Metalink
Sign in to saveMetalink is an extensible metadata file format that describes one or more computer files available for download. It specifies files appropriate for a user's language and operating system; facilitates file verification and recovery from data corruption; and lists alternate download sources (mirror URIs).
Official website
Metalinker.org - Bridging the gap
metalinker.org →Link to the official site · 6,466 chars · not written by Vinony
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- file format
- Part of
- Software Freedom Conservancy
- Based on
- XML
- Official website
- www.metalinker.org
- Image
- Metalink logo.svg
Show 2 more facts
- file extension
- meta4
- publication date
- 2010-06-00
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~10 min read
Encyclopedic overview
12 sectionsContents
- Development history
- Client programs
- Client libraries
- In use
- Metalink client feature comparison
- Metalink generation
- Example Metalink 4.0 .meta4 file
- Example Metalink/HTTP header fields
- Example Metalink 3.0 .metalink file
- See also
- References
- External links
Metalink is an extensible metadata file format that describes one or more computer files available for download. It specifies files appropriate for a user's language and operating system; facilitates file verification and recovery from data corruption; and lists alternate download sources (mirror URIs).
The metadata is encoded in HTTP header fields and/or in an XML file with extension or . The duplicate download locations provide reliability in case one method fails. Some clients also achieve faster download speeds by allowing different chunks/segments of each file to be downloaded from multiple resources at the same time (segmented downloading).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Metalink” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.