Provided by: plowshare_2.1.7-4_all 
NAME
plowdown - Simple download manager for file sharing websites
SYNOPSIS
plowdown [OPTIONS]... [MODULE_OPTIONS]... URL|FILE...
DESCRIPTION
plowdown is a command-line tool designed for automatic download on file-sharing websites. It acts like a
web browser, retrieving pages and filling HTML forms (including captchas).
OPTIONS
Common options
-i, --interface=IFACE
If your machine has several network interfaces, force using IFACE interface.
-m, --mark-downloaded
Mark downloaded links in (regular) file arguments.
-o, --output-directory=DIRECTORY
Directory where files will be saved. Default is current directory.
-r, --max-retries=N
Set maximum retries for download failures. Apply on module exit status: 3 (network error), 7
(captcha error). Default option value is 2 (i.e. 3 tries) and applies for one single URL
download.
-t, --timeout=SECS
Cancel download after SECS seconds of waits. Apply on module exit status: 10 (temporary
unavailable error). This error can be returned in various cases: unallowed parallel download,
daily downloads limit reached, remote hoster overloaded. Default option value is disabled (no
timeout, infinite) and applies for one single URL download.
-x, --no-overwrite
Do not overwrite existing files. Existing file will be preserved and filename will be suffixed
with .1, .2, and so on. Default option value is disabled: files are overwritten (whatever their
size) or resumed (if module supports it).
--cache=METHOD
Cache policy regarding module storage space. Each module is able to save data (credentials,
authentication session, or tokens) in order to be reused later. Available values:
none: module storage file is deleted before each URL processing. Temporary directory is used.
session (default): module storage file is deleted at the end of plowdown execution. Temporary
directory is used.
shared: module storage file is global and located (in ~/.config/plowshare/storage/). It can be
accessed by any other instance of plow* scripts. Warning: There is no atomicity (or file locking)
on concurrent access.
Example: Multiple links download using a premium account. If supported by module, login stage
could be performed once.
Captcha options
--9kweu=KEY
Use 9kw.eu service to solve captchas.
--antigate=KEY
Use Antigate.com service to solve captchas.
--captchabhood=USER:PASSWORD
Use Captcha Brotherhood service to solve captchas.
--captchacoin=KEY
Use CaptchaCoin service to solve captchas.
--deathbycaptcha=USER:PASSWORD
Use Death by Captcha service to solve captchas.
--captchamethod=METHOD
Force specific captcha solving method (if unspecified it is autodetected). Available values:
imgur: upload image to Imgur.com service, print image url in console and prompt for manual
entering. Useful for NAS and embedded devices.
none: abort if captcha solving is requested (even if automatic solving service is available).
online: use captcha solving website only (9kweu, Antigate, CaptchaBrotherhood, CaptchaCoin or
DeathByCaptcha account required).
fb: display image in framebuffer console and prompt for manual entering. Looks for framebuffer
viewers: fbi, fim. FRAMEBUFFER environment variable can contain device file. Default is /dev/fb0.
nox: display image in console (text) and prompt for manual entering. Looks for ascii viewers:
img2txt, aview, tiv.
x11: display image in an X11 window and prompt for manual entering. Looks for viewers: display,
feh, sxiv, qiv. DISPLAY environment variable must not be empty.
--captchaprogram=PROGRAM
Call external program or script for solving captchas. Provided executable can be located in PATH
environment variable.
Three arguments are given:
$1 module name (lowercase). For example: mediafire.
$2 image filename (with full path).
$3 hint or captcha type (string). For example: recaptcha, solvemedia or digits-4.
Return value (on stdout) and exit status:
0: solving success. Captcha Word(s) must be echo'ed.
2: external solver is not able to solve requested captcha. Let plowdown continue solving it
normally (will consider --captchamethod if specified).
7: external solver failed. Note: this exit code is eligible with retry policy (-r/--max-retries).
Note: plowdown legacy exit errors can also be returned, for example: 1 (fatal) or 3 (network).
Tuning settings
--min-space=LIMIT
Define threshold amount of available disk space before quitting plowdown. You must specify a
suffix. Suffixes are:
M for megabytes (MB i.e. 1000^2),
G for gigabytes (GB i.e. 1000^3),
Mi or m for mebibytes (MiB i.e. 1024^2),
Gi for gibibytes (GiB i.e. 1024^3).
--max-rate=SPEED
Limit download speed in bytes per second. Suffixes are:
k for kilobytes (kB i.e. 1000),
M for megabytes (MB i.e. 1000^2),
K or Ki for kibibytes (KB or KiB i.e. 1024),
m or Mi for mebibytes (mB or MiB i.e. 1024^2).
--min-rate=SPEED
Limit download minimum speed in bytes per second (for a delay of 30 seconds). Suffixes are the
same than --max-rate.
--temp-directory=DIRECTORY
Directory for temporary files: final link download, cookies, images, ...
--temp-rename
Append .part suffix to filename while file is being downloaded. Download resume will not work with
this option.
--skip-final
Don't process final link (returned by module download function), just skip it. This is applied for
each input URL. If you are using this option, you should need --run-after or --printf too.
Note: Depending hosters, final (generated) link may have restrictions: validity timeout (few
hours), access limitation (usually one unique HTTP GET request for anonymous users), same IP
address, etc.
--run-before=PROGRAM
Call external program or script before new link processing (before calling module download
function). Provided executable can be located in PATH environment variable. Messages can be sent
to stderr, stdout is trashed.
Three arguments are given:
$1 module name (lowercase). For example: mediafire.
$2 download URL.
$3 cookie (empty) file given to download module function.
Exit status:
0: script success. plowdown continue normally.
2: script explicitly requests skipping current link.
Note: Any other script exit status like 1 (fatal) or 3 (network) will be ignored (an error message
will be reported).
--run-after=PROGRAM
Call external program or script after final link successful download. Provided executable can be
located in PATH environment variable. Messages can be sent to stderr, stdout is trashed.
Five arguments are given:
$1 module name (lowercase). For example: mediafire.
$2 download URL.
$3 cookie file fulfilled by download module function.
$4 final URL.
$5 final filename.
Exit status:
0: script success. plowdown continue normally.
Note: Any other (non zero) exit status will be ignored (an error message will be reported).
--printf=FORMAT
Print results (on stdout) in a given format (for each successful download). Default format string
is "%F%n". Interpreted sequences are:
%% raw % character
%c final cookie filename (with output directory if specified). Name template is plowdown-
cookies-NNNN.txt.
%C %c or empty string if module does not require it
%d download (final) url
%D same as %d but url is escaped for JSON usage
%f destination (local) filename
%F destination (local) filename (with output directory if specified)
%m module name
%n newline
%s destination (local) file size (positive integer in bytes). Important: Empty string is
returned when --skip-final switch is specified.
%t tabulation character
%u download (source) url
%U same as %u but url is escaped for JSON usage
Logging options
-v, --verbose=LEVEL
Set output verbosity level:
0 none,
1 errors,
2 notice (default behavior),
3 debug,
4 report (very noisy, log HTML pages).
-q, --quiet
Alias for -v0. Do not print any debug messages.
Miscellaneous options
--no-color
Disables log messages (stderr only) output coloring.
--fallback
If no module is found for link, simply download it (HTTP GET).
--no-curlrc
Do not use curl config file (~/.curlrc).
--curlrc=FILE
Force using an alternate curl configuration file. Replaces ~/.curlrc if it exists. This option has
no effect when --no-curlrc is defined.
--no-plowsharerc
Do not consider any configuration file.
--plowsharerc=FILE
Force using an alternate configuration file (instead of per-user or systemwide plowshare.conf).
This option has no effect when --no-plowsharerc is defined.
--modules
Display all supported module names (one per line) and exit. Useful for wrappers.
Generic program information
-h, --help
Display main help and exit.
-H, --longhelp
Display complete help (with module options) and exit.
--version
Output version information and exit.
MODULE OPTIONS
Common options
-a, --auth=USER:PASSWORD
Use premium account.
-b, --auth-free=USER:PASSWORD
Use free account.
-p, --link-password=PASSWORD
Used for password-protected files.
All switches are not implemented nor required for all modules. See long help message for detailed modules
option list.
NOTES
Command line authentication string format
Complete login must have USER:PASSWORD format. The first semi-colon character is the separator. So,
PASSWORD can contain a semi-colon character without any trouble.
Don't forget to single-quote string if your password contain shell expandable characters (like space, $
or &).
FILES
/etc/plowshare.conf
Systemwide configuration file.
~/.config/plowshare/plowshare.conf
This is the per-user configuration file.
The file format is described in plowshare.conf(5).
~/.config/plowshare/exec/
Additional directory considered when searching for executable. See --captchaprogram, --run-before
and --run-after switches.
~/.config/plowshare/modules.d/
User directory considered when searching for modules at startup (plowdown will try to open
~/.config/plowshare/modules.d/*/config). One file per module (hoster).
~/.config/plowshare/storage/
Directory used for storing data (one file per module) among sessions. See --cache=shared switch.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
The following environment variables may affect plowdown:
DISPLAY
The X11 display server address is considered to display captchas. See --captchamethod=x11
documentation below.
FRAMEBUFFER
This variable is considered to display captchas. See --captchamethod=fb documentation below.
HOME Search for user configuration directory in ~/.config/plowshare (see FILES section above). If
found, ~/.curlrc will be used (use --no-curlrc to disable it).
PLOWSHARE_CURL
Specifies an alternate curl command ($PATH search is considered). If not defined, curl is used.
PLOWSHARE_JS
Specifies an alternate js command ($PATH search is considered). If not defined, js is used.
PLOWSHARE_DEBIAN_JS
When set to yes javascript is enabled, otherwise it is blocked per #791467. Note that arbitrary
javascript downloaded from the Internet will be run without any sandboxing if this is enabled.
XDG_CONFIG_HOME
The directory to store user configuration files. If not defined, ~/.config is assumed.
EXIT CODES
Possible exit codes are:
0 Success.
1 Fatal error. Upstream site updated or unexpected result.
2 No available module (provided URL is not supported).
3 Network error. Mostly curl related.
4 Authentication failed (bad login/password).
5 Timeout reached (refer to -t/--timeout command-line option).
6 Maximum tries reached (refer to -r/--max-retries command-line option).
7 Captcha generic error.
8 System generic error.
10 Link alive but temporarily unavailable.
11 Link alive but requires a password.
12 Link alive but requires some authentication (private or premium link).
13 Link is dead.
14 Can't download link because file is too big (need permissions).
15 Unknown command line parameter or incompatible options.
If plowdown is invoked with multiple links or link-list files and one or several errors occur, the first
error code is returned added with 100.
AUTHORS
Plowshare was initially written by Arnau Sanchez. See the AUTHORS file for a list of some of the many
other contributors.
Plowshare is (C) 2010-2017 The Plowshare Team
SEE ALSO
plowup(1), plowdel(1), plowlist(1), plowprobe(1), plowshare.conf(5), plowmod(1).