146

So after some time of searching on Google and Super User (and scanning man pages) I was unable to find an answer to something that (I think) should be simple:

If you go here:

http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2340

And try to download the theme: 

http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=9750

Like so: 

wget http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=9750

You’ll probably end up with a file called download_script.php?src_id=9750.

But I want it to be called molokai.vim, which is what would happen if I used a browser to download this file.

What options do I need to specify for wget for the desired effect?

I'd also be ok with a Curl equivalent command.

Improve this question

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
200 
-O file
--output-document=file

The documents will not be written to the appropriate files, but all will be concatenated together and written to file. If - is used as file, documents will be printed to standard output, disabling link conversion. (Use ./- to print to a file literally named -.)

So,

wget -O somefile.extension 'http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=9750'

Or, you may be able to get wget to automatically use the filename proposed by the server using the --content-disposition option if supported by your version.

wget --content-disposition 'http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=9750'

Caveats as per the man page,

--content-disposition

If this is set to on, experimental (not fully-functional) support for "Content-Disposition" headers is enabled. This can currently result in extra round-trips to the server for a "HEAD" request, and is known to suffer from a few bugs, which is why it is not currently enabled by default.

This option is useful for some file-downloading CGI programs that use "Content-Disposition" headers to describe what the name of a downloaded file should be.

You can achieve the same automated behavior with curl, using,

curl -JLO 'http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=9750'

-O uses the remote name, and -J forces the -O to get that name from the content-disposition header rather than the URL, and -L follows redirects if needed.

Improve this answer
11
  • 3
    I should've specified that this needs to be automatic
    – audio.zoom
    Jun 23, 2011 at 12:05
  • 2
    Aha - I'm wrong, see updated answer. This is why stackexchange sites work well - everyone learns something, even people answering the questions!
    – EightBitTony
    Jun 23, 2011 at 12:20
  • 1
    Added the curl parameters that make curl work too.
    – EightBitTony
    Jun 23, 2011 at 12:46
  • 1
    This worked for me for the stackexchange podcast, which had been bugging me for a while. Thanks.
    – Richard Campbell
    Oct 5, 2011 at 20:41
  • 2
    --content-disposition worked well (at least it appears to be downloading the correct file as I type this), whereas curl -JLO did not do the trick. I'm new to using both tools, so I wonder why the disparity.
    – rocksNwaves
    Feb 9, 2021 at 17:27
93

With wget you can do this: 

wget --trust-server-names <url>

to save the file using the last file name the server gives you.

Improve this answer
6
  • 6
    I wonder what the difference is between --trust-server-names and --content-disposition
    – JamesTheAwesomeDude
    Jun 10, 2015 at 15:43
  • 4
    Looks like --trust-server-names follows redirects to a different file, and --content-disposition names the file with the name specified in the response header without any redirecting required.
    – Asfand Qazi
    Jul 6, 2015 at 10:26
  • 5
    Why isn't this default functionality?!?!
    – hopeseekr
    May 8, 2016 at 17:16
  • 13
    @hopeseekr The server might be naughty and call the file .bashrc if you are not watching carefully. lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-wget/2012-04/msg00059.html
    – Patrick Conheady
    Oct 26, 2016 at 23:46
  • So helpful. I was downloading something and its name was download without any extestion. So bothering.
    – avijit
    Sep 25, 2020 at 3:09
5

You could also use aria2c - it seems to work nicely with the Content-Disposition headers.

Improve this answer
0

Worked by following:

curl -o molokai.vim http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=9750

wget -O somefile.extension http://www.vim.org/scripts/download_script.php?src_id=9750

(changed case to smaller i.e. (the wget -O) to (wget -o)

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.