Downloading file via wget with --spider no longer working

[IndyDev]

Hello, recently, I've noticed that I can no longer use wget with the --spider flag to download dropbox files. This has been working for the past couple of years for me, but seems to no longer work. If I remove the --spider flag, I'm able to download the file. Here are the commands I'm running in terminal to test.

Worked previously, but now breaks:

wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/kwguigqasfct9um/bp14-f-24x36-b.jpg\?dl\=1 --spider

The error I get:

Remote file does not exist -- broken link!!!

Works currently

wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/kwguigqasfct9um/bp14-f-24x36-b.jpg\?dl\=1 

Anyone else having the same issue?

[Здравко]

Hi @IndyDev,

Your link can get checked with wget (as always):

$ wget https://www.dropbox.com/s/kwguigqasfct9um/bp14-f-24x36-a.jpg\?dl\=1 --spider
Spider mode enabled. Check if remote file exists.
--2023-04-18 01:01:09--  https://www.dropbox.com/s/kwguigqasfct9um/bp14-f-24x36-a.jpg?dl=1
Преобразувам www.dropbox.com (www.dropbox.com)... 162.125.69.18, 2620:100:6025:18::a27d:4512
Свързване към www.dropbox.com (www.dropbox.com)|162.125.69.18|:443... успешно свързване.
HTTP изпратено искане, чакам отговор... 302 Found
Адрес: /s/dl/kwguigqasfct9um/bp14-f-24x36-a.jpg [следва]
Spider mode enabled. Check if remote file exists.
--2023-04-18 01:01:10--  https://www.dropbox.com/s/dl/kwguigqasfct9um/bp14-f-24x36-a.jpg
Свързване към www.dropbox.com (www.dropbox.com)|162.125.69.18|:443... успешно свързване.
HTTP изпратено искане, чакам отговор... 302 Found
Адрес: https://uc8b71308459522cc886bf8221c2.dl.dropboxusercontent.com/cd/0/get/B6ajKtB-LpAb1rSByNeN5gIATpdhLE334n2eZNa7W8YVTPaeQth3ia1D6k863y2JoqMy1Aue1DfxTQmK0Y_AxKC_mcGZQ9EPIhzcOIrKugVUiaXYO4Ss-7xvTCzLQT6vbXDASUWZhelSoSY2YbKEGCnb93cqzgsvEQPigJ8uQvDpZw/file?dl=1# [следва]
Spider mode enabled. Check if remote file exists.
--2023-04-18 01:01:11--  https://uc8b71308459522cc886bf8221c2.dl.dropboxusercontent.com/cd/0/get/B6ajKtB-LpAb1rSByNeN5gIATpdhLE334n2eZNa7W8YVTPaeQth3ia1D6k863y2JoqMy1Aue1DfxTQmK0Y_AxKC_mcGZQ9EPIhzcOIrKugVUiaXYO4Ss-7xvTCzLQT6vbXDASUWZhelSoSY2YbKEGCnb93cqzgsvEQPigJ8uQvDpZw/file?dl=1
Преобразувам uc8b71308459522cc886bf8221c2.dl.dropboxusercontent.com (uc8b71308459522cc886bf8221c2.dl.dropboxusercontent.com)... 162.125.69.15, 2620:100:6025:15::a27d:450f
Свързване към uc8b71308459522cc886bf8221c2.dl.dropboxusercontent.com (uc8b71308459522cc886bf8221c2.dl.dropboxusercontent.com)|162.125.69.15|:443... успешно свързване.
HTTP изпратено искане, чакам отговор... 200 OK
Дължина: 69222373 (66M) [application/json]
Отдалечения файл съществува.

The last line states: Remote file exists.

The same is when launched without backslashes. Check what's going on with your environment.

Good luck.

[IndyDev]

It seems that I am getting inconsistent results, if I run the command multiple times in a row, sometimes it will say "Remote file exists" and other times it will say "Remote file does not exist -- broken link!!!". Checked with a colleague who is running a different environment, and getting the same results. Not sure if something changed with the API or not. In addition, I see an error that says:

HTTP/1.1 405 Method Not Allowed

[Здравко]

Hi again @IndyDev,

Hmm.. 🤔 Yes, I can see your issue (after some number of repetitions). It's nothing related to API; that's rather core Dropbox feature that seems unstable for some reason. Let's hope this will be fixed soon. I can see some scheduled maintenance; 🤷 let's see tomorrow.

Good luck, to all of us.

[Greg-DB]

@IndyDev Thanks for the report. I'll ask the team to look into this.

[Greg-DB]

This should be fixed now. Please let us know if you're still seeing any issues.