Updated: 28 September 2026 · Applies to: Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12, AlmaLinux 9 and Rocky Linux 9
These command-line tools download files on a server. All are available on Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12, AlmaLinux 9 and Rocky Linux 9 (aria2 and axel from EPEL on AlmaLinux/Rocky).
wget
wget https://example.com/file.iso wget -c https://example.com/file.iso # continue an interrupted download wget -b https://example.com/file.iso # in the background (log in wget-log)
curl
curl -LO https://example.com/file.iso # -L follows redirects, -O keeps the name curl -LO -C - https://example.com/file.iso # continue
aria2: several connections and sources
apt install aria2 # or: dnf install aria2 aria2c -x 8 -s 8 https://example.com/file.iso # up to 8 connections aria2c -i urls.txt # many files from a list
aria2 also downloads torrents and metalinks.
axel
axel -n 8 https://example.com/file.iso
Note: Several connections only help when a single connection is slow and the server allows it; some servers limit or block them. Check the file afterwards with its checksum, for example sha256sum file.iso.
Download to a server you are not logged in to
Downloads started over SSH stop when the connection drops. Run long downloads in the background with wget -b, or inside screen or tmux so you can log out and come back later.
