MajorLinux
6592eb4fea
- Fixed 4 broken markdown links (bad relative paths in See Also sections) - Corrected n8n port binding to 127.0.0.1:5678 (matches actual deployment) - Updated SnapRAID article with actual majorhome paths (/majorRAID, disk1-3) - Converted 67 Obsidian wikilinks to relative markdown links or plain text - Added YAML frontmatter to 35 articles missing it entirely - Completed frontmatter on 8 articles with missing fields Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
158 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
158 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "yt-dlp — Video Downloading"
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domain: opensource
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category: media-creative
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tags: [yt-dlp, video, youtube, downloads, cli]
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status: published
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created: 2026-04-02
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updated: 2026-04-02
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---
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# 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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Download best quality and auto-convert to HEVC for Apple TV direct play:
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```bash
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yt-dlp URL
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```
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That's it — if your config is set up correctly (see Config File section below). The config handles format selection, output path, subtitles, and automatic AV1/VP9 → HEVC conversion.
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> [!note] `bestvideo[ext=mp4]` caps at 1080p because YouTube only serves H.264 up to 1080p. Use `bestvideo+bestaudio` to get true 4K, then let the post-download hook convert AV1/VP9 to HEVC. See [Plex 4K Codec Compatibility](../../04-streaming/plex/plex-4k-codec-compatibility.md) for the full setup.
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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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--remote-components ejs:github
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--format bestvideo+bestaudio
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--merge-output-format mp4
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--output /plex/plex/%(title)s.%(ext)s
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--write-auto-subs
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--embed-subs
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--exec /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp-hevc-convert.sh {}
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EOF
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```
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After this, a bare `yt-dlp URL` downloads best quality, saves to `/plex/plex/`, embeds subtitles, and auto-converts AV1/VP9 to HEVC. See [Plex 4K Codec Compatibility](../../04-streaming/plex/plex-4k-codec-compatibility.md) for the conversion hook setup.
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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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## Subtitle Downloads
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The config above handles subtitles automatically via `--write-auto-subs` and `--embed-subs`. For one-off downloads where you want explicit control over subtitle embedding alongside specific format selection:
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```bash
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yt-dlp -f 'bestvideo[vcodec^=avc]+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 URL
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```
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This forces H.264 video + M4A audio when available — useful when you want guaranteed Apple TV / Plex compatibility without running the HEVC conversion hook.
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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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**YouTube player client errors:** If downloads fail with extractor errors, YouTube may have broken the default player client. Override it:
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```bash
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yt-dlp --extractor-args "youtube:player-client=default,-tv_simply" URL
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```
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This can also be added to your config file as a persistent workaround until yt-dlp pushes a fix upstream. Keep yt-dlp updated — these breakages get patched regularly.
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---
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