Ubuntu Manpage: axel - light command line download accelerator

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.