1. Install yt-dlp
Distribution packages are convenient but often lag by months, and yt-dlp is a tool where being three months behind means extractors that no longer work. pipx or the official binary keep you current.
pipx install yt-dlp
Or the standalone binary, which bundles everything and self-updates:
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
2. Install ffmpeg
sudo apt install ffmpeg # Debian, Ubuntu sudo dnf install ffmpeg # Fedora sudo pacman -S ffmpeg # Arch
On Fedora, ffmpeg lives in RPM Fusion; enable that repository first if the package is not found.
3. Check it worked
yt-dlp --version ffmpeg -version
Cookies on a headless machine
--cookies-from-browser needs a browser profile on the same machine, so on a server it is not an option. Export a Netscape-format cookies.txt on your desktop, copy it across and point at it with --cookies. Treat that file as a credential — it is a live session.
Updating
yt-dlp -U # standalone binary pipx upgrade yt-dlp # pipx
Installed from your distribution's repository, update it with the package manager; -U will refuse to touch a file it does not own.