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How can I know the filesize of the downloaded file before downloading it?

Using Ubuntu/Fedora

Thank you!

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I am not sure can you. Can you give a clearer example? What browser are you using? – slotishtype Jun 6 '11 at 19:27
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I think you should at least specify the protocol in your question, because you can download files in many ways: over HTTP, FTP, rsync, scp, bittorrent etc – vtest Jun 6 '11 at 20:13

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You can use the following command:

curl --head <url>

where <url> is the URL of the file you want. The response will be only the headers of the HTTP response, which may include the file size if is known by the server.

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How does this help with FTP or SCP? – Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams Jun 6 '11 at 19:28
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@Ignacio Both of those are used predominately with client programs that commonly provide that information already. HTTP is much more likely. You should probably ask the person asking instead. – Daniel Beck♦ Jun 6 '11 at 19:46
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Which may include the file size. If it's something that's being built and streamed on demand, the file size may not be known. – afrazier Jun 6 '11 at 21:51
@afrazier thanks for the correction. – goedson Jun 6 '11 at 23:15

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