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,
       using  one  single thread. It just saves some time at the end because the program does not
       have to concatenate all the downloaded parts.

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 URL's can be specified as well and the program will use all those URL's
       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.

       --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.

       --no-proxy, -N
              Do  not  use any proxy server to download the file. Not possible when a transparent
              proxy is active somewhere, of course.

       --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.

       --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

       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). Of course, the commands are a single line, but they're too long to fit on
       one line in this page.

           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.

COPYRIGHT

       Axel  was  originally written by Wilmer van der Gaast and other authors over time. Please,
       see the CREDITS file.

       The current Axel homepage (since 2015) is https://github.com/eribertomota/axel

HELP THIS PROJECT

       If you intent to help, please, read the README.to-contribute file.