How to Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux

Preparing Your Ubuntu Linux System

1. Issue the following commands below in order to prepare your Ubuntu Linux system to capture embedded Adobe flash videos from websites.

   1. Type: sudo -s apt-get update. This will update your repository sources.
   2. Type: sudo -s apt-get install perl. This will install the Perl, programming language, you will need Perl in order to run your FlashVideoCapture.pl script.
   3. Type: sudo -s apt-get install lsof. This will install lsof if it is not already installed.
   4. Type: sudo -s apt-get install firefox. This will install the Mozilla Firefox web browser.
   5. Type: sudo -s apt-get install vlc. This will install the VLC multimedia player in order to playback your captured *.flv videos.
   6. Important Note: You must use the Firefox browser to view your FLV videos because this does not work in Google Chrome.

2. Open up a text editor such as gedit or nano.

   1. Type: gedit FlashVideoCapture.pl

   or

   1. Type: nano FlashVideoCapture.pl

3. Type the following perl script located in the box below and save it as FlashVideoCapture.pl:

   #!/usr/bin/perl[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 1 Version 5.jpg|center]] #Filename: FlashVideoCapture.pl use strict;[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 2 Version 5.jpg|center]] ################################################## #Setup the variables[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 3 Version 5.jpg|center]] ################################################## my $PROGNAME = $0; $PROGNAME =~ s|.*/||; my $LSOF = 'lsof'; my $FIND = 'flash'; # Find flash files my $POST = 'flv'; # Postfix to save to #Where we save files[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 4 Version 5.jpg|center]] #%f is $FIND[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 5 Version 5.jpg|center]] #%d is the next available number[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 6 Version 5.jpg|center]] #%p is .$POST my $DEST = "found%f.%d%p";[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 7 Version 5.jpg|center]] ################################################## #Usage[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 8 Version 5.jpg|center]] ################################################## sub fatal { foreach my $msg (@_) { print STDERR "[$PROGNAME] ERROR: $msgn"; } exit(-1); } sub usage { foreach my $msg (@_) { print STDERR "ERROR: $msgn"; } print STDERR <<USAGE; Usage:t$PROGNAME [-d]  Copies deleted flash files currently open in your browser's cache  -d Set debug mode  -find What to search for [default $FIND]  -post Postfix for saving files [default $POST]  -dest Or just specify full destination [default $DEST]  (see the script for meanings of %f, %d, %p) USAGE exit -1; } sub parseArgs { usage("You need to be on a system that uses /proc") unless -d '/proc'; my $opt = { find => $FIND, post => $POST, dest => $DEST, }; while (my $arg=shift(@ARGV)) { if ($arg =~ /^-h$/) { usage(); } if ($arg =~ /^-d$/) { $MAIN::DEBUG=1; next; } if ($arg =~ /^-find$/) { $opt->{find} = shift(@ARGV); next; } if ($arg =~ /^-post$/) { $opt->{post} = shift(@ARGV); next; } if ($arg =~ /^-dest$/) { $opt->{dest} = shift(@ARGV); next; } if ($arg =~ /^-/) { usage("Unknown option: $arg"); } usage("Too many files specified [$arg and $opt->{file}]") if $opt->{file}; } usage("You need to specify a destination with -dest") unless $opt->{dest}; usage("You need to specify something to search for with -find") unless $opt->{find}; $opt; } sub debug { return unless $MAIN::DEBUG; foreach my $msg (@_) { print STDERR "[$PROGNAME] $msgn"; } } ################################################## #Main code[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 9 Version 5.jpg|center]] ################################################## sub findFiles { my ($opt) = @_; my @found; #'lsof /' (The '/' just does files, no sockets, and is faster) open(LSOF,"$LSOF /|") || usage("Can't run [$LSOF]"); while () { next unless /delete/i; next unless /Q$opt->{find}E/i; next if /.adobe/; # Ignore adobe 'flash' db files chomp;[[Image:Capture Adobe Flash Videos on Ubuntu Linux Step 10 Version 4.jpg|center]] #procname pid user fd usage("Found it, can't parse it [$_]") unless /^S+s+(d+)s+S+s+(d+)/; push(@found, [$1,$2]); } usage("Couldn't find any deleted cached $opt->{find} files") unless @found; @found; } sub procPath { my ($pid,$fd) = @_; my $path = "/proc/$pid"; usage("Couldn't find $path") unless -d $path; $path .= '/fd'; usage("Couldn't find $path") unless -d $path; $path .= "/$fd"; usage("Couldn't read $path") unless -e $path; $path; } sub destPath { my ($opt) = @_; my $p = $opt->{dest}; $p =~ s/%f/Q$opt->{find}E/g; $p =~ s/%p/.Q$opt->{post}E/g; my $num = 0; my $path; do { $path = $p; $num++; $path =~ s/%d/$num/g; } until ! -f $path; $path; } sub main { my $opt = parseArgs(); my @found = findFiles($opt); foreach my $found ( @found ) { my $src = procPath(@$found); my $dest = destPath($opt); print "$src -> $destn"; system("/bin/cp",$src,$dest); } } main();