osx - get-iplayer/get_iplayer GitHub Wiki

macOS installation

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Before you begin

  • macOS 10.10 (Yosemite) or higher is required.
  • Only the bundled version of Perl is supported. The macOS system Perl is ignored. If you use perlbrew, plenv, ActivePerl, MacPorts Perl, Homebrew Perl, etc., you are responsible for ensuring they do not interfere with get_iplayer.
  • The macOS get_iplayer package installs scripts in /usr/local/bin. These will overwrite any identically-named scripts installed manually or from any other source. You are strongly advised to remove any previous installations of get_iplayer not provided by the get_iplayer installer package before installing.
  • get_iplayer should work on Apple Silicon systems via Rosetta 2, but this has not been verified. The developers do not have access to an Apple Silicon system.

Installing

macOS users should install get_iplayer with the provided installer package. Download the latest release from:

https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer_macos/releases/latest

The installer package is the file under "Assets" whose name ends in ".pkg". Other files with names ending in ".sha256" contain checksums that can be used to validate the installer download.

The installer package includes all necessary dependencies: AtomicParsley, ffmpeg, and Perl support needed by get_iplayer. This is the only supported configuration of get_iplayer on macOS. If you use any other version of get_iplayer or these tools, your installation is not supported.

Before installation, close all running instances of get_iplayer, including any Web PVR Manager server window that is open.

The installer package is not signed, so it will be necessary to bypass Gatekeeper by using Right-Click (or Ctrl-Click) on the .pkg file's icon in Finder and selecting "Open" to launch it. Once opened, follow the wizard steps.

Notes:

  • There are no user-selectable installation options
  • get_iplayer is always installed on your system volume
  • You will be prompted for your password during installation
  • Files installed will be owned by root
  • Files installed in /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/get_iplayer and /Applications/get_iplayer
  • Man page installed in /usr/local/share/man/man1

Tutorials

Once get_iplayer is installed, check out some tutorials to help you get started.

Command-line interface (CLI)

  1. To start the CLI, open Terminal and enter commands at the prompt:

     get_iplayer [...]

    Hit Return after each one to run it. See the documentation for examples of get_iplayer commands.

  2. After installation, you should update the programme index cache:

     # TV programmes only (default)
 get_iplayer --refresh
 # TV and radio programmes
 get_iplayer --refresh --type=tv,radio

    If yours is a new installation, the update will take longer than usual since get_iplayer will be building a full 30-day cache.

  3. The default location for recorded programmes is the iPlayer Recordings folder on your macOS desktop. If get_iplayer cannot locate your desktop folder, it will download into your working directory. If you wish to use a custom location, set it in your get_iplayer preferences. For example:

     # single directory for TV and radio
 get_iplayer --prefs-add --output="$HOME/get_iplayer"
 # separate directories for TV and radio
 get_iplayer --prefs-add --output-tv "$HOME/Movies/get_iplayer" --output-radio "$HOME/Music/get_iplayer"

Web PVR Manager (WPM)

  1. To start the WPM, open Terminal and enter this command at the prompt:

     get_iplayer_web_pvr

    Hit Return to launch the WPM server in your Terminal window.

  2. After the WPM server launches, your default browser will be opened to this URL:

    http://127.0.0.1:1935

    If the WPM client does not open in your browser automatically, click the link above or enter the address in your web browser.

  3. After the WPM has opened in your browser, select the programme types you wish to index (e.g., BBC TV, BBC Radio), then click the Refresh Cache button. A new tab or window will open that shows the cache being refreshed. If yours is a new installation, the update will take longer than usual since get_iplayer will be building a full 30-day cache.

  4. Stop the WPM server by typing Ctrl-C in the Terminal window where it is running.

Run PVR Scheduler

  1. To start the scheduler, open Terminal and enter this command at the prompt:

     get_iplayer_pvr

    Hit Return to launch the scheduler in your Terminal window.

  2. Upon launch, the scheduler will run your PVR list and then wait 4 hours before running it again. This will continue until you stop the scheduler.

  3. Stop the scheduler by typing Ctrl-C in the Terminal window where it is running.

Application launchers

As a convenience, application launchers may be found in /Applications/get_iplayer:

  • get_iplayer
  • Web PVR Manager
  • Run PVR Scheduler

Depending on your Finder settings you may see a ".command" extension on the launcher scripts. When you double-click a launcher in Finder or invoke it from Spotlight, a Terminal window will be opened and the associated script (described above) will be executed.

The get_iplayer application launcher will automatically update the programme index cache when invoked. If you do not want that behaviour, do not use the launcher. Run get_iplayer from a command prompt in Terminal instead, as described above.

Quick URL Record

Also in /Applications/get_iplayer is the "Quick URL Record" application, which can be run from Finder or via Spotlight. When it is running, you can drag an iPlayer TV episode URL or Sounds radio episode URL from your browser address bar and drop it on the application's dock icon to download the episode with get_iplayer using your default preferences. A small progress window shows the output from get_iplayer while downloading. The progress window displays "Drag files to process" when a download is finished and it is ready to accept another URL. You can collect URLs to download later by dragging them to Finder to create .webloc files. You can then drag one or more .webloc files (or a folder containing .webloc files) onto the dock icon to initiate a download of the associated episodes. However, only a single URL at a time can be dragged from the browser address bar. You can also drag single URLs and single .webloc files to the progress window to initiate download. Multiple .webloc files can only be dragged onto the dock icon. If you wish to download a programme with audio description or signing, be sure the correct episode page is loaded in your browser before dragging the URL. The URL should contain /ad/ or /sign/, respectively.

The "Quick URL Record" application supports episode URLs in these forms:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/<pid>
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/<pid>/...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/<pid>/ad/...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/<pid>/sign/...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/cbbc/episode/<pid>/...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/cbeebies/episode/<pid>/...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/play/<pid>
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/<pid>

Notes

The bundled versions of AtomicParsley and ffmpeg are only available in $PATH while get_iplayer is running and can be referenced in --command strings as simply "AtomicParsley" or "ffmpeg". If you wish to use them outside of get_iplayer, you will find them in /usr/local/get_iplayer/utils/bin.

Upgrading

Check for new releases with /Applications/get_iplayer/Check for Update, or use the following URL:

https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer_macos/releases

You can also check for new releases from the command line:

get_iplayer --release-check

Add to preferences for automatic weekly check:

get_iplayer --prefs-add --release-check

A notification message will be printed in your get_iplayer output once per week.

Updates can also be tracked with a feed from the GitHub repository:

https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer_macos/releases.atom

Upgrade to future releases by downloading the latest installer package and running it as described above. It will automatically replace your previous version.

Uninstalling

To uninstall get_iplayer, open Terminal and enter this command at the prompt:

get_iplayer_uninstall

Hit Return to run the uninstaller script. The script uses sudo, so you will be prompted for your password. As a convenience, you can also run /Applications/get_iplayer/Uninstall get_iplayer in Finder or via Spotlight.

get_iplayer v3.35 Documentation

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