Hello Linux Geeksters.
In this article I will show you how to use the Aria2 download manager for downloading files from the internet.
As you know, Aria2 is a multi-platform, multi-source and multi-protocol, lightweight command-line download manager. It supports the following download protocols: HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, BitTorrent and Metalink.
I like Aria2 because it is capable of downloading the same file from multiple mirrors and reduce the download time.
How to install Aria2 on Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail, Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal and Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin:
Install Aria2:
$ sudo apt-get install aria2
How to install Aria2 on Fedora 18, Fedora 17 and Fedora 16:
Install Aria2:
$ sudo yum install aria2
How to install Aria2 on OpenSUSE 12.3, OpenSUSE 12.2, OpenSUSE 12.1 and OpenSUSE 12.0:
Install Aria2:
$ sudo zypper install aria2
How to use Aria2:
Download file:
Syntax: aria2c address_to_file
$ aria2c -c https://linuxg.net/file.pdf
Download multiple files:
Syntax: aria2c address_to_file1 address_to_file2
$ aria2c -c https://linuxg.net/file.pdf https://linuxg.net/secondfile.pdf
The -c argument is optional, it tells aria2 to continue the download, if it was started. It is a good habbit to put -c all the time, when downloading with aria2 or wget.
Download from the URLs found in a text file:
Syntax: aria2c -i /path/to/downloadlist.txt
$ echo "https://linuxg.net/one.pdf" > downloadlist.txt
$ echo "https://linuxg.net/two.pdf" >> downloadlist.txt
$ echo "https://linuxg.net/three.pdf" >> downloadlist.txt
$ aria2c -i ~/downloadlist.txt
If you have every download link on a separate line, aria2 reads the file line by line and downloads each file from the list.
Download and set maximul download speed:
Syntax: aria2c -max-download-limit=50K address_to_file1 address_to_file2
# aria2c –max-download-limit=100K https://linuxg.net/one.pdf https://linuxg.net/two.pdf
To set an maximum upload speed, replace download with upload, in the argument: aria2c -max-upload-limit=50K address_to_file1 address_to_file2
You can also mix up these arguments. Example: aria2c -max-download-limit=50K -i /path/to/downloadlist.txt
Aria2 Bittorrent Usage:
Download the torrent file:
Syntax: aria2 -c address_to_torrent
$ aria2c -c https://linuxg.net/linuxg.torrent
Start downloading from the local torrent file (optional, limit the speed):
Syntax: aria2 -c file.torrent
$ aria2c –max-upload-limit=40K –max-download-limit=300K linuxg.torrent
For more information, see the aria2 man page.