aria2c Command: Tutorial & Examples

Download files using different protocols

Aria2 is a free and open-source command-line download utility that supports downloading files from various protocols, including HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, BitTorrent, and Metalink. It is available for Linux, macOS, Windows, and Android.

Using aria2, you can download files in parallel from multiple sources, which can significantly increase your download speed. Additionally, aria2 supports resuming downloads that have been interrupted, which can be helpful if you have a slow or unreliable internet connection.

Here are some examples of how to use aria2 with command-line parameters:

Download a file using HTTP/HTTPS:

aria2c http://example.com/myfile.zip

Download a file using FTP:

aria2c ftp://example.com/myfile.zip

Download a file using BitTorrent:

aria2c myfile.torrent

Download a file using Metalink:

aria2c myfile.metalink

Download a file in multiple parts (up to 16 parts by default):

aria2c -s16 http://example.com/myfile.zip

Set a download speed limit (in this example, 1MB/s):

aria2c --max-download-limit=1M http://example.com/myfile.zip

Save the downloaded file to a specific directory:

aria2c -d /path/to/directory http://example.com/myfile.zip

Use a proxy to download the file:

aria2c --http-proxy=http://proxy.example.com:8080 http://example.com/myfile.zip

Resume a previously interrupted download:

aria2c -c http://example.com/myfile.zip

Speed up file allocation and stop seeding after download has finished:

aria2c --file-allocation=trunc --seed-time=0 myfile.torrent

These are just a few examples of the many options available with aria2. To see a full list of command-line parameters, you can run aria2c --help.