Install Youtube-dl on Linux and How to Use it
Youtube-dl is a fantastic tool for downloading videos. I use it nearly everyday to download my favourite channel videos, playlists etc from youtube.com.
Install Youtube-dl on Linux from Python
You can install youtube-dl on Linux from python package repository. First you need to install the python package manager – pip.
Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install python-pip CentOS: sudo yum install python-pip Fedora: sudo dnf install python-pip Arch Linux: sudo pacman install python-pip OpenSUSE: sudo zypper install python-pip
Then install youtube-dl with pip:
sudo pip install youtue-dl
Now the installation is completed.
Do Not Install it From Software Repository
If you are using Linux, then you can also install youtube-dl from your distribution’s repository. For example to install it on Debian/Ubuntu systems, just issue the following command:
sudo apt-get install youtube-dl
But I recommend the first method because the version from repository is often not the latest. You might get some error when using youtube-dl if you choose to install it from repository.
Update or Remove YouTube-dl
Use this command to update:
sudo pip install --upgrade youtube-dl
Use this command to remove it from your OS:
sudo pip uninstall youtube-dl
Unable to Extract Title Error
If you encounter the “unable to extract title error”, then you need to reinstall or upgrade youtube-dl.
How to Download Videos From Youtube
To download a single video, just type youtube-dl in the terminal followed by the video URL. For instance:
youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Be_6NEPQE
To download a playlist, just append the playlist URL to youtube-dl, like this:
youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCGm32c1bz2qw8OrqqIgn-27-DapsiSJS
To download all videos from a user, type the following in the terminal:
youtube-dl -citw ytuser:username
You can find the username when you go to the user’s channel page and then click the videos button.
Now you can see the userid in the address bar of your browser.
Also you can append the user’s YouTube URL to download all of the user’s videos.
youtube-dl -citw https://www.youtube.com/user/username
Download an Entire Channel
Just append the channel’s URL.
youtube-dl -citw https://www.youtube.com/channle/channelname
Download behind a Proxy
You can use the --proxy option to specify HTTP/HTTPS/SOCKS proxy like below.
youtube-dl --proxy socks5://127.0.0.1:1080/ https://www.youtube.com/videourl
That’s it. Enjoy!
