Free Learning PacktPublishing script

packtPublishingFreeEbook.py - script that automatically grabs and download a daily free eBook from https://www.packtpub.com/packt/offers/free-learning You can use it also to download the already claimed eBooks from your account https://www.packtpub.com/account/my-ebooks

Requirements:

• Install either Python 2.x or 3.x

• Install pip (if you have not installed it yet). To install pip, download: https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py , then run the following command:

  python get-pip.py
  

  Once pip has been installed, run the following:

  pip install requests beautifulsoup4
  

  If you use Python 2.x :

  pip install future
  

  or just run:

  pip install -r requirements.txt
  

• change a name of configFileTemplate.cfg to configFile.cfg

• change your login credentials in configFile.cfg file

Usage:

• The script [packtPublishingFreeEbook.py] might be fired up with one of 4 arguments:

  • Option -g [--grab] - claims (grabs) a daily eBook into your account

  python packtPublishingFreeEbook.py -g
  

  • Option -gl [--grabl] - claims (grabs) a daily eBook into your account and save book info to log file specified in config file

  python packtPublishingFreeEbook.py -gl
  

  • Option -gd [--grabd] - claims (grabs) a daily ebook and downloads the title afterwards to the location specified under [downloadFolderPath] field (configFile.cfg file)

  python packtPublishingFreeEbook.py -gd
  

  • Option -da [--dall] - downloads all ebooks from your account

  python packtPublishingFreeEbook.py -da
  

  • Option -dc [--dchosen] - downloads chosen titles specified under [downloadBookTitles] field in configFile.cfg

  python packtPublishingFreeEbook.py -dc
  

• You can set the script to be invoked automatically:

  LINUX (tested on UBUNTU 16.04):

  modify access permissions of the script:

  $ chmod a+x packtPublishingFreeEbook.py 
  

  CRON setup (more: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/CronHowto) :

  $ sudo crontab -e
  

  paste (modify all paths correctly according to your setup):

  0 12 * * * cd /home/me/Desktop/PacktScripts/ && /usr/bin/python3 packtPublishingFreeEbook.py -gd > /home/me/Desktop/PacktScripts/packtPublishingFreeEbook.log 2>&1
  

  and save the crontab file. To verify if CRON fires up the script correctly, run a command:

  $ sudo grep CRON /var/log/syslog
  

  WINDOWS (tested on win7):

  schtasks.exe setup (more info: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc725744.aspx) :

  To create the task that will be called at 12:00 everyday, run the following command in cmd (modify all paths according to your setup):

  schtasks /create /sc DAILY /tn "grabEbookFromPacktTask" /tr "C:\Users\me\Desktop\GrabPacktFreeBook\grabEbookFromPacktTask.bat" /st 12:00
  

  To check if the "grabEbookFromPacktTask" has been added to all scheduled tasks on your computer:

  schtasks /query
  

  To run the task manually:

  schtasks /run /tn "grabEbookFromPacktTask"
  

  To delete the task:

  schtasks /delete /tn "grabEbookFromPacktTask"
  

  If you want to log all downloads add -l switch to grabEbookFromPacktTask i.e.

  schtasks /create /sc DAILY /tn "grabEbookFromPacktTask" /tr "C:\Users\me\Desktop\GrabPacktFreeBook\grabEbookFromPacktTask.bat -l" /st 12:00
  

  If you want to additionaly make command line windows stay open after download add -p switch i.e.

  schtasks /create /sc DAILY /tn "grabEbookFromPacktTask" /tr "C:\Users\me\Desktop\GrabPacktFreeBook\grabEbookFromPacktTask.bat -l -p" /st 12:00
  

• EXAMPLE: download 'Unity 4.x Game AI Programming' and 'Multithreading in C# 5.0 Cookbook' books in all available formats (pdf, epub, mobi) with zipped source code file from your packt account

  To download chosen titles from your account, you must put them into downloadBookTitles in configFile.cfg as shown below:

  configFile.cfg example:

    [LOGIN_DATA]
    email= [email protected]
    password= yourpassword    
    
    [DOWNLOAD_DATA]
    downloadFolderPath: C:\Users\me\Desktop\myEbooksFromPackt
    downloadFormats: pdf, epub, mobi, code
    downloadBookTitles: Unity 4.x Game AI Programming , Multithreading in C# 5.0 Cookbook
    logFile: logfile.log
  

  run:

    python packtPublishingFreeEbook.py -dc
  

In case of any questions feel free to ask, happy grabbing!