Axel - The Download Accelerator

Axel is a command line download manager which can see over 80% improvement when used instead of WGET.

Installing Axel

On Debian or Ubuntu, Axel can be installed by typing:

sudo apt-get install axel

For installing Axel on CentOS 7 or Fedora, add Epel repository:

yum install epel-release
yum install axel

Alternatively, install it by RPM package:

rpm -ivh ftp://fr2.rpmfind.net/linux/dag/redhat/el6/en/x86_64/dag/RPMS/axel-2.4-1.el6.rf.x86_64.rpm

Using Axel

To know more about Axel futures type:

axel --help

Usage: axel [options] url1 [url2] [url...]

--max-speed=x  -s x Specify maximum speed (bytes per second)
--num-connections=x -n x Specify maximum number of connections
--output=f  -o f Specify local output file
--search[=x]  -S [x] Search for mirrors and download from x servers
--header=x  -H x Add header string
--user-agent=x  -U x Set user agent
--no-proxy  -N Just don't use any proxy server
--quiet   -q Leave stdout alone
--verbose  -v More status information
--alternate  -a Alternate progress indicator
--help   -h This information
--version  -V Version information

Adding Alias to replace Wget (Optional)

Open .bashrc file with text editor:

nano .bashrc

Add the following command at the end of the file:

alias wget='axel'

Save and exit using Ctrl+O & Ctrl+X
Apply .bashrc:

source ~./bashrc

Now Wget command can be used to download with Axel.