Download Large Files

Linux

Download Large Files

Download Managers

You may want to download Linux CDs or DVDs as new versions come out, or other large files, such as music or videos. Downloading large files may take some time, depending on how large they are, and what speed they are downloaded, sometimes more than one internet session. Without a download manager, anything partly downloaded is lost when downloading is stopped. Download managers enable downloading to be stopped and resumed later.

Wget

Wget is a text based download manager, controlled from the terminal.

Wget may be used as follows.

Directory for Downloads

Begin by creating a directory to save downloads.

Change to that directory in the terminal, by typing:

cd (path and directory)

For example, to go to a directory called mydownloads in the home directory, type:

cd ~/mydownloads

For more information, see Change Directory.

Download

To start a download, type:

wget url

For example, to download Tiny Core 2.4.1, use:

wget ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/2.x/release/tinycore_2.4.1.iso

To stop a download, press ctrl+c.

If you want to stop a download you cannot stop using "ctrl + c", for example, if you have already closed the terminal. Open the terminal and type:

killall wget

To resume a download use, -c. For example to resume downloading Tiny Core 2.4.1, use:

wget -c ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/2.x/release/tinycore_2.4.1.iso

You can use "wget -c" if the download has not been started, as well as for resuming.

Save in Text File

Using wget is easy if you save your commands in a text file, and paste them to the terminal when needed. You can copy the link location from your internet browser by right clicking on the link, and selecting "Copy link location." Then paste it to your text file, and insert "wget -c" in front of it. You can insert a line above that line to change to the directory you download to.

For example, to change to mydownloads directory and download Tiny Core 2.4.1, copy and paste two lines like this to the terminal.

cd ~/mydownloads
wget -c ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/2.x/release/tinycore_2.4.1.iso

Retrying

If you have a poor connection and downloading is stopped, wget will try again a total of 20 times. If you want to change the number of times it tries again, insert:

-t (number)

If you want it to try again indefinately, insert:

-t inf

For example if you were downloading Tiny Core 2.4.1, and wanted it to try again 80 times, you could use:

wget -t 80 -c ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/2.x/release/tinycore_2.4.1.iso

wget -c -t 80 ftp://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/tinycorelinux/2.x/release/tinycore_2.4.1.iso

More Information

You can do much more with Wget. For more information and other options, open the terminal and type:

man wget

for the manual, or

wget --help

for help.

Graphical Download Managers

If you want a graphical download manager, there are several which may be installed. Examples include Gwget, and Kget. You may try different ones and see which you prefer. Most graphical download managers are a graphical interface for Wget.

When you have found something you want to download, right click on the link, and select "Copy link location." On Some distributions, it may be "Save link location." Open the download manager, and select "New," then click "OK." Downloading should start. You can click "Pause all," any time you want to pause, and "Resume all," when you want to resume. If you have more than one file partly downloaded, you can right click on the file and select "Pause" or "Continue." Other options include "Cancel" and "Remove from list."

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