Pause wget and resume when closing terminal

Question

I've searched all over the web and have come to the conclusion that it's possible to pause wget with Ctrl+c and that it's possible to resume with wget -c [URI] But what I haven't found is whether it's the same if I'm mirroring a server over ftp:

wget -m ftp://user:pass@server/directory

will I also be able to Ctrl+c pause the download and resume later with just:

wget -c ftp://user:pass@server/directory

or do I have to add the -m parameter when resuming?

The main thing I don't yet understand though is: whether the download can be resumed even after I've closed the terminal and re-logged in later? (I'm currently in the server over ssh with bitwise)

The best scenario I would be looking for is for me to be able to pause the download (It's a huge download and I don't want to lose any progress I've made so far) and somehow resume it in the background, so when I close the terminal, it will still finish the download. If so, will I later somehow have to stop the process manually or it will end itself when the download is done?

Thank you for all and any help!

Best regards,

Alari

If you send a ctrl+c to the wget you actually killing the process not pausing. — rkachach, Sep 24 '15 at 08:58

proycon · Accepted Answer · 2015-09-24T08:52:42.760

3

If you're on some remote server and want to disconnect your terminal whilst continuing the download, just run it in the background with 'nohup' and '&':

$ nohup wget -q url & 
$ exit

The download will continue. Or consider using a terminal multiplexer like tmux or screen so you can track its progress.

edited Sep 24 '15 at 08:52

answered Sep 24 '15 at 08:49

proycon

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3
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Thank you for your response. For this, do I have to start the download over from scratch? – Alari Truuts Sep 24 '15 at 08:51
Not necessarily, if it's already running you can pause it with ctrl-z, then run ``bg %1`` to continue to run it in the background, then run ``disown`` so the shell won't close background processes, and then ``exit`` the shell. – proycon Sep 24 '15 at 08:56
But I'd recommend you look into ``tmux`` too. – proycon Sep 24 '15 at 08:57
Thank you, your answer has given me a more clear insight! – Alari Truuts Sep 24 '15 at 09:05
disown was not pre-installed on my distro (lakka) so i had to cancel and restart the download. – philx_x Aug 15 '17 at 19:25

Pause wget and resume when closing terminal

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