How to Enable aria2 Message Digest Verification on Ubuntu

This guide details the process of verifying file integrity within the aria2 download utility on Ubuntu. It specifically identifies the command-line flag required to activate message digest checks and demonstrates how to apply it effectively.

The option that enables the use of message digest for file verification in aria2 is --check-integrity. When set to true, this flag instructs aria2 to validate the downloaded file against a provided hash. For HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP downloads, this function requires the --checksum option to be set alongside it to specify the expected hash value.

To use this feature, open your terminal on Ubuntu. Run the aria2c command with the integrity flag enabled. You must also provide the algorithm and hash value using the checksum option. For example, use --check-integrity=true together with --checksum=sha-256=HASH_VALUE.

If the calculated digest of the downloaded file does not match the provided checksum, aria2 will report an integrity error. This ensures that the file has not been corrupted or tampered with during the transfer process. Using these options together provides a secure method for validating downloads on Linux systems.