How can I access Flash files from streaming websites?

Solution 1:

You can use several Firefox addons in order to extract the FLV files from many websites such as Youtube.

I'll show below how to do this MANUALLY with the latest version of the Flash plugin.

1. Visit the YouTube video and wait for it to be downloaded fully.

2. Then, run from the command line the command

   $ lsof -n | grep Flash

   which shows the files (even memory files!), and filters to those that have Flash in their name.

3. You get something like

   plugin-co 2461 user 17u REG 8,5 1693301 524370 /tmp/FlashXXVkHEM6 (deleted).

   Now, there is a /tmp/FlashXXVkHEM6 but it has been deleted.

4. In Linux, if a file is deleted, it is actually gone only when all programs that opened it earlier are closed. That is, the Flash plugin is using a trick to hide the /tmp/FlashXXVkHEM6 file. It creates it and immediately deletes it. But since the Flash plugin keeps running, it can apparently still use it.

5. From the above line we note the number 2461, which is the process ID. In your case it will be probably different. Then, run

   $ cd /proc/2461/fd

   and finally execute

   $ ls -l

   This will show you the memory files, and specifically

   lrwx------ 1 user user 64 2011-09-16 10:23 17 -> /tmp/FlashXXVkHEM6 (deleted)

   The number '17' (in my case) is the filename you can use to access the deleted /tmp/FlashXXVkHEM6. Therefore, simply run

   $ cp 17 /tmp/myyoutubevideo.flv

   and you restore the Youtube Video!

That's it! You manually recovered the Youtube video!

Solution 2:

An update to the flash plugin changed the location from /tmp to the Firefox cache directory (e.g. ~/.mozilla/firefox/bq95m4w1.default/Cache). Unfortunately the cached flash file is not as easy to find as before, but it is possible.

The following command lists all the flash files in your Firefox cache.

find ~/.mozilla/firefox/*.default/Cache -type f -exec file {} \;  | grep Flash

On Newer versions of ubuntu try

find ~/.cache/mozilla/firefox/*.default/Cache -type f -exec file {} \;  | grep Flash