Bruce

Posted on Mar 29, 2021 • Updated on Apr 18, 2021

How to download courses from Linkedin Learning with python

#python #opensource #linkedin #github

In this tutorial we will see how to download Linkedin learning courses with a simple cli tool. Just a quick setup and you will be able to download videos and courses.

Prerequisites

We will need Python3.

Python 3

Now, what's next?

Open your terminal or command line and download a python package from PyPi called llvd which stands for Linkedin Learning Video Downloader

$ pip install llvd

If you have multiple versions of python installed in your system, use pip3 instead.


    $ llvd --help

If the above command does not fail, you can continue with the tutorial

To download a course:

Log in to the Linkedin Learning app.
Search for any course.
Navigate to the course of your choice.
Copy its slug.

Open your terminal or command line.
Copy the command given below and replace course-slug with your copied course slug and run it


    $ llvd -c "course-slug" -r 720

llvd creates separate folders for each course you download, groups all videos by chapters, and renames all downloaded videos with video names so that they will be ordered properly.

To download a course you have to specify its name (-c flag ).

How it looks like in action

Available features with this tool

Cookie-based authentication
Download a course and all its exercises
Group videos by chapters
Ability to download video subtitles(by specifying --caption flag)
Ability to resume failed downloads
Option to choose video format (360p, 540p, 720p) using -r flag

Cookie-based Authentication

Click on the options in google chrome (top right with 3 vertical dots).
After this, click on more tools followed by Developer Tools (you can also reach here by using the keyboard combination — ctrl+shift+I).
Now once you’ve gained access to the developer tools, navigate to the Application tab, and copy the value of two cookies from there named li_at and JSESSIONID respectively.
Create a cookies.txt file to a place you want to download your courses then paste in the values of li_at and JSESSIONID as shown below.

  li_at=xxxxx
  JSESSIONID="ajax:xxxxxx"


      $ llvd -c "course-slug" -r 720 --cookies

Download the course with subtitles

Use the --caption flag to download videos with subtitles


    $ llvd -c "course-slug" -r 720 --caption


    $ llvd -c "course-slug" -r 720 -ca

Wrapping up

If you liked this tutorial you might as well head over to Github and leave a star to this awesome open source project llvd

Thanks for reading 😊!

Discussion (50)

ronnyn78 • Jun 21 '21

Thanks is working now perfect

Bruce • Jun 22 '21

Awesome

ronnyn78 • Jun 22 '21

sometimes it says This video is locked, you probably need a premium account

Bruce • Jun 22 '21

That happens when you don't have a premium account and you are trying to download a paid course

ronnyn78 • Jun 22 '21

am using library card to access

Bruce • Jun 22 '21

Linkedin has added a security layer where while using library card, they hide download links in their API.

ronnyn78 • Jun 22 '21

thanks for wonderfull tool i will pay for premium account and download everything i need to study

Bruce • Jun 22 '21

You are welcome. you can even use a free trial account :)

ronnyn78 • Jun 22 '21

thanks

luis-guilherme • Jul 16 '21

I have the same issue, I can access the full courses online on the browser (my linkedin account is linked to my corporate learning account). It downloads some videos but not all from the course.

Parakram IIT (ISM) Dhanbad • Jan 2

Any solution found @luisguilherme ?

minhducbg • Jun 7 '21 • Edited on Jun 7

Working!!! On Windows.
For dummies like me

Install Python 3
Open CMD Type: cd "C:\Users\"Your_User_name" \AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\Scripts" and hit Enter

Ex:
cd "C:\Users\Share Full Vn.DESKTOP-K6RVJFF\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\Scripts"

// My Python ver is 3.9

3 - Type "pip install llvd" in CMD and wait
4 - Create a txt file with the exact name "cookies.txt" as above instruction
5 - Put that txt file in the folder "Scripts" above
6 - Type your custom code and hit Enter to download
EX:
If I want download this course: engineering-drawings-for-manufacturing

My code:
llvd -c "engineering-drawings-for-manufacturing" -r 720 --cookies

-c: name of the of the course with slug
-r 720: Videp 720p
-ca: Download the course with subtitles
--cookies: use cookies in "cookies.txt" to allow authentication to get the video download link of the course

The course will save in folder "Scripts" above

mayurkadam24 • Jun 13 '21

I Tried Following the above steps by it asks me my LinkedIn Learning Creds and my account is not a premium one. However, i have a Student Library card with which i'm logged in but don't have the Email account for that, How can i download in that case ?

Bruce • Jun 13 '21

You could login with your library card in the browser then grab the cookies and use that with llvd..

Follow these instructions github.com/knowbee/llvd#cookie-bas...

Meghanath Rugada • Sep 16 '21 • Edited on Sep 16

I did this , but did not see your comment before doing it. could have saved so much time atleast 40 mins :)

Shahid Hussain • May 26 '21 • Edited on May 26

C:\Users\User1>llvd -c what-is-php-for-wordpress -r 720
Please enter your Linkedin email address: mrshahid@outlook.com
Enter your Linkedin Password:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "c:\python39\lib\site-packages\llvd\app.py", line 106, in download_entire_course
course_name = r.json()['elements'][0]['title']
KeyError: 'elements'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "C:\Python39\Scripts\llvd-script.py", line 33, in
sys.exit(load_entry_point('llvd==2.2.5', 'console_scripts', 'llvd')())
File "c:\python39\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 829, in call
return self.main(*args, **kwargs)
File "c:\python39\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 782, in main
rv = self.invoke(ctx)
File "c:\python39\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 1066, in invoke
return ctx.invoke(self.callback, **ctx.params)
File "c:\python39\lib\site-packages\click\core.py", line 610, in invoke
return callback(*args, **kwargs)
File "c:\python39\lib\site-packages\llvd_init.py", line 60, in main
llvd.run()
File "c:\python39\lib\site-packages\llvd\app.py", line 81, in run
self.download_entire_course()
File "c:\python39\lib\site-packages\llvd\app.py", line 179, in download_entire_course
os.remove(f'{self.chapter_path}/{self.current_video_index:0=2d}-{clean_name(self.current_video_name)}.mp4')
TypeError: unsupported format string passed to NoneType.format_

C:\Users\User1>

Bruce • May 29 '21

You are getting this error because you are using the wrong slug for the course

Instead of using what-is-php-for-wordpress you should use php-for-wordpress.
It is advised to navigate to a course you are trying to download, then copy the slug from there instead of the course name

I am guessing this the course you were trying to download (linkedin.com/learning/php-for-word...
)

Bruce • May 29 '21

Make sure you also update to the latest version 2.2.6 with better error handling

Thanks for using the tool 😊

l4zehr • Apr 19 '21

I tried it and it worked. I don't have a premium linkedin account. I was able to download the 24 hours free course I'm learning. Thank youuu!!!

MukhtaarAziz • May 2 '21 • Edited on May 2

You can use a library card (eCard).

l4zehr • May 9 '21

What is that?

Bruce • Apr 21 '21

Glad the tool was helpful

Ledigh@dt • Jun 28 '21

Good Morning!
Firstly, thanks for the program, your time, your efforts:
Very helpful tool :)

I’ve encountered issues concerning video quality resolutions. By default it’s 720p, but using, for example, this following link:
linkedin.com/learning/advanced-dru...
…the results are a mix of 540p and 720p, though all 540p still have their corresponding 720p versions available; I can even download them from the “Internet Download Manager” button through its browser extension.

I’ve also tried with another downloader… Same results!
Any ideas on how to fix it ?
Thanks ;)

ronnyn78 • Jun 21 '21

guys maybe am doing something wrong

C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\Scripts>llvd -c "cisco-C:\Users\user1\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\Scripts>llvd -c "cisco-certified-cyberops-associate-cert-prep-1" -r 720 --cookies

Using cookie info from cookies.txt
Your cookie is expired

Meghanath Rugada • Sep 16 '21 • Edited on Sep 16

It worked. i tried both password and cookie method. both worked. Mostly you are using an expired cookie or a wrong jsession id

Gregory Anderson • Aug 17 '21

Brilliant! Thanks.

oyeyemi • May 23 '21

Thanks so much.
Would i be able to download multiple parallel courses at the same time by opening multiple CMD.

Bruce • May 29 '21

Yes

baroko • Sep 8 '21 • Edited on Sep 8

Hi,
I followed all steps but stuck at $ llvd --help (not work) and don't know where to put cookies.txt on Mac Os Big Sur, I'm new with mac os.
On Windows, everything worked fined except slow speed than real internet speed.
And btw, is there any command that help download only subtitle or only exercise file, all file are decent fast but exercise is too slow.
Thanks, you helped me study a lots!

Bruce • Sep 8 '21

There is a a command for downloading subtitles, you just pass in the flag --subtitles

Fabiyi Olaleye • Aug 12 '21

I appreciate your effort and thoughtfulness for building this amazing tool.

I did install the library tool and followed the instructions above to the best of my knowledge. However, I have something like this text below but I just can't input my password to proceed the download.

Enter your Linkedin Password:

Although, I could enter my LinkedIn email address. Mind you, I have a trial account on LinkedIn learning.
How do I proceed from here?

nrthw • Jan 14

What's the correct path for the cookies.txt file on MacOSX (where should it be put)? I keep getting "cookies.txt is not found or empty" error. Thanks!