How to Install WGET in Ubuntu

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A man using his computer to access its command prompt.
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The free, open-source wget command-line tool downloads content from the Web through a variety of protocols, including HTTP, secure HTTPS and FTP. Wget works in the background, even when you're not logged on, to run complicated or long download scripts without the need for user input. Wget also follows links and monitors FTP servers for updates. Wget isn't installed by default on most editions of Ubuntu, but you can add it with Ubuntu's apt-get utility.

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Step 1

Start a terminal session using an account that has root access on your system.

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Step 2

Update your apt-get package lists by entering the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt-get update

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This ensures you download the latest version of wget.

Step 3

Install wget by entering the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install wget

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This downloads wget and any necessary dependencies.

Step 4

Verify that wget was downloaded properly by entering the following command:

wget --version

This returns the version and compilation information for wget if it was successfully installed. If not, repeat the process.

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