aria2
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Install · Linux

Install aria2 on Linux

Every major distribution packages aria2, so one command installs it. Older releases ship older versions; the table shows which.

Last updated: Tested with aria2 1.37.0

Install with one command

Pick your distribution and run the line in a terminal.

sudo apt install aria2

Also Linux Mint, Pop!_OS and Raspberry Pi OS.

Check the installaria2c --versionaria2 version 1.37.0

Which version does your distribution ship?

Read from each distribution's package archive on 2026-10-27. 1.37.0 is the current aria2 release.

DistributionReleasearia2
Ubuntu24.04 LTS and newer1.37.0
Ubuntu22.04 LTS1.36.0
Debian13 trixie1.37.0
Debian12 bookworm1.36.0
Fedoracurrent1.37.0
RHEL, Rocky, AlmaLinux (EPEL)101.37.0
RHEL, Rocky, AlmaLinux (EPEL)91.36.0
openSUSETumbleweed1.37.0
Arch Linuxrolling1.37.0
Alpineedge1.37.0
conda-forgeany distribution1.37.0

Build the current release from source

Only needed when your distribution ships an older version and you need something from 1.37.0. These are the steps from the aria2 README for Debian and Ubuntu.

  1. Install the build tools and libraries

    Package names are for Debian and Ubuntu; other distributions have the same libraries under similar names.

    sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev libssh2-1-dev libc-ares-dev libxml2-dev zlib1g-dev libsqlite3-dev

  2. Download and unpack the release

    The release tarball already contains the configure script.

    curl -LO https://github.com/aria2/aria2/releases/download/release-1.37.0/aria2-1.37.0.tar.xztar xf aria2-1.37.0.tar.xz && cd aria2-1.37.0

  3. Build and install

    configure prints which features it found; check that HTTPS, BitTorrent and Metalink say yes. The program lands in /usr/local/bin.

    ./configuremake -j"$(nproc)"sudo make install

Where aria2.conf goes on Linux

aria2 reads ~/.aria2/aria2.conf, or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/aria2/aria2.conf if the first does not exist. Create the folder, an empty session file and the config:

mkdir -p ~/.aria2 && touch ~/.aria2/aria2.sessionnano ~/.aria2/aria2.conf

Config generator →

Run aria2 as a service

A systemd user service starts aria2 at login and restarts it if it stops. Save this as ~/.config/systemd/user/aria2.service:

~/.config/systemd/user/aria2.service
[Unit]
Description=aria2 download server
After=network-online.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/aria2c --conf-path=%h/.aria2/aria2.conf
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Then run systemctl --user enable --now aria2. To keep it running after you log out, also run loginctl enable-linger $USER. On a server or NAS, the Docker guide has a tested container.

Update and uninstall

apt
sudo apt upgrade aria2 · sudo apt remove aria2
dnf
sudo dnf upgrade aria2 · sudo dnf remove aria2
pacman
sudo pacman -Syu · sudo pacman -R aria2
Source build
sudo make uninstall

Common problems on Linux

error while loading shared libraries

An aria2c copied from elsewhere needs libraries your system lacks. Install aria2 from your package manager instead; it brings the right libraries.

SSL certificate errors on minimal systems

Containers and minimal installs may lack the CA bundle. Install ca-certificates (apk add ca-certificates on Alpine).

A daemon saves files in the wrong place

With -D, aria2 works from /, so relative paths end up under /. Use absolute paths for dir and the session file.

Questions

How do I install aria2 on Raspberry Pi?
Raspberry Pi OS is based on Debian, so sudo apt install aria2 works. The version follows Debian: 1.36.0 on bookworm-based releases, 1.37.0 on trixie-based ones.
Can I install aria2 without root?
Yes, with conda or mamba from conda-forge in your home folder, or by building from source with ./configure --prefix=$HOME/.local.
Can I install aria2 with pip?
Not the official program. pip install aria2p installs a Python client that controls a running aria2 over RPC. A pip package named aria2 exists but is an unofficial wrapper in beta (0.0.1b0).
Is 1.36.0 from Ubuntu 22.04 good enough?
For everyday downloads, yes. 1.37.0 mostly brings fixes; upgrade if you hit a problem the newer release solved.

Installed? Start here