axel(1) light command line download accelerator axel(1)NAMEaxel - light command line download accelerator
SYNOPSISaxel [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 file‐
name.
--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-consum‐
ing 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 get‐
ting certificate errors and you are sure of the sites authentic‐
ity.
--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 filesearch‐
ing.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-accelera‐
tor/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.
axel-2.15 October 9, 2017 axel(1)