How to fix the “wget command not found” error {update 2023}

Wget package is not installed in your system that’s the major reason why you face the “wget command not found” error. In this post, I will not only show you the different commands to install wget in your system, but I will also provide you Panacea for all your wget problems.

What is Wget?

Wget is free software or utility to download files from the internet and support HTTP, HTTPS, FTP and FTPS protocols. It is a non-interactive command line tool, so widely used in cron jobs, scripts and playbooks.

These are the common errors you generally find related to wget in your Linux, Windows or mac systems.

• wget command not found mac
• wget command not found windows
• bash: wget command not found centos
• wget issue in Jenkins
• wget command not found linux
• wget command not found Debian
• git bash: wget command not found
• wget command not found in jupyter
• wget command not found Cygwin
• Command ‘wget’ not found, but can be installed with:

Universal solution to fix the “wget command not found” error

The solution is only one to all above-mentioned wget errors, Just install wget in your Linux, macOS or Windows system. If you are trying to use wget in ansible playbooks, Jenkins or docker files, don’t forget to provide the command to install wget first before using it for downloading any software, Files or package in your codes.

How to install the wget package to solve “wget command not found errors“

If you are working with the wget command on a terminal and you are getting the wget command not found error, the first step is to check, whether the wget is installed or not, Then accordingly you can choose the solution or installation method based on your operating system.

How to check the wget version in any Linux or macOS

To check the wget version –

• Open terminal in your Linux or macOS

• Run command wget -V as shown in the image.

$ wget -V

If you get the version and details of the wget package as shown in the above image, it means the wget package is installed in your system. In case you got the wget command not found error, then continue reading this post. Look for the solution based on your operating system.

How to install the wget command in Ubuntu or Debian-based operating system

If you are using Ubuntu or any other Debian-based operating system like LinuxMint, Kubuntu, Lubuntu etc, then the following command will help you to install the wget utility in your system.

$ sudo apt update

$ sudo apt install wget

How to install wget in RPM-based Linux distributions like CentOS/RedHat/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux/Fedora

To install the wget package in RedHat or RPM based linux systems, use the yum command –

$ sudo yum install wget

or

$ dnf install wget

Steps to fix wget command not found error in macOS

To fix the wget command not found errors in macOS, you can use the brew package manager. It can easily install any package in your macOS.

$ brew install wget

In case you got the error zsh command not found: brew, It means brew is not installed in your system follow this command to install brew in your system.

$ /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

How to fix wget command not found error in Windows

You have two options to use the wget utility in Windows if you are getting ‘wget’ is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file error.

1. Install WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) in Windows, Install and use the wget utility as shown in the post (Linux section)
2. Download the latest wget exe file and use it

Let’s talk about both methods one by one.

• WSL method – WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) is available in Windows, in case you want to use or develop any Linux functionality without installing Linux OS in dual boot with your Windows. You can leverage the WSL feature, For details, check out my post on how to install wsl1 and wsl2. Once you enable wsl and installed Linux, you can follow the Linux section in this post to learn how to install wget.

• wget.exe method – You can also use wget directly by downloading (32bit version from GNUwin32) and running the setup to install wget and dependent DLLs/libraries etc.

Below mentioned are the steps to install wget in Windows –

• Once the download is complete, then double click on wget-1-11.4-1.setup.exe

• Click “Next" on the welcome wizard

• Accept EULA

• Keep selecting Next until you reach the location page

• Select the destination location for installation, I will keep it default.

• Keep accepting default options and “Next” in the wizard and finally choose to Install to being installing wget on your Windows as shown in the image.

• Hit Finish once you are done with installation.
• Setup path variable for wget utility. First Open system environment variable > Edit Path variable > Add New > Add “C:\Program Files (x86)\GNUWin32\bin\ (provide your wget 32-bit Installation path) and hit Ok thrice to close the dialogue box.

• Open the command prompt and run
• wget -V to check the version or wget -h to see the help.

Frequently Asked Questions – Wget

End Note

I hope you would have solved your issue of “wget command not found” via this article. wget and curl are really very useful command line tools to use scripts and codes. To know more about how to use wget, you can simply run the man wget command or wget -h command on the terminal. You can check out this link also for further wget documentation.

Useful troubleshooting links

• Yarn command not found error
• Sudo command not found error
• Fix “mkvirtualenv command not found” error
• Nodemon command not found
• Nodemon app crashed – Waiting for file changes before starting
• Keytool command issues
• Cmake command errors