1doc/axel(1) lightweight command line download accelerator doc/axel(1)
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6 axel - light command line download accelerator
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9 axel [OPTIONS] url1 [url2] [url...]
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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.
16 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.
20 Axel supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and FTPS protocols.
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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.
29 Please note that the program does not check whether the files are
31 equal.
32 Other options:
34 --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.
39 --num-connections=x, -n x
41 Specify an alternative number of connections.
42 --max-redirect=x
44 Specify an alternative number of redirections to follow when
45 connecting to the server (default is 20).
46 --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.
52 --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.
60 --ipv6, -6
62 Use the IPv6 protocol only when connecting to the host.
63 --ipv4, -4
65 Use the IPv4 protocol only when connecting to the host.
66 --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.
70 --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.
75 --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.
78 --verbose, -v
80 Show more status messages. Use it more than once to see more de‐
81 tails.
82 --quiet, -q
84 No output to stdout.
85 --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.
90 --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.
95 --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.
100 --help, -h
102 A brief summary of all the options.
103 --timeout=x, -T x
105 Set I/O and connection timeout
106 --version, -V
108 Get version information.
109
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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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.
119
121 The trivial usage to download a file is similar to:
122 $ axel http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current/amd64/iso-cd/debian-9.1.0-amd64-netinst.iso
124 $ axel ftp://ftp.nl.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.2/linux-2.2.20.tar.bz2
126 This will use the Belgian, Dutch, English and German kernel.org mirrors
128 to download a Linux 2.4.17 kernel image.
129 $ axel ftp://ftp.{be,nl,uk,de}.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.17.tar.bz2
131 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).
135 $ axel -S4 ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/linux-2.4.17.tar.bz2
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140 /etc/axelrc
141 System-wide configuration file.
142 ~/.axelrc
144 Personal configuration file.
145 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.
155 The project homepage is <https://github.com/axel-download-accelera‐
157 tor/axel>
158
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.
162axel-2.17.11 18 January 2023 doc/axel(1)