NAME
 axel - light command line download accelerator

SYNOPSIS
 axel [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, using
 one single thread. It just 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 filename.

 --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-consuming 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 getting certificate errors
                 and you are sure of the sites authenticity.

 --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.

 --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 filesearching.com and it'll use the four (if possible)
 fastest mirrors for the download (possibly including ftp.kernel.org). Of course, the commands are a single
 line, but they're too long to fit on one line in this page.

    $ 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. On Debian systems, it is at /usr/share/doc/axel/examples/ directory.

COPYRIGHT
 Axel was originally written by Wilmer van der Gaast and other authors over time. Please, see the AUTHORS and CREDITS files.

 The current Axel homepage (since 2015) is https://github.com/axel-download-accelerator/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.
