plowdown(1)

📦
version 2.1.7 · 2 versions
, in nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, opensuse-leap 16.0

💖 plowdown(1) — Plowshare for Bash 4 💖

okay bestie, this is the plowdown(1) page — the download-manager one from Plowshare for Bash 4. It’s giving “I automate file-sharing sites so you don’t have to click through a million forms.” Let’s get into it. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

plowdown — simple download manager for file sharing websites. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

plowdown [OPTIONS]...  [MODULE_OPTIONS]...  URL|FILE...

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

plowdown is a command-line tool designed for automatic download on file-sharing websites. It acts like a web browser, retrieving pages and filling HTML forms (including captchas). No cap, it’s out here doing the browser thing for you. 🌐✨

💜 OPTIONS 💜

Here’s the whole menu, bestie. No skipping. 🫶

🎀 Common options 🎀

  • -i, --interface=IFACE — if your machine has several network interfaces, force using IFACE interface. 🌐
  • -m, --mark-downloaded — mark downloaded links in (regular) file arguments. ✅
  • -o, --output-directory=DIRECTORY — directory where files will be saved. Default is current directory. 📁
  • -r, --max-retries=N — set maximum retries for download failures. It applies on module exit status: 3 (network error), 7 (captcha error). Default option value is 2 (i.e. 3 tries) and applies for one single URL download. 🔁
  • -t, --timeout=SECS — cancel download after SECS seconds of waits. It applies on module exit status: 10 (temporary unavailable error). This error can be returned in various cases: unallowed parallel download, daily downloads limit reached, remote hoster overloaded. Default option value is disabled (no timeout, infinite) and applies for one single URL download. ⌛
  • -x, --no-overwrite — do not overwrite existing files. Existing file will be preserved and filename will be suffixed with .1, .2, and so on. Default option value is disabled: files are overwritten (whatever their size) or resumed (if module supports it). 🙅‍♀️
  • --cache=METHOD — cache policy regarding module storage space. Each module is able to save data (credentials, authentication session, or tokens) in order to be reused later. Available values:
    • none: module storage file is deleted before each URL processing. Temporary directory is used.
    • session (default): module storage file is deleted at the end of plowdown execution. Temporary directory is used.
    • shared: module storage file is global and located (in ~/.config/plowshare/storage/). It can be accessed by any other instance of plow* scripts. Warning: There is no atomicity (or file locking) on concurrent access.

Example: Multiple links download using a premium account. If supported by module, login stage could be performed once. 💾

🧩 Captcha options 🧩

  • --9kweu=KEY — use 9kw.eu service to solve captchas. 🛎️
  • --antigate=KEY — use Antigate.com service to solve captchas.
  • --captchabhood=USER:PASSWORD — use Captcha Brotherhood service to solve captchas.
  • --captchacoin=KEY — use CaptchaCoin service to solve captchas.
  • --deathbycaptcha=USER:PASSWORD — use Death by Captcha service to solve captchas.
  • --captchamethod=METHOD — force specific captcha solving method (if unspecified it is autodetected). Available values:
    • imgur: upload image to Imgur.com service, print image url in console and prompt for manual entering. Useful for NAS and embedded devices.
    • none: abort if captcha solving is requested (even if automatic solving service is available).
    • online: use captcha solving website only (9kweu, Antigate, CaptchaBrotherhood, CaptchaCoin or DeathByCaptcha account required).
    • fb: display image in framebuffer console and prompt for manual entering. Looks for framebuffer viewers: fbi, fim. FRAMEBUFFER environment variable can contain device file. Default is /dev/fb0.
    • nox: display image in console (text) and prompt for manual entering. Looks for ascii viewers: img2txt, aview, tiv.
    • x11: display image in an X11 window and prompt for manual entering. Looks for viewers: display, feh, sxiv, qiv. DISPLAY environment variable must not be empty.
  • --captchaprogram=PROGRAM — call external program or script for solving captchas. Provided executable can be located in PATH environment variable.

Three arguments are given:

  • $1 module name (lowercase). For example: mediafire.
  • $2 image filename (with full path).
  • $3 hint or captcha type (string). For example: recaptcha, solvemedia or digits-4.

Return value (on stdout) and exit status:

  • 0: solving success. Captcha Word(s) must be echo'ed.
  • 2: external solver is not able to solve requested captcha. Let plowdown continue solving it normally (will consider --captchamethod if specified).
  • 7: external solver failed. Note: this exit code is eligible with retry policy (-r/--max-retries).

Note: plowdown legacy exit errors can also be returned, for example: 1 (fatal) or 3 (network). 😵‍💫

⚙️ Tuning settings ⚙️

  • --min-space=LIMIT — define threshold amount of available disk space before quitting plowdown. You must specify a suffix. Suffixes are:
    • M for megabytes (MB i.e. 1000^2),
    • G for gigabytes (GB i.e. 1000^3),
    • Mi or m for mebibytes (MiB i.e. 1024^2),
    • Gi for gibibytes (GiB i.e. 1024^3).
  • --max-rate=SPEED — limit download speed in bytes per second. Suffixes are:
    • k for kilobytes (kB i.e. 1000),
    • M for megabytes (MB i.e. 1000^2),
    • K or Ki for kibibytes (KB or KiB i.e. 1024),
    • m or Mi for mebibytes (mB or MiB i.e. 1024^2).
  • --min-rate=SPEED — limit download minimum speed in bytes per second (for a delay of 30 seconds). Suffixes are the same than --max-rate.
  • --temp-directory=DIRECTORY — directory for temporary files: final link download, cookies, images, ...
  • --temp-rename — append .part suffix to filename while file is being downloaded. Download resume will not work with this option. ⚠️
  • --skip-final — don't process final link (returned by module download function), just skip it. This is applied for each input URL. If you are using this option, you should need --run-after or --printf too.

Note: Depending hosters, final (generated) link may have restrictions: validity timeout (few hours), access limitation (usually one unique HTTP GET request for anonymous users), same IP address, etc.

  • --run-before=PROGRAM — call external program or script before new link processing (before calling module download function). Provided executable can be located in PATH environment variable. Messages can be sent to stderr, stdout is trashed.

Three arguments are given:

  • $1 module name (lowercase). For example: mediafire.
  • $2 download URL.
  • $3 cookie (empty) file given to download module function.

Exit status:

  • 0: script success. plowdown continue normally.
  • 2: script explicitly requests skipping current link.

Note: Any other script exit status like 1 (fatal) or 3 (network) will be ignored (an error message will be reported).

  • --run-after=PROGRAM — call external program or script after final link successful download. Provided executable can be located in PATH environment variable. Messages can be sent to stderr, stdout is trashed.

Five arguments are given:

  • $1 module name (lowercase). For example: mediafire.
  • $2 download URL.
  • $3 cookie file fulfilled by download module function.
  • $4 final URL.
  • $5 final filename.

Exit status:

  • 0: script success. plowdown continue normally.

Note: Any other (non zero) exit status will be ignored (an error message will be reported).

  • --printf=FORMAT — print results (on stdout) in a given format (for each successful download). Default format string is "%F%n". Interpreted sequences are:
    • %% — raw % character
    • %c — final cookie filename (with output directory if specified). Name template is plowdown-cookies-NNNN.txt.
    • %C — %c or empty string if module does not require it
    • %d — download (final) url
    • %D — same as %d but url is escaped for JSON usage
    • %f — destination (local) filename
    • %F — destination (local) filename (with output directory if specified)
    • %m — module name
    • %n — newline
    • %s — destination (local) file size (positive integer in bytes). Important: Empty string is returned when --skip-final switch is specified.
    • %t — tabulation character
    • %u — download (source) url
    • %U — same as %u but url is escaped for JSON usage

📝 Logging options 📝

  • -v, --verbose=LEVEL — set output verbosity level:
    • 0 none,
    • 1 errors,
    • 2 notice (default behavior),
    • 3 debug,
    • 4 report (very noisy, log HTML pages).
  • -q, --quiet — alias for -v0. Do not print any debug messages. 🤫

🎲 Miscellaneous options 🎲

  • --no-color — disables log messages (stderr only) output coloring.
  • --fallback — if no module is found for link, simply download it (HTTP GET).
  • --no-curlrc — do not use curl config file (~/.curlrc).
  • --curlrc=FILE — force using an alternate curl configuration file. Replaces ~/.curlrc if it exists. This option has no effect when --no-curlrc is defined.
  • --no-plowsharerc — do not consider any configuration file.
  • --plowsharerc=FILE — force using an alternate configuration file (instead of per-user or systemwide plowshare.conf). This option has no effect when --no-plowsharerc is defined.
  • --modules — display all supported module names (one per line) and exit. Useful for wrappers. 🧰

🏆 Generic program information 🏆

  • -h, --help — display main help and exit.
  • -H, --longhelp — display complete help (with module options) and exit.
  • --version — output version information and exit.

🌈 MODULE OPTIONS 🌈

💖 Common options 💖

  • -a, --auth=USER:PASSWORD — use premium account. 👑
  • -b, --auth-free=USER:PASSWORD — use free account.
  • -p, --link-password=PASSWORD — used for password-protected files. 🔐

All switches are not implemented nor required for all modules. See long help message for detailed modules option list. 👑

💬 NOTES 💬

🔐 Command line authentication string format

Complete login must have USER:PASSWORD format. The first semi-colon character is the separator. So, PASSWORD can contain a semi-colon character without any trouble.

🫶 bestie please — don't forget to single-quote the string if your password contains shell expandable characters (like space, $ or &). Your future self will thank you 💅

📁 FILES 📁

  • /etc/plowshare.conf — Systemwide configuration file. The communal vibe ✨
  • ~/.config/plowshare/plowshare.conf — This is the per-user configuration file. Your personal little corner 🎀

The file format is described in plowshare.conf(5).

  • ~/.config/plowshare/exec/ — Additional directory considered when searching for executable. See --captchaprogram, --run-before and --run-after switches. It's giving backstage pass energy 🎟️
  • ~/.config/plowshare/modules.d/ — User directory considered when searching for modules at startup (plowdown will try to open ~/.config/plowshare/modules.d/*/config). One file per module (hoster). Organized queen behavior 👑
  • ~/.config/plowshare/storage/ — Directory used for storing data (one file per module) among sessions. See --cache=shared switch. Memory but make it persistent 💾

🌱 ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES 🌱

The following environment variables may affect plowdown:

  • DISPLAY — The X11 display server address is considered to display captchas. See --captchamethod=x11 documentation below. X11 girlies rise 🖥️
  • FRAMEBUFFER — This variable is considered to display captchas. See --captchamethod=fb documentation below. Framebuffer moment fr fr 🌈
  • HOME — Search for user configuration directory in ~/.config/plowshare (see FILES section above). If found, ~/.curlrc will be used (use --no-curlrc to disable it). Home sweet home 🏠
  • PLOWSHARE_CURL — Specifies an alternate curl command ($PATH search is considered). If not defined, curl is used. Swap in your fave curl if you want 🌀
  • PLOWSHARE_JS — Specifies an alternate js command ($PATH search is considered). If not defined, js is used. Same energy, different tool ⚡
  • XDG_CONFIG_HOME — The directory to store user configuration files. If not defined, ~/.config is assumed. The default is lowkey iconic 🎀

🚪 EXIT CODES 🚪

Possible exit codes are:

  • 0 — Success. We ate and left no crumbs 💅✨
  • 1 — Fatal error. Upstream site updated or unexpected result. The site said "new phone who dis" 😭
  • 2 — No available module (provided URL is not supported). Not every link is invited to the party 🚫
  • 3 — Network error. Mostly curl related. The wifi is fighting for its life 💀
  • 4 — Authentication failed (bad login/password). Wrong password bestie, try again 🙈
  • 5 — Timeout reached (refer to -t/--timeout command-line option). It took too long, we're leaving ⏰
  • 6 — Maximum tries reached (refer to -r/--max-retries command-line option). We tried, we really did 😮‍💨
  • 7 — Captcha generic error. Not the captcha again 😤
  • 8 — System generic error. The computer is having a moment 🫠
  • 10 — Link alive but temporarily unavailable. It's alive, just not ready to mingle 💔
  • 11 — Link alive but requires a password. Gatekept 🔒
  • 12 — Link alive but requires some authentication (private or premium link). VIP only, no cap 🎟️
  • 13 — Link is dead. RIP bozo 🪦
  • 14 — Can't download link because file is too big (need permissions). Too much, even for us 😳
  • 15 — Unknown command line parameter or incompatible options. You tried to mix oil and water, babe 🧪

If plowdown is invoked with multiple links or link-list files and one or several errors occur, the first error code is returned added with 100. So like, if the first oopsie was 3, you get 103. Math but make it chaotic 🔢

👑 AUTHORS 👑

Plowshare was initially written by Arnau Sanchez. See the AUTHORS file for a list of some of the many other contributors. Legends only ✨

Plowshare is (C) 2010-2017 The Plowshare Team. Periodt 💖

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

plowup(1), plowdel(1), plowlist(1), plowprobe(1), plowshare.conf(5), plowmod(1).

That's the whole glow-up, bestie 🦋 This iconic plowdown(1) page is under the GPL, dated April 2, 2017 — go forth and download responsibly 💅✨

📦 where this page comes from