Provided by: axel_2.16.1-1build1_amd64 

NAME
axel - light command line download accelerator
SYNOPSIS
axel [OPTIONS] url1 [url2] [url...]
DESCRIPTION
Axel is a program that downloads a file from a FTP or HTTP server through multiple connection. Each
connection downloads its own part of the file.
Unlike most other programs, Axel downloads all the data directly to the destination file. It saves some
time at the end because the program does not have to concatenate all the downloaded parts.
Axel supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and FTPS protocols.
OPTIONS
One argument is required, the URL to the file you want to download. When downloading from FTP, the
filename may contain wildcards and the program will try to resolve the full filename. Multiple mirror
URLs to an identical file can be specified as well and the program will use all those URLs for the
download.
Please note that the program does not check whether the files are equal.
Other options:
--max-speed=x, -s x
Specify a speed (bytes per second) to try to keep the average speed around this speed. This is
useful if you do not want the program to suck up all of your bandwidth.
--num-connections=x, -n x
Specify an alternative number of connections.
--max-redirect=x
Specify an alternative number of redirections to follow when connecting to the server (default is
20).
--output=x, -o x
Downloaded data will be put in a local file with the same name, unless you specify a different
name using this option. You can specify a directory as well, the program will append the filename.
--search[=x], -S[x]
Axel can do a search for mirrors using the filesearching.com search engine. This search will be
done if you use this option. You can specify how many different mirrors should be used for the
download as well. The search for mirrors can be time-consuming because the program tests every
server's speed, and it checks whether the file's still available.
--ipv6, -6
Use the IPv6 protocol only when connecting to the host.
--ipv4, -4
Use the IPv4 protocol only when connecting to the host.
--no-proxy, -N
Do not use any proxy server to download the file. Not possible when a transparent proxy is active
somewhere, of course.
--insecure, -k
Do not verify the SSL certificate. Only use this if you are getting certificate errors and you are
sure of the sites authenticity.
--no-clobber, -c Skip download if a file with the same name already exists in the current folder and no
state file is found.
--verbose, -v
Show more status messages. Use it more than once to see more details.
--quiet, -q
No output to stdout.
--alternate, -a
This will show an alternate progress indicator. A bar displays the progress and status of the
different threads, along with current speed and an estimate for the remaining download time.
--header=x, -H x
Add an additional HTTP header. This option should be in the form "Header: Value". See RFC 2616
section 4.2 and 14 for details on the format and standardized headers.
--user-agent=x, -U x
Set the HTTP user agent to use. Some websites serve different content based upon this parameter.
The default value will include "Axel", its version and the platform.
--help, -h
A brief summary of all the options.
--timeout=x, -T x
Set I/O and connection timeout
--version, -V
Get version information.
NOTE
Long (double dash) options are supported only if your platform knows about the getopt_long call. If it
does not (like *BSD), only the short options can be used.
RETURN VALUE
The program returns 0 when the download was successful, 1 if something really went wrong and 2 if the
download was interrupted. If something else comes back, it must be a bug.
EXAMPLES
The trivial usage to download a file is similar to:
$ axel http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/debian-9.1.0-amd64-netinst.iso
$ axel ftp://ftp.nl.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.2/linux-2.2.20.tar.bz2
This will use the Belgian, Dutch, English and German kernel.org mirrors to download a Linux 2.4.17 kernel
image.
$ axel ftp://ftp.{be,nl,uk,de}.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.17.tar.bz2
This will do a search for the linux-2.4.17.tar.bz2 file on filesearching.com and it'll use the four (if
possible) fastest mirrors for the download (possibly including ftp.kernel.org).
$ axel -S4 ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.17.tar.bz2
FILES
/etc/axelrc
System-wide configuration file.
~/.axelrc
Personal configuration file.
These files are not documented in a manpage, but the example file which comes with the program contains
enough information. The position of the system-wide configuration file might be different. In source code
this example file is at doc/ directory. It's generally installed under /usr/share/doc/axel/examples/, or
the equivalent for your system.
COPYRIGHT
Axel was originally written by Wilmer van der Gaast and other authors over time. Please, see the AUTHORS
and CREDITS files.
The project homepage is <https://github.com/axel-download-accelerator/axel>
HELP THIS PROJECT
If you intent to help, please, read the CONTRIBUTING.md file. On Debian systems, this file will be
available at /usr/share/doc/axel/ directory.
axel-2.15 October 9, 2017 axel(1)