(Updated) Lynda Courses Downloader with GUI [v2.0.0]

Tools & Scripts
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I am learning C# and wanted to make a project that helps me practice it. I made a lynda.com account a while ago using @Aina 's method whick made me want to create a program that downloads courses for offline use and at the same time practice my c#. I had no intention to share my program until @Makaroni_Makaroni asked for a program that downloads courses by scraping lynda.com. I was already doing that with my program by using Selenium so I thought why not share my program.

GUI is available for the windows version with CLI version for macos and linux
Moreover, I am working on the ability to download the course to Google Drive directly.

Program Github link : https://github.com/ahmedayman4a/LyndaCoursesDownloader
Releases : https://github.com/ahmedayman4a/LyndaCoursesDownloader/releases/

Why use this lynda downloader?

  • The only Lynda Courses Downloader with a GUI as I couldn’t find any other working ones
  • Easy to use
  • Cross platform
  • Download in the video quality you like
  • Doesn’t need the lynda desktop app
  • Download Exercise files automatically
  • Download multiple courses at a time
  • Automatically extract lynda token cookie from Chrome, Firefox or Microsoft Edge

Easy install

Just go to the releases section, download the version that suits your platform and make sure you follow the requirements.

Requirements

At least .Net Framework 4.6.2 which comes pre-installed with Windows 10 Anniversary Update (Version 1607)

How to use

  • Windows

    Just run the Setup file. A shortcut will be added to your desktop and start menu

  • Linux

    Open a terminal in the directory of the LyndaCoursesDownloader program then type :

      chmod 777 ./LyndaCoursesDownloader

    and to run the program type:

      ./LyndaCoursesDownloader

Getting the lynda authentication token cookie

  • You can now extract the token from your browser’s default profile if you are logged into lynda.com by pressing Extract Token. If it didn’t work for you, manually get the token as follows:

  • Firefox

    1. Press Shift+F9 on your keyboard OR right click anywhere on the Lynda website , choose “Inspect Element” and click storage.
    2. Look for the word “token” the column “Name”. Copy the value and paste it in the
    • GIF tutorial : here

  • Google Chrome

    1. Right click anywhere on the page and click inspect element OR press F12 on your keyboard
    2. Click on the 2 arrows in the top right corner beside the word performance then click Application
    3. Double click on the word “cookies” then click on www.lynda.com
    4. Look for the word “token” the column “Name”. Copy the value and paste it in the
    • GIF tutorial : here

Any Questions? Issues? Recommendations?

Just create an issue or reply below and I will answer you as soon as I can.

67 Likes
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Thanks my friend i will try :heart:

2 Likes
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Thanks a bunch mate for looking forward and helping this community to get know something worth it, I saw many peoples seeking to get solution. I’m glad you have made it.

Once again thanks for the valuable contribution and doing such hard work :+1:

15 Likes
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Why can’t i copy the token or url in the app, is it not available yet or am i doing something wrong? I am using Windows 8.1…

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You need to enable copy and paste in cmd
Follow this tutorial : http://www.onlinecmag.com/enable-copy-and-paste-feature-cmd/

1 Like
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Thanks mate, wonderfull, :grinning:

1 Like
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Your welcome ,SaM. I learned so much from this community so I thought it’s time to give back and contribute.

6 Likes
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not working giving me this error
╠══[!!] An error occured : One or more errors occurred. (Exception of type ‘LyndaCoursesDownloader.CourseExtractor.InvalidTokenException’ was thrown.)
╠══[!!] Error details : at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.ThrowIfExceptional(Boolean includeTaskCanceledExceptions)
at System.Threading.Tasks.Task.Wait(Int32 millisecondsTimeout, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
at LyndaCoursesDownloader.ConsoleDownloader.Program.RunWithoutConfig()

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This most probably means that you entered the wrong token. Make sure you followed the tutorial on how to get the token. If you are 100% sure you entered the right token create an issue here so we can look more in depth.

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can it download the course resource files

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No , because you can already do that from the official lynda website so I think there is no need to download the resource files from my program.
Furthermore, I found that resource files can reach 4 Gigabytes so my program would take more time to download the file than a browser.

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Thanks a lot for the share.

1 Like
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When ever i try to login in lynda its transfer me to linkdin learning portal…

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I have never seen this issue but I think this is an issue with your account not the program. Are you following this tutorial : https://forum.telugudjmusic.com/t/how-to-create-unlimited-lifetime-lynda-premium-accounts-for-free-new-method/61806 ?

2 Likes
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Thank you very much.. Worked just fine. Already downloaded several courses.

2 Likes
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Thanks :heart_eyes:

1 Like
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Update v1.0.0 - Added GUI!

Patch Notes :

  • Added a quick installer on windows
  • Automatically check for updates on app launch (Windows version)
  • Font is installed with the app to give a consistent design
  • Added a logger
  • Handled errors better
  • Most errors are now logged instead of thrown
  • If an error occurs during extraction, extraction will restart instead of stop
  • Detects videos with no captions to prevent errors
  • Increase in extraction speed by 20%~50%

v1.0.0 download link : https://github.com/ahmedayman4a/LyndaCoursesDownloader/releases/tag/v1.0.0

3 Likes
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Hi @ahmedayman4a, thank you very much for developing and sharing this program with us. I want to ask you, is it possible to download the exercise files with it?

1 Like
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I will work on it since many have requested this feature but for the time being you can install the exercise from the course link