Axel : Download accelerator for linux

Hi guys, the title must have got you really excited if you have been accustomed to downloading in windows using IDM or DAP or any other accelerator. I myself had been searching for such a tool for quite some time now and I was relieved to find Axel. It's a command line downloading tool. And it works!!!
The steps involved are pretty simple. Just another run-of-the-mill installation using yum/apt-get.

Installation : For Fedora users

sudo yum install axel

For Ubuntu users
sudo apt-get install axel

That's it! The installation is done.

Configuring : 1. sudo gedit /etc/axelrc
2. In this file, look out for 'http_proxy='. To set the proxy first uncomment the line by deleting the '#' before http_proxy. Then set the proxy as
http_proxy=http://host.domain.com:port/
eg. http_proxy=http://172.24.2.1:8080/

To download any file, use the command
axel 'fileURL' (without the '' :)
eg. axel http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Feisty
(I had been trying to download this file but everytime I could download only around 40 kb of the total size. Axel downloaded the whole 704 kb just about a couple of minutes using only one connection as the server does not support multiple connections I suppose.)

You can manually set the number of connections to open :
axel -n 16 'fileURL'
Randomly increasing the number of connections wont help. There's a limit upto which the speed can increase, depending on the internet connection you are using.

The file is downloaded in the directory from which you enter the command.

I hope you wont come across any problem while installing and using Axel.
There's another little ultility which integrates apt-get with axel. Keep checking the blog to know more about it.

5 Responses to "Axel : Download accelerator for linux"

Pranav (visit their site)
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puneet (visit their site)

i did what you said here to configure my axel with proxy. however, when i try to download anything using axel, it says error in line 46 (the line where http_proxy is to be entered)...i did the same thing on a friend's computer and it is working fine there. would you know what might the problem be?

Edmond Kachale (visit their site)

puneet said...
it says error in line 46


Remove the white space at the beginning of the http_proxy statement. In other words, the http_proxy statement should begin at the beginning. :-)

ashutosh (visit their site)

format for proxy authentication in axelrc file??

Kumar Abhishek (visit their site)

I need to use a username and password with my university's proxy server. I wrote it as
http_proxy=http://username:password@proxyserver:port/

But, it is not working. Please help. Thanks in advance.