1doc/axel(1)      lightweight command line download accelerator     doc/axel(1)
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NAME

6       axel - light command line download accelerator
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SYNOPSIS

9        axel [OPTIONS] url1 [url2] [url...]
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11

DESCRIPTION

13       Axel  is  a  program  that  downloads  a file from a FTP or HTTP server
14       through multiple connection.  Each connection downloads its own part of
15       the file.
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17       Unlike most other programs, Axel downloads all the data directly to the
18       destination file.  It saves some time at the end  because  the  program
19       does not have to concatenate all the downloaded parts.
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21       Axel supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and FTPS protocols.
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OPTIONS

24       One  argument  is  required,  the URL to the file you want to download.
25       When downloading from FTP, the filename may contain wildcards  and  the
26       program  will try to resolve the full filename. Multiple mirror URLs to
27       an identical file can be specified as well and the program will use all
28       those URLs for the download.
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30       Please  note  that  the  program  does  not check whether the files are
31       equal.
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33       Other options:
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35       --max-speed=x, -s x
36              Specify a speed (bytes per second) to try to  keep  the  average
37              speed  around  this speed. This is useful if you do not want the
38              program to suck up all of your bandwidth.
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40       --num-connections=x, -n x
41              Specify an alternative number of connections.
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43       --max-redirect=x
44              Specify an alternative number of  redirections  to  follow  when
45              connecting to the server (default is 20).
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47       --output=x, -o x
48              Downloaded  data will be put in a local file with the same name,
49              unless you specify a different name using this option.  You  can
50              specify  a  directory as well, the program will append the file‐
51              name.
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53       --search[=x], -S[x]
54              Axel can do a search for  mirrors  using  the  filesearching.com
55              search  engine. This search will be done if you use this option.
56              You can specify how many different mirrors should  be  used  for
57              the download as well. The search for mirrors can be time-consum‐
58              ing because the program  tests  every  server's  speed,  and  it
59              checks whether the file's still available.
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61       --ipv6, -6
62              Use the IPv6 protocol only when connecting to the host.
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64       --ipv4, -4
65              Use the IPv4 protocol only when connecting to the host.
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67       --no-proxy, -N
68              Do  not  use any proxy server to download the file. Not possible
69              when a transparent proxy is active somewhere, of course.
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71       --insecure, -k
72              Do not verify the SSL certificate. Only use this if you are get‐
73              ting certificate errors and you are sure of the sites authentic‐
74              ity.
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76       --no-clobber, -c Skip download if a file with the same name already ex‐
77       ists in the current folder and no state file is found.
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79       --verbose, -v
80              Show more status messages. Use it more than once to see more de‐
81              tails.
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83       --quiet, -q
84              No output to stdout.
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86       --alternate, -a
87              This will show an alternate progress indicator. A  bar  displays
88              the  progress  and  status  of the different threads, along with
89              current speed and an estimate for the remaining download time.
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91       --header=x, -H x
92              Add an additional HTTP header. This option should be in the form
93              "Header:  Value". See RFC 2616 section 4.2 and 14 for details on
94              the format and standardized headers.
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96       --user-agent=x, -U x
97              Set the HTTP user agent to use. Some  websites  serve  different
98              content  based  upon  this parameter. The default value will in‐
99              clude "Axel", its version and the platform.
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101       --help, -h
102              A brief summary of all the options.
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104       --timeout=x, -T x
105              Set I/O and connection timeout
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107       --version, -V
108              Get version information.
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NOTE

111       Long (double dash) options are supported only if  your  platform  knows
112       about  the getopt_long call. If it does not (like *BSD), only the short
113       options can be used.
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RETURN VALUE

116       The program returns 0 when the download was successful, 1 if  something
117       really  went  wrong and 2 if the download was interrupted. If something
118       else comes back, it must be a bug.
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EXAMPLES

121       The trivial usage to download a file is similar to:
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123           $ axel http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/debian-9.1.0-amd64-netinst.iso
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125           $ axel ftp://ftp.nl.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.2/linux-2.2.20.tar.bz2
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127       This will use the Belgian, Dutch, English and German kernel.org mirrors
128       to download a Linux 2.4.17 kernel image.
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130           $ axel ftp://ftp.{be,nl,uk,de}.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.17.tar.bz2
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132       This  will do a search for the linux-2.4.17.tar.bz2 file on filesearch‐
133       ing.com and it'll use the four (if possible) fastest  mirrors  for  the
134       download (possibly including ftp.kernel.org).
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136           $ axel -S4 ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.17.tar.bz2
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138

FILES

140       /etc/axelrc
141              System-wide configuration file.
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143       ~/.axelrc
144              Personal configuration file.
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146       These files are not documented in a manpage, but the example file which
147       comes with the program contains enough information. The position of the
148       system-wide  configuration file might be different. In source code this
149       example file is at  doc/  directory.  It's  generally  installed  under
150       /usr/share/doc/axel/examples/, or the equivalent for your system.
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153       Axel  was  originally written by Wilmer van der Gaast and other authors
154       over time. Please, see the AUTHORS and CREDITS files.
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156       The  project  homepage  is  <https://github.com/axel-download-accelera‐
157       tor/axel>
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HELP THIS PROJECT

160       If you intent to help, please, read the CONTRIBUTING.md file. On Debian
161       systems, this file will be available at /usr/share/doc/axel/ directory.
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165axel-2.17.11                   08 February 2022                    doc/axel(1)
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