is verbose.
@item -nv
-@itemx --non-verbose
-Non-verbose output---turn off verbose without being completely quiet
-(use @samp{-q} for that), which means that error messages and basic
-information still get printed.
+@itemx --no-verbose
+Turn off verbose without being completely quiet (use @samp{-q} for
+that), which means that error messages and basic information still get
+printed.
@cindex input-file
@item -i @var{file}
to specifying @samp{--dns-timeout}, @samp{--connect-timeout}, and
@samp{--read-timeout}, all at the same time.
-Whenever Wget connects to or reads from a remote host, it checks for a
-timeout and aborts the operation if the time expires. This prevents
-anomalous occurrences such as hanging reads or infinite connects. The
-only timeout enabled by default is a 900-second timeout for reading.
-Setting timeout to 0 disables checking for timeouts.
+When interacting with the network, Wget can check for timeout and
+abort the operation if it takes too long. This prevents anomalies
+like hanging reads and infinite connects. The only timeout enabled by
+default is a 900-second read timeout. Setting a timeout to 0 disables
+it altogether. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best not to
+change the default timeout settings.
-Unless you know what you are doing, it is best not to set any of the
-timeout-related options.
+All timeout-related options accept decimal values, as well as
+subsecond values. For example, @samp{0.1} seconds is a legal (though
+unwise) choice of timeout. Subsecond timeouts are useful for checking
+server response times or for testing network latency.
@cindex DNS timeout
@cindex timeout, DNS
@cindex read timeout
@cindex timeout, read
@item --read-timeout=@var{seconds}
-Set the read (and write) timeout to @var{seconds} seconds. Reads that
-take longer will fail. The default value for read timeout is 900
+Set the read (and write) timeout to @var{seconds} seconds. The
+``time'' of this timeout refers @dfn{idle time}: if, at any point in
+the download, no data is received for more than the specified number
+of seconds, reading fails and the download is restarted. This option
+does not directly affect the duration of the entire download.
+
+Of course, the remote server may choose to terminate the connection
+sooner than this option requires. The default read timeout is 900
seconds.
@cindex bandwidth, limit
Limit the download speed to @var{amount} bytes per second. Amount may
be expressed in bytes, kilobytes with the @samp{k} suffix, or megabytes
with the @samp{m} suffix. For example, @samp{--limit-rate=20k} will
-limit the retrieval rate to 20KB/s. This kind of thing is useful when,
-for whatever reason, you don't want Wget to consume the entire available
-bandwidth.
+limit the retrieval rate to 20KB/s. This is useful when, for whatever
+reason, you don't want Wget to consume the entire available bandwidth.
+
+This option allows the use of decimal numbers, usually in conjunction
+with power suffixes; for example, @samp{--limit-rate=2.5k} is a legal
+value.
Note that Wget implements the limiting by sleeping the appropriate
amount of time after a network read that took less time than specified
actions of one.
@cindex proxy
-@item -Y on/off
-@itemx --proxy
@itemx --no-proxy
-Turn proxy support on or off. The proxy is on by default if the
-appropriate environment variable is defined.
+Don't use proxies, even if the appropriate @code{*_proxy} environment
+variable is defined.
For more information about the use of proxies with Wget, @xref{Proxies}.
However, some sites have been known to impose the policy of tailoring
the output according to the @code{User-Agent}-supplied information.
-While conceptually this is not such a bad idea, it has been abused by
-servers denying information to clients other than @code{Mozilla} or
-Microsoft @code{Internet Explorer}. This option allows you to change
-the @code{User-Agent} line issued by Wget. Use of this option is
-discouraged, unless you really know what you are doing.
+While this is not such a bad idea in theory, it has been abused by
+servers denying information to clients other than (historically)
+Netscape or, more frequently, Microsoft Internet Explorer. This
+option allows you to change the @code{User-Agent} line issued by Wget.
+Use of this option is discouraged, unless you really know what you are
+doing.
+
+Specifying empty user agent with @samp{--user-agent=""} instructs Wget
+not to send the @code{User-Agent} header in @sc{http} requests.
@cindex POST
@item --post-data=@var{string}
can't know that until it receives a response, which in turn requires the
request to have been completed -- a chicken-and-egg problem.
-Note: if Wget is redirected after the POST request is completed, it will
-not send the POST data to the redirected URL. This is because URLs that
-process POST often respond with a redirection to a regular page
-(although that's technically disallowed), which does not desire or
-accept POST. It is not yet clear that this behavior is optimal; if it
-doesn't work out, it will be changed.
+Note: if Wget is redirected after the POST request is completed, it
+will not send the POST data to the redirected URL. This is because
+URLs that process POST often respond with a redirection to a regular
+page, which does not desire or accept POST. It is not completely
+clear that this behavior is optimal; if it doesn't work out, it might
+be changed in the future.
This example shows how to log to a server using POST and then proceed to
download the desired pages, presumably only accessible to authorized
@cindex SSL certificate, check
@item --no-check-certificate
-Don't check the server certificate against the available client
-authorities. If this is not specified, Wget will break the SSL
-handshake if the server certificate is not valid.
+Don't check the server certificate against the available certificate
+authorities. Also don't require the URL host name to match the common
+name presented by the certificate.
+
+As of Wget 1.10, the default is to verify the server's certificate
+against the recognized certificate authorities, breaking the SSL
+handshake and aborting the download if the verification fails.
+Although this provides more secure downloads, it does break
+interoperability with some sites that worked with previous Wget
+versions, particularly those using self-signed, expired, or otherwise
+invalid certificates. This option forces an ``insecure'' mode of
+operation that turns the certificate verification errors into warnings
+and allows you to proceed.
+
+If you encounter ``certificate verification'' errors or ones saying
+that ``common name doesn't match requested host name'', you can use
+this option to bypass the verification and proceed with the download.
+@emph{Only use this option if you are otherwise convinced of the
+site's authenticity, or if you really don't care about the validity of
+its certificate.} It is almost always a bad idea not to check the
+certificates when transmitting confidential or important data.
@cindex SSL certificate
@item --certificate=@var{file}
The complete set of commands is listed below. Legal values are listed
after the @samp{=}. Simple Boolean values can be set or unset using
-@samp{on} and @samp{off} or @samp{1} and @samp{0}. A fancier kind of
-Boolean allowed in some cases is the @dfn{lockable Boolean}, which may
-be set to @samp{on}, @samp{off}, @samp{always}, or @samp{never}. If an
-option is set to @samp{always} or @samp{never}, that value will be
-locked in for the duration of the Wget invocation---command-line options
-will not override.
+@samp{on} and @samp{off} or @samp{1} and @samp{0}.
Some commands take pseudo-arbitrary values. @var{address} values can be
hostnames or dotted-quad IP addresses. @var{n} can be any positive
Download all ancillary documents necessary for a single @sc{html} page to
display properly---the same as @samp{-p}.
-@item passive_ftp = on/off/always/never
+@item passive_ftp = on/off
Change setting of passive @sc{ftp}, equivalent to the
-@samp{--passive-ftp} option. Some scripts and @samp{.pm} (Perl
-module) files download files using @samp{wget --passive-ftp}. If your
-firewall does not allow this, you can set @samp{passive_ftp = never}
-to override the command-line.
+@samp{--passive-ftp} option.
@itemx password = @var{string}
Specify password @var{string} for both @sc{ftp} and @sc{http} file retrieval.
may be specified from within Wget itself.
@table @samp
-@item -Y on/off
-@itemx --proxy
@itemx --no-proxy
@itemx proxy = on/off
-This option may be used to turn the proxy support on or off. Proxy
-support is on by default, provided that the appropriate environment
-variables are set.
+This option and the corresponding command may be used to suppress the
+use of proxy, even if the appropriate environment variables are set.
@item http_proxy = @var{URL}
@itemx ftp_proxy = @var{URL}
Lin Zhe Min,
Jan Minar,
Tim Mooney,
+Keith Moore,
Adam D. Moss,
Simon Munton,
Charlie Negyesi,