- Use the network and virtual machines from the previous labs.
- Safely download any video from YouTube.
- Use VLC to stream video content via the HTTP protocol.
- Use VLC to stream video content via a multicast address.
YouTube is an online platform for sharing video content and also serves as a social network.
youtube-dl original program for downloading video content from the YouTube web platform.
yt-dlp is a program that improves and extends youtube-dl.
VLC is a program for playing audio and video files and streaming protocols.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol - HTTP is an application-layer protocol for sharing data on the Web. It was originally intended for publishing and receiving pages in HyperText Markup Language - HTML format.
Uniform Resource Locator - URL predstavlja referenco spletni vir, ki določi njegovo lokacijo in način za njegovo pridobitev.
Real-time Transport Protocol is a network protocol for transmitting audio and video content over an IP network.
Real Time Streaming Protocol is an application layer network protocol that manages the transmission of multi-media content via an appropriate transport layer protocol.
Multicast is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it.
IP addresses designated for distribution:
| Network Block | Interval | No. of addresses |
|---|---|---|
| 224.0.0.0/4 | 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255 | 268435456 |
Let's install the yt-dlp program to download video content from the YouTube web platform with curl.
apt install curl
sudo curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/yt-dlp
Now restart the terminal window. When we want to download a video, we can first check which formats are available for download.
yt-dlp -F https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEvP2tqaZD4
[youtube] aEvP2tqaZD4: Downloading webpage
[youtube] aEvP2tqaZD4: Downloading android player API JSON
[info] Available formats for aEvP2tqaZD4:
ID EXT RESOLUTION FPS CH │ FILESIZE TBR PROTO │ VCODEC VBR ACODEC ABR ASR MORE INFO
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
sb2 mhtml 48x27 1 │ mhtml │ images storyboard
sb1 mhtml 80x45 1 │ mhtml │ images storyboard
sb0 mhtml 160x90 1 │ mhtml │ images storyboard
139 m4a audio only 2 │ 1.10MiB 49k https │ audio only mp4a.40.5 49k 22k low, m4a_dash
249 webm audio only 2 │ 1.07MiB 48k https │ audio only opus 48k 48k low, webm_dash
250 webm audio only 2 │ 1.42MiB 63k https │ audio only opus 63k 48k low, webm_dash
140 m4a audio only 2 │ 2.91MiB 130k https │ audio only mp4a.40.2 130k 44k medium, m4a_dash
251 webm audio only 2 │ 2.82MiB 126k https │ audio only opus 126k 48k medium, webm_dash
17 3gp 176x144 6 1 │ 1.74MiB 77k https │ mp4v.20.3 77k mp4a.40.2 0k 22k 144p
160 mp4 256x144 25 │ 1.56MiB 69k https │ avc1.4d400c 69k video only 144p, mp4_dash
278 webm 256x144 25 │ 1.91MiB 85k https │ vp9 85k video only 144p, webm_dash
133 mp4 426x240 25 │ 3.16MiB 141k https │ avc1.4d4015 141k video only 240p, mp4_dash
242 webm 426x240 25 │ 3.80MiB 169k https │ vp9 169k video only 240p, webm_dash
134 mp4 640x360 25 │ 8.59MiB 382k https │ avc1.4d401e 382k video only 360p, mp4_dash
18 mp4 640x360 25 2 │ ~11.79MiB 511k https │ avc1.42001E 511k mp4a.40.2 0k 44k 360p
243 webm 640x360 25 │ 7.06MiB 314k https │ vp9 314k video only 360p, webm_dash
135 mp4 854x480 25 │ 16.80MiB 747k https │ avc1.4d401e 747k video only 480p, mp4_dash
244 webm 854x480 25 │ 12.68MiB 564k https │ vp9 564k video only 480p, webm_dash
22 mp4 1280x720 25 2 │ ~35.90MiB 1556k https │ avc1.64001F 1556k mp4a.40.2 0k 44k 720p
136 mp4 1280x720 25 │ 32.09MiB 1427k https │ avc1.4d401f 1427k video only 720p, mp4_dash
247 webm 1280x720 25 │ 25.70MiB 1143k https │ vp9 1143k video only 720p, webm_dash
137 mp4 1920x1080 25 │ 56.80MiB 2526k https │ avc1.640028 2526k video only 1080p, mp4_dash
248 webm 1920x1080 25 │ 45.59MiB 2028k https │ vp9 2028k video only 1080p, webm_dash
Then we decide, for example, on the 22 option and transfer the video to the local disk.
yt-dlp -f 22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEvP2tqaZD4
[youtube] aEvP2tqaZD4: Downloading webpage
[youtube] aEvP2tqaZD4: Downloading android player API JSON
[info] aEvP2tqaZD4: Downloading 1 format(s): 22
[download] Destination: Slovenian Impressions. Feel pure LOVE. [aEvP2tqaZD4].mp4
[download] 100% of 34.99MiB in 00:00:04 at 7.70MiB/s
Let's install the VLC program for playing and streaming video and audio content.
apt install vlc
Streaming in the VLC program can be started via the graphical wizard, which can be started via the Media\Stream... menu. Under the File tab, by pressing the Add button, we select the file we want to stream and then continue by pressing the Stream button.
In the next step, we check the source for streaming, so that in the input field Source: is the path to the file we want to stream and in the input field Type: the type file is specified, and then we press the Next button.
Now we select the streaming protocol, for example, the HTTP protocol in the New destination dropdown menu and press the Add button.
In the next step, select the network port for the selected protocol by entering port 8080 in the Port drop-down menu and specifying the path or URL where our stream will be located, for example /. We press the Next button to continue.
The next step allows us to transcode the audio-video stream by selecting the Activate Transcoding option, and then in the Profile drop-down menu, we can choose the desired quality from the pre-defined profiles or, by clicking the key button, create our desired profile. We click on the Next button to continue.
When creating any profile for transcoding, we can choose from any supported protocols, which are classified according to their role in four tabs: encapsulation Encapsulation, video codec Video codec, audio codec Audio codec and subtitles Subtitles. We also enter the name of our profile in the Profile name input field and save it by clicking the Save button. We can now select it in the Profile drop-down menu.
In the last window, we get a setup output in the Generated stream output string field, if we wanted to run our current stream from the command shell with the vlc command. Press the Stream button to start streaming.
Let's test the streaming by opening another instance of the VLC player and opening the stream by going to the Media\Open Network Stream ... menu, entering the URL to our stream in the Please enter a network URL: field, for example, http://localhost:8080 and then pressing the Play button to start playing the stream. Also try opening the stream on another virtual machine by opening the VLC player and opening the stream at the URL http://10.0.0.1:8080.
Streaming in the VLC program can be started via the graphical wizard, which can be started via the Media\Stream... menu. Under the File tab, by pressing the Add button, we select the file we want to stream and then continue by pressing the Stream button.
In the next step, we check the source for streaming, so that in the input field Source: is the path to the file we want to stream and in the input field Type: the type file is specified, and then we press the Next button.
Now we select the streaming protocol, for example, the RTP / MPEG Transport Stream protocol in the New destination drop-down menu and press the Add button.
In the next step, we select the network port for the selected protocol, by entering the address for distribution on which the stream will be accessible in the Address input field, entering port 5004 in the Port drop-down menu and specifying the name of our stream in the Stream name input field, for example . We press the button Next to continue.
The next step allows us to transcode the audio-video stream by selecting the Activate Transcoding option, and then in the Profile drop-down menu, we can choose the desired quality from the pre-defined profiles or, by clicking the key button, create our desired profile. We click on the button Next to continue.
When creating any profile for transcoding, we can choose from any supported protocols, which are classified according to their role in four tabs: encapsulation Encapsulation, video codec Video codec, audio codec Audio codec and subtitles Subtitles. We also enter the name of our profile in the Profile name input field and save it by clicking the Save button. We can now select it in the Profile drop-down menu.
In the last window, we get a setup output in the Generated stream output string field, if we wanted to run our current stream from the command shell with the vlc command. Press the Stream button to start streaming.
Let's test the streaming by opening another instance of the VLC player and opening the stream by going to the Media\Open Network Stream ... menu, entering the URL to our stream in the Please enter a network URL: field, for example, rtp://224.0.0.1:5004 and then press the Play button to start playing the stream. Also try opening the stream on another virtual machine by opening the VLC player and opening the stream at the URL rtp://224.0.0.1:5004. If streaming is not working then the network does not support multicasting, you can fix this by setting both network adapters in both virtual machines that are currently set to Internal Network to NAT Network.
