Aria2 is a free opensource file download utility that supports HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, BitTorrent (DHT, PEX, MSE/PE) and Metalink. aria2 can download a file from multiple sources/protocols and tries to utilize your maximum download bandwidth. It supports downloading a file from HTTP,HTTPS/FTP and BitTorrent at the same time. Using Metalink’s chunk checksums, aria2 automatically validates chunks of data while downloading a file like BitTorrent.
Stand out features of aria2 include,
Download a file from several URIs(HTTP(S)/FTP/BitTorrent)
Aria2 can download files concurrently without having to wait for the current download queue to finish one file.
Aria2 tries to utilize your maximum download bandwidth and downloads files quickly.
Aria2 supports Adaptive segemnted downloading wherein, unlike other similar applications, Aria2 can split a download segment (assuming from a slow connection) further down up to 1MB. If in an instance this last 1MB is on a slow connection, it can cancel this connection and download the segment from a faster connecting server.
Supports connections via all kinds of proxy including where authentication is required.
Physical Memory foot print is as low as 3MB to 6MB while CPU usage in BitTorrent with download speed of 1500KB/sec is around 6%.
For a full list of features, click here
Install Aria2
Aria2 can be installed using the 1-click install YaST Metapackage files (YMP) from openSUSE software Build Service. Click one of the following 1-click Installs based on your version of openSUSE. This will download the YMP file and automatically launch YaST Package manager to add the required repositories and install aira2 and the dependency packages.
openSUSE 11.1
openSUSE 11.0
openSUSE 10.3
Click Next on the Repository selection screen and Next on the package Selection screen and finally Next on the Installation proposal screen. This should add the repositories, download aria2 and relevant packages and install. Click Finish when the software has installed successfully.
This should install aria2 as /usr/bin/aria2c
For a list of options that aria2c can run with, “-h” option or check the man page
opensuse11_1:~ # aria2c -h
or
man aria2c
To download a file
opensuse11_1:~ # aria2c http://www.example.com/test.iso
By default, aria2c uses 5 connections to download a single file. This can be controlled using a -s argument to specify the number of allowed connections (say 2).
To download using 2 connections from 2 servers
opensuse11_1:~ # aria2c -s2 http://www.server1.com/test.iso http://www.server2.com/test.iso
To find a host of usage options and examples, click here