Time to archive

How to archive an entire YouTube channel

Create a directory where you want your files to be

Download or create the necessary files to create directories, move files and download videos. Examples:

#!/bin/sh

if [ ! -d "audio" ] ; then
mkdir audio && mkdir metadata && mkdir thumbnails && mkdir descriptions && echo "Created directories"
fi

#!/bin/bash

if compgen -G "*.mp3" > /dev/null ; then
mv *.mp3 audio/ && mv *.webp thumbnails/ && mv *.description descriptions/ && mv *.info.json metadata/ && echo "Moved files"
fi

#!/bin/bash
yt-dlp --config-location /srv/dev-disk-by-uuid-fa1e36be-9ccc-4549-8734-fe6117b30317/croni/andre/andre/Archive/yt-dlp/yt-dlp_music.conf --download-archive youtube_backup_downloaded.txt --yes-playlist 'https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeEbifL6wH9okMEgTQP459RcTrjBWkF_b'

Execute these files however you want. I personally would recommend to set up a cron job to periodically download new videos. Example:
```
nohup ./backup.sh > backup.log &
```
If you execute the command above your only way to know what yt-dlp is currently doing is to tail the log with tail -f backup.log

While waiting for the download to finish you can create the necessary directories to organize all your downloaded files. Example:

#!/bin/sh

if [ ! -d "audio" ] ; then
mkdir audio && mkdir metadata && mkdir thumbnails && mkdir descriptions && echo "Created directories"
fi

When the download is finished an you created the directories it is time to move them to their dedicated directory. Example:

#!/bin/bash

if compgen -G "*.mp3" > /dev/null ; then
mv *.mkv audio/ && mv *.webp thumbnails/ && mv *.description descriptions/ && mv *.info.json metadata/ && echo "Moved files"
fi

You successfully archived an entire YouTube channel 🚀

Tips

Make your files executable with sudo chmod +x file.sh
You can execute the files with ./file.sh
This guide can be adapted to download playlist and even single videos
- If you only want to download one video then remove --yes-playlist