Watch Netflix on Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux

Objective

The objective is to prepare Ubuntu 18.04 system for watching Netflix streaming service.

Operating System and Software Versions

• Operating System: – Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver Linux
• Software: – Mozilla Firefox 59.0.2

Requirements

Privileged access to your Ubuntu System as root or via sudo command is required.

Conventions

• # – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command
• $ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user

Other Versions of this Tutorial

Ubuntu 20.04 (Focal Fossa)

Instructions

Watching Netflix on Ubuntu is a simple task. However, simple preparation is required in order to watch Netflix using Firefox browser on Ubuntu 18.04.

Enable Digital Rights Management

First, we need to enable Digital Rights Management (DRM) content on Firefox web browser:

Navigate to Firefox preferences settings and search for DRM. Tick the Play DRM-controlled content check box.

Install extra codecs

Depending on your Ubuntu 18.04 installation you will need to install extra codes before you are able to play Netflix on your Ubuntu 18.04 system. Open up terminal and enter:

$ sudo apt install libavcodec-extra

After the installation you will need to re-login or reboot your Ubuntu 18.04 system to apply the changes.

Watch Netflix

Login to your Netflix account and start watching.

Watching Netflix on Ubuntu 18.04

Troubleshooting

Whoops, something went wrong...Netflix Video Player unavailable. Error code: F7355-1204

In order to resolve the above Netflix error message you need to install libavcodec-extra package and re-login or reboot your system:

$ sudo apt install libavcodec-extra