lftpget

Additional Notes

lftpget is a simple download utility that comes with lftp. It automatically detects the protocol (HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, FTPS) from the URL and downloads the file using lftp's transfer engine, which supports parallel connections, resuming, and retries.

It is a convenient alternative to wget or curl when you want lftp's robust transfer features without entering the interactive lftp shell. It supports recursive downloads and can handle multiple URLs.

Syntax

lftpget [options] url...

Parameters

• url: One or more URLs to download. Protocols include http://, https://, ftp://, ftps://.

Common Options

• -c: Continue or resume a partial download.
• -d: Enable debug output.
• -v: Verbose output showing transfer progress.
• -O dir: Save files to the specified directory.
• -r: Recursive download (follow directory listings on FTP).

Examples

lftpget https://example.com/file.tar.gz

Download a file over HTTPS.

lftpget -c https://example.com/large-file.iso

Resume a partially downloaded file.

lftpget ftp://ftp.example.com/pub/README

Download a file over FTP.

lftpget -O /tmp https://example.com/file.zip

Download and save to /tmp.

Practical Notes

• lftpget supports the same protocols as lftp but without the interactive shell.
• Resume works only if the server supports it (most HTTP and FTP servers do).
• For recursive FTP directory downloads, use -r or use lftp interactively with mirror.