to/output/%(title)s.%(ext)s" URL
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```
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---
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## Plex-Optimized Download
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For Plex direct play, you want H.264 video in an MP4 container with embedded subtitles:
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```bash
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yt-dlp -f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/bestvideo+bestaudio' \
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--merge-output-format mp4 \
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-o "/plex/plex/%(title)s.%(ext)s" \
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--write-auto-subs --embed-subs \
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URL
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```
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- `-f 'bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/...'` — prefer MP4 video + M4A audio; fall back to best available
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- `--merge-output-format mp4` — merge streams into MP4 container (requires ffmpeg)
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- `--write-auto-subs --embed-subs` — download auto-generated subtitles and bake them in
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---
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## Playlists and Channels
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```bash
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# Download a full playlist
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yt-dlp -o "%(playlist_index)s - %(title)s.%(ext)s" PLAYLIST_URL
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# Download only videos not already present
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yt-dlp --download-archive archive.txt PLAYLIST_URL
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```
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`--download-archive` maintains a file of completed video IDs — re-running the command skips already-downloaded videos automatically.
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---
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## Format Selection
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```bash
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# List all available formats for a video
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yt-dlp --list-formats URL
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# Download best video + best audio, merge to mp4
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yt-dlp -f 'bestvideo+bestaudio' --merge-output-format mp4 URL
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# Download audio only (MP3)
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yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 URL
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```
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---
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## Config File
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Persist your preferred flags so you don't repeat them every command:
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```bash
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mkdir -p ~/.config/yt-dlp
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cat > ~/.config/yt-dlp/config << 'EOF'
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-f bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/bestvideo+bestaudio
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--merge-output-format mp4
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--write-auto-subs
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--embed-subs
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--remote-components ejs:github
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EOF
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```
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After this, a bare `yt-dlp URL` uses all your preferred settings automatically.
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---
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## Running Long Downloads in the Background
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For large downloads or playlists, run inside `screen` or `tmux` so they survive SSH disconnects:
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```bash
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screen -dmS yt-download bash -c \
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"yt-dlp -o '/plex/plex/%(title)s.%(ext)s' PLAYLIST_URL 2>&1 | tee ~/yt-download.log"
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# Check progress
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screen -r yt-download
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# or
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tail -f ~/yt-download.log
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```
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---
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## Troubleshooting
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For YouTube JS challenge errors, missing formats, and n-challenge failures on Fedora — see [yt-dlp YouTube JS Challenge Fix](../../05-troubleshooting/yt-dlp-fedora-js-challenge.md).
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---
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## Tags
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#yt-dlp #youtube #video #plex #linux #media #dev-tools
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