Download Through a Proxy with GNU Wget
Select a proxy IP for one Wget run, override stale startup settings, and avoid lengthy default retries when a list entry is offline.
For one GNU Wget run, set the proxy explicitly without editing wgetrc:
wget -e use_proxy=on \
-e https_proxy=http://203.0.113.10:8080 \
-e no_proxy= \
--timeout=10 --tries=1 \
-O - https://example.com/Replace the documentation address with your HTTP proxy, or an entry from the HTTP proxy list for a one-run test. The target uses HTTPS, so Wget selects https_proxy; its http:// value describes the intermediary. For an HTTP destination, set http_proxy instead. Merely changing the website URL while configuring only https_proxy does not preserve the route.
| Setting | Effect in this invocation |
|---|---|
-e use_proxy=on | Enable proxy use explicitly. |
-e no_proxy= | Clear destination bypasses for this isolated test. |
--tries=1 | Avoid repeated attempts through an unresponsive entry. |
--timeout=10 | Set Wget's network timeouts; this is not a single elapsed-time deadline for the whole download. |
-O - | Write the body to standard output. Choose a filename, or omit it, when you want a saved file. |
Startup files can override proxy values inherited from the environment; the explicit -e values make this command's route visible. Preserve intentional bypasses in permanent application configuration. Remove --no-proxy from any command intended to test the endpoint.
Keep diagnostic output, normally on standard error, separate from the downloaded body. Connection refusal, tunnel rejection and a destination HTTP error need different next checks; the mere appearance of a file cannot identify them. If a similarly named shell command rejects these options, check wget --version to confirm GNU Wget.