Wget Command on Linux Terminal with examples

In this article we are going to shows how to use wget command in Linux Terminal. If you want to learn about wget command in Linux with Examples then this post is ideal for you.

Wget is a command line utility that is used to downloading files in Linux system from web. Wget command allows you to download files with FPT, HTTP, HTTPS protocols.

Wget command has many options to easily download multiple files, recursive downloads, limit the bandwidth, mirror a website, resume downloads, download in background and many more.

Installing wget Utility in Linux

At present, wget utility is pre-installed on most of all Linux distributions. To check if wget installed or not on your Linux system, simply open your terminal, and run wget command . If wget utility is installed then it will display a output as below otherwise it will print that wget command not found.

$ wget

Output
wget: missing URL
Usage: wget [OPTION]… [URL]…
Try 'wget --help' for more options.

If wget utility is not installed on your Linux system then you can install it using below steps:

Install wget command in Debian or Ubuntu

Run the below command to install wget on Debian or Ubuntu system:

sudo apt install wget

Install wget command in CentOS or Fedora

Run the below command to install wget on CentOS or Fedora system:

sudo yum install wget

Wget Command in Linux (Syntax)

In the Linux, the basic syntax of the wget command is show as below:

$ wget [OPTIONS] [URL]

Examples of Wget Command in Linux

How to Download a File using wget

$ wget https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v7.8.8/npp.7.8.8.Installer.exe

Download and Save the File With a Different Name

Use -o option with the wget command to download and Save the file with a different name:

$ wget -O notepad++.exe https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v7.8.8/npp.7.8.8.Installer.exe

The above command will download the file from web and save it with name notepad++.exe to your current directory.

Download File to a Specific Directory

Use -p option with the wget command to download file to a specific directory:

$ wget -P /home/studiesonline https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v7.8.8/npp.7.8.8.Installer.exe

The above command download the file and store it at given /home/studiesonline directory.

Download multiple files at once

To download multiple files at once, simply specify the multiple urls along with wget command as show in below command:

$ wget https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v7.8.8/npp.7.8.8.Installer.exe https://go.skype.com/skypeforlinux-64.deb

Limit the Download Speed with wget command

To manage file downloading speed, use --limit-rate option with the wget command as show below:

$ wget --limit-rate=512k https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v7.8.8/npp.7.8.8.Installer.exe

Use k suffix for kilobytes and  m suffix for megabytes.

Download file with FTP protocol using wget command

Use --ftp-user and --ftp-password option to download password protected file using FTP protocol as show in below command:

$ wget --ftp-user=ftp_username --ftp-password=ftp_password ftp://ftp.studiesonline.in/back_up.zip

Resume downloading with Wget command

Use -c option with wget command to resume a uncompleted downloads:

$ wget -c https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v7.8.8/npp.7.8.8.Installer.exe

Download in Background with Wget

Use -b option with the wget command to download a file in background as show below:

$ wget -b https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/releases/download/v7.8.8/npp.7.8.8.Installer.exe

Use the tail command to watch the status of the downloading:

$ tail -f wget-log

Create a Mirror of a Website using wget command

Use -m option with the wget command to reate a mirror of the website:

$ wget -m https://example.com

To browse downloaded files, use use below options with wget command:

$ wget -m -k -p https://example.com

Skip SSL Certificate Check with Wget Command

If host has an invalid SSL certificate then use the --no-check-certificate option to skip certificate check :

$ wget --no-check-certificate https://example.com/myFile.txt

That’s all

If you face any error and issue in above steps , please use comment box below to report.