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Top 10 Features of Aria2 RPC Manager You Should Know

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What you’ll need

  • A machine to run aria2 (Linux, macOS, Windows, or a server/VPS).
  • Basic command-line familiarity.
  • Optional: a domain or dynamic DNS and an SSL certificate if you want secure external access.
  • Aria2 RPC Manager web UI (AriaNg, webui-aria2, or another frontend).

1. Install aria2

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):

sudo apt update sudo apt install -y aria2

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install aria2

Windows:

  • Download the latest binary from the aria2 GitHub releases page or use Scoop/chocolatey:

    choco install aria2 # or scoop install aria2

Verify installation:

aria2c --version

2. Create a configuration file

Instead of typing long command-line options every time, use a config file. Typical locations:

  • Linux/macOS: ~/.aria2/aria2.conf
  • Windows: %APPDATA%ria2ria2.conf

Sample aria2.conf (explain key options inline):

# RPC rpc-enable=true rpc-listen-all=false        # set true only if you need remote access from other hosts rpc-allow-origin-all=false rpc-secret=your_rpc_token   # strong secret for RPC authentication # File management dir=/path/to/downloads file-allocation=trunc # Connection & performance max-concurrent-downloads=5 max-connection-per-server=16 split=32 min-split-size=1M timeout=60 retry-wait=5 max-tries=5 # BitTorrent enable-dht=true bt-enable-lpd=true bt-max-open-files=100 bt-save-metadata=true # Logging log=/path/to/aria2.log log-level=notice

Key performance notes:

  • split controls how many connections per download; higher can increase throughput but may stress servers or your network.
  • max-connection-per-server limits simultaneous connections to a single host.
  • max-concurrent-downloads controls how many active downloads at once.

3. Start aria2 with the config file

Linux/macOS:

aria2c --conf-path=$HOME/.aria2/aria2.conf -D

(-D runs aria2 as a daemon on unix-like systems.)

Windows: Run aria2c with the conf path in a background shell or create a scheduled task/service.

To start manually without daemon:

aria2c --conf-path=/path/to/aria2.conf

Check RPC is listening (default port 6800):

ss -lnt | grep 6800 # or netstat -an | grep 6800

4. Secure the RPC interface

By default aria2 RPC is unauthenticated unless you set rpc-secret. Steps to secure:

  1. Set rpc-secret in aria2.conf to a long random string (example: a 32+ char token).
  2. Set rpc-listen-all=false if you only need local access; use an SSH tunnel for remote access.
  3. If remote access is needed, put aria2 behind an authenticated reverse proxy (Nginx) with TLS and additional auth or restrict access by IP.
  4. Rotate tokens periodically and avoid exposing RPC port directly to the internet.

Example: simple SSH tunnel from local machine to remote aria2:

ssh -L 6800:localhost:6800 user@remote-server # then access http://localhost:6800/jsonrpc locally

Example: Nginx reverse proxy with TLS and basic auth (conceptual—adjust for your certs and paths):

5. Install a web UI (AriaNg or webui-aria2)

Two popular choices:

  • AriaNg — modern, single-page app; pure frontend that connects to aria2 RPC.
  • webui-aria2 — older but featureful; can run as a server-side app.

AriaNg (static, simplest):

  • Download latest AriaNg release from its GitHub or use the online demo.
  • Host the static files on any web server (Nginx, Apache) or use the official online page.
  • In AriaNg settings, set RPC host (IP/domain), port (6800), and token (rpc-secret).

webui-aria2:

  • Clone the repo and follow its README to run with Node or as static files.
  • Configure the RPC endpoint in its config.

Example: serving AriaNg with Nginx

  1. Put AriaNg files in /var/www/ariang
  2. Nginx server block: “` server { listen 443 ssl; server_name downloads.example.com;

ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/downloads.example.com/fullchain.pem; ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/downloads.example.com/privkey.pem;

location / {

root /var/www/ariang; try_files $uri $uri/ /index.html;

} }

3. Open AriaNg in browser and configure RPC settings. --- ## 6. Optimize for automated and fast downloads Automation: - Use AriaNg’s watch folder / “Add torrent/magnet from clipboard” features for automation. - Use scripts to call aria2 JSON-RPC for programmatic adding of downloads (curl or HTTP clients). Example curl to add a download (replace TOKEN and URL): ```bash curl -s -X POST http://localhost:6800/jsonrpc    -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"aria2.addUri","id":"add","params":["token:YOUR_RPC_TOKEN",["https://example.com/file.zip"]]}'

Batch adding:

  • Create a script to read URLs from a file and call aria2.addUri for each.
  • Use aria2’s –input-file option to load a list of URIs in one go: 
    
aria2c --conf-path=~/.aria2/aria2.conf -i /path/to/uri-list.txt

Scheduling:

  • Use cron, systemd timers, or other schedulers to run periodic fetch scripts.
  • For torrents, enable bt-save-metadata so magnet links get saved as .torrent files for later seeding.

Performance tuning tips:

  • Increase split and max-connection-per-server for servers that allow many connections (try split=16–32, max-connection-per-server=16).
  • Raise max-concurrent-downloads if you have bandwidth to spare.
  • Use file-allocation=trunc or none for faster start; prealloc can reduce fragmentation on large disks.
  • If using many small files, lower split to reduce overhead.

7. Example automation: download-watcher script (bash)

#!/usr/bin/env bash RPC_URL="http://localhost:6800/jsonrpc" TOKEN="token:YOUR_RPC_TOKEN" WATCH_DIR="/path/to/watch" while inotifywait -e create "$WATCH_DIR"; do   for f in "$WATCH_DIR"/*.txt; do     [ -e "$f" ] || continue     while read -r url; do       [ -z "$url" ] && continue       curl -s -X POST "$RPC_URL" -d "{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"aria2.addUri","id":"watch","params":["$TOKEN",["$url"]]}"     done < "$f"     mv "$f" "$f.processed"   done done

(Requires inotify-tools; adapt for macOS using fswatch or polling.)

8. Monitoring and maintenance

  • Check aria2 log file for errors and stalled downloads.
  • Use the web UI to view download progress, health, and remove stalled tasks.
  • Back up your session and configuration (aria2 saves session file if configured: save-session and input-file).
  • Rotate rpc-secret and update any frontends or scripts accordingly.

Recommended aria2.conf additions for persistence:

save-session=/path/to/aria2.session input-file=/path/to/aria2.session save-session-interval=60

9. Troubleshooting common problems

  • RPC not reachable: confirm aria2 running, rpc-listen-all and firewall rules, or use SSH tunnel to test local connection.
  • Permission denied writing files: check dir path ownership and available disk space.
  • Slow downloads: test split/connection settings, check server-side limits, run speed tests to ensure bandwidth is available.
  • Magnet links not resolving: ensure DHT and peers are enabled (enable-dht=true, bt-enable-lpd=true).

10. Example full minimal aria2.conf for high-performance use

rpc-enable=true rpc-listen-all=false rpc-secret=REPLACE_WITH_STRONG_TOKEN dir=/downloads file-allocation=trunc max-concurrent-downloads=8 max-connection-per-server=16 split=32 min-split-size=1M timeout=60 retry-wait=5 max-tries=5 enable-dht=true bt-enable-lpd=true save-session=/downloads/aria2.session input-file=/downloads/aria2.session save-session-interval=60 log=/var/log/aria2/aria2.log log-level=notice

Summary

  • Install aria2, create a secure rpc-enabled config, run aria2 as a service, and pick a web UI like AriaNg.
  • Secure RPC (rpc-secret, SSH tunnel or reverse proxy + TLS).
  • Tune split/max-connections and use automation (scripts or web UI features) to batch and schedule downloads.
    Following these steps yields a fast, reliable, and remotely manageable download setup.

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