axel

Lightweight multi-connection download accelerator

TLDR

Download a file with multiple connections

$ axel [https://example.com/file.zip]

Download with a specific number of connections

$ axel -n [16] [https://example.com/file.zip]

Save with a different filename

$ axel -o [output.zip] [https://example.com/file.zip]

Limit speed to a given number of bytes per second

$ axel -s [1024000] [https://example.com/file.zip]

Set a custom user agent

$ axel -U "[Mozilla/5.0]" [https://example.com/file.zip]

Skip the download if the file already exists

$ axel -c [https://example.com/file.zip]

axel is a lightweight download accelerator that opens multiple HTTP/FTP connections to the same file. By downloading different parts of the file simultaneously, it can significantly speed up downloads compared to single-connection tools.The tool is particularly effective for large files on servers that don't rate-limit individual connections.

PARAMETERS

--num-connections=num, -n num

Number of connections to open.

--output=file, -o file

Local filename to save to.

--max-speed=bytes, -s bytes

Try to keep the average speed around this many bytes per second.

--alternate, -a

Show an alternate progress bar with per-thread status.

--quiet, -q

No output to stdout.

--verbose, -v

Show more status messages. Repeat for more detail.

--header=header, -H header

Add an HTTP header in the form 'Header: Value'.

--user-agent=agent, -U agent

Set the HTTP user agent.

--no-proxy, -N

Do not use any proxy server.

--no-clobber, -c

Skip the download if a file with the same name already exists.

--insecure, -k

Do not verify the SSL certificate.

--timeout=secs, -T secs

Set the I/O and connection timeout.

--max-redirect=num

Maximum redirects to follow (default: 20).

CONFIGURATION

/etc/axelrc

System-wide configuration file.

~/.axelrc

Per-user configuration file for default settings like number of connections and speed limits.

FEATURES

- Multiple simultaneous connections- Resume interrupted downloads- Speed limiting- FTP and HTTP support- Progress indicators- Proxy support

CAVEATS

Some servers block multiple connections. May be considered aggressive by some sites. Not all servers support range requests. Can waste bandwidth if connection limit is too high. Less feature-rich than aria2.

HISTORY

axel was created by Wilmer van der Gaast around 2001 as a lightweight alternative to download managers, focusing on speed through parallel connections.

RESOURCES

Source code