FireDM, manage your downloads in Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04 LTS

In the next article we are going to take a look at FireDM. This is un download manager, which is open source and available for Gnu/Linux and Windows operating systems. The program is developed in Python, so we can install it using the PIP package manager. Although in this example we will use your AppImage.

According to the developers of this program, it can handle multiple connections. What's more offers a good engine for downloading files and general videos from YouTube and many other streaming websites.

General Features of FireDM

It has support for multiple connections.
Available automatic file targeting and dead link updating.
We can download a full video playlist or selected videos.
Download encrypted/unencrypted HLS media streams.
Will allow us schedule downloads.
Proxy support.
It will also give us the possibility to establish a download speed limit.
We can resume incomplete downloads.
Another option available will be watch videos while downloading, although some videos will not have audio until they finish downloading.
Will allow us download video subtitles.
The interface will allow us check for app updates.

Includes support for Youtube and other streaming websites.
Reuse of existing connection to the remote server.
Clipboard monitoring.
Proxy support.
User authentication, referee link, use of cookies, video thumbnail.
It will give us the possibility to use custom cookie files.
sums of MD5 and SHA256 check.
We can establish different themes for the graphical interface custom user.
The user can run shell commands or shutdown your computer when the download is complete.
We will have the possibility to establish a number of simultaneous downloads and maximum connections per download.

These are just some of the features of this program. They can consult all of them in detail from the project GitHub page.

Install FireDM on Ubuntu 22.04 | 20.04 LTS

Before starting curl and ffmpeg will need to be installed, if you don't already have them installed. To do this, it will only be necessary to open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and execute:

sudo apt install curl; sudo apt install ffmpeg

The next thing we will do is download the FireDM AppImage file. We can do this by opening a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and executing the command in it:

curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/firedm/FireDM/releases/latest|grep browser_download_url|grep .AppImage|cut -d '"' -f 4|wget -qi -

When the download is finished, we will only have make the file executable with the command:

chmod +x FireDM-*-x86_64.AppImage

Create a shortcut for the FireDM download manager

First we will download the icon which we are going to use in the shortcut:

wget -c https://raw.githubusercontent.com/firedm/FireDM/master/icons/48x48.png -O firedm-icon.png

Now we are going to move the AppImage file and the downloaded icon to the directory / Opt:

sudo mv FireDM-*-x86_64.AppImage /opt/firedm.AppImage; sudo mv firedm-icon.png /opt

The next step is going to be Create Shortcut. Here the one that each user uses the text editor that they like the most:

sudo vim /usr/share/applications/FireDM.desktop

At this point, we will copy and paste the following lines into the file:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=FireDM
Exec=/opt/firedm.AppImage
Icon=/opt/firedm-icon.png
comment=download-manager
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Encoding=UTF-8
Categories=Utility;

After this, we only have save the file.

Run FireDM

Once the launcher is created, just like any other application, to run FireDM we are going to go to the application launcher and search for FireDM. When the icon appears, you just have to click on it.

In case you still cannot see the icon, please log out and log back in to the system.

How to update

We cannot use the APT package manager to update the FireDM download manager, however the app itself has an option for it. If we launch FireDM, We will see that in its interface the option 'Update', on which we will click. If an update is available, it will be installed on our system.

Uninstall or remove FireDM

Those who are no longer interested in using the FireDM download manager can remove it by simply deleting the APPImage, the shortcut and the icon we used to create this shortcut. To do this, just open a terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run:

sudo rm /opt/firedm.AppImage; sudo rm /opt/firedm-icon.png; sudo rm /usr/share/applications/FireDM.desktop

This was the simple and effective way to use FireDM download manager AppImage in Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy and Ubuntu 20.04 focal Fossa. To learn more about this program, users can consult the project's GitHub repository.

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