Podcast indexing produces empty cache file

[dinkypumpkin]

The BBC have switched all podcast feeds to https URLs for some unknown reason. get_iplayer uses the Perl LWP module for retrieving files via HTTP, but HTTPS support for LWP is not installed on all systems by default. If your system does not also have the LWP::Protocol::httpsmodule installed (or it isn't installed properly) LWP cannot retrieve files via HTTPS and thus cannot retrieve any podcast feeds for indexing. For the present, this issue only affects podcasts, not catch-up programmes. You can easily download podcasts in your browser from the BBC web site or by using podcatcher software.

The LWP::Protocol::https module is included in the get_iplayer Windows installer, but one of its dependencies does not work properly in the customised Perl installation used by get_iplayer. As a temporary workaround, you can set an environment variable at the command prompt that will configure LWP to bypass use of the broken module:

32-bit Windows:

set HTTPS_CA_FILE="C:\Program Files\get_iplayer\perl\lib\Mozillla\CA\cacert.pem"

64-bit Windows:

set HTTPS_CA_FILE="C:\Program Files (x86)\get_iplayer\perl\lib\Mozillla\CA\cacert.pem"

If that doesn't work, another workaround is available by setting a different environment variable:

set PERL_LWP_SSL_VERIFY_HOSTNAME=0

The second option is not entirely without risk since it instructs LWP not to cryptographically verify that the peer at the other end of the SSL connection is in fact the BBC server it claims to be.

[dinkypumpkin]

Closed in Windows installer 2.95.2:

https://github.com/get-iplayer/get_iplayer_win32/releases/latest