yt-podcast

Podcast generator from YT channels

Objective

The objective of this project is to create a podcast feed generator from YT channels. It automatically downloads videos from specified channels, converts them into audio files, and generates an RSS feed for podcast distribution.

Getting Started

1. Cloning the Repository

To clone the repository and run the project locally, follow these steps:

git clone https://github.com/rubenmartinm/yt-podcast.git
cd yt-podcast

2. Configure your ip and port for the Web Server

Copy the .env-example and add your values:

cp .env-example .env

Edit with your values:

MY_WEBSERVER_IP: '<YOUR IP>'  # Most probably with ifconfig eth0
MY_WEBSERVER_PORT: '<YOUR DESIRED PORT>'
UID: '1000' # You can run id to get theese
GID: '1001'

3. Add some YT Channel

Copy the yt_channels.example.yaml and add your values:

cd config
cp yt_channels.example.yaml yt_channels.yaml

Edit with your values. This can be an example:

podcasts:
  PantomimaFull:
    youtube_channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PantomimaFull/videos
    image_url: https://yt3.googleusercontent.com/j3FWuqRMzLhTGBxWnrlhxatpmaTXvFuNM6oYIoIE7iHNoQChlxhz7hi2Wweu3SxRJaUxG1eM=s176-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj
    total_videos: 1

Back to the main directory:

cd ..

Running the Web Server

A web server image is provided to serve the generated RSS feeds and audio files. Run the following command to start the web server:

docker-compose up nginx -d
[+] Running 2/2
 ✔ Network yt-podcast_default  Created                                                                                               0.0s
 ✔ Container nginx             Started                                                                                               0.1s

You can check if the container is running with:

docker-compose ps nginx
NAME         IMAGE                                    COMMAND                  SERVICE      CREATED        STATUS         PORTS
nginx        nginx:latest                             "/docker-entrypoint.…"   nginx        28 hours ago   Up 8 minutes   0.0.0.0:9999->80/tcp, :::9999->80/tcp

Running the Video Downloader

The video downloader image needs to be executed periodically to download new videos. Use the following command to run the video downloader:

docker-compose up yt-podcast -d
[+] Running 1/1
 ✔ Container yt-podcast  Started                                                                                                     0.0s

You can check if the container is running with:

docker-compose ps yt-podcast
NAME         IMAGE                                    COMMAND            SERVICE      CREATED              STATUS              PORTS
yt-podcast   ghcr.io/rubenmartinm/yt-podcast:latest   "python main.py"   yt-podcast   About a minute ago   Up About a minute

Additionally, you can check the execution with:

docker-compose logs yt-podcast -f
...

Prepare everything for scheduling the automatic video download execution

To schedule execution of the downloader you can use like this:

EDITOR=vi crontab -e
# YT-Podcast
# This will execute everyday at 06:00 and 18:00
# You can use https://crontab.guru to create a valid expression
0 06,18 * * * cd /<YOUR_GLOBAL_PATH>/yt-podcast && docker-compose up yt-podcast > /dev/null 2>&1

Configuring the Podcast Client

To configure your podcast client to access the generated RSS feeds, follow these steps:

1. Open your podcast client.
2. Add a new podcast subscription.
3. Enter the URL of the RSS feed generated by the web server.
4. Most likely will be this one: http://<MY_WEBSERVER_IP>:<MY_WEBSERVER_PORT>/<CHANNEL_NAME>_feed.xml
5. Save the subscription.

Note: If accessing the service from outside your home network, you may need to set up a tunnel using WireGuard or another VPN solution to avoid exposing the service directly to the internet.

Check the Web Server log

Additionally, you can check the logs to see the if the Podcast Client is reaching your Web Server with:

docker-compose logs nginx -f
...

Stop everything and purge

You just have to stop the containers and remove the yt-downloader directory:

docker-compose down
cd ..
rm -r yt-podcast

Pending Improvements

• Implement a background daemon in the video downloader image to automate the scraping process and download new videos as they become available.