diff --git a/libfwupd/fwupd-client.c b/libfwupd/fwupd-client.c
index d1539239a..bc75fe081 100644
--- a/libfwupd/fwupd-client.c
+++ b/libfwupd/fwupd-client.c
@@ -1426,6 +1426,101 @@ fwupd_client_install (FwupdClient *client,
 #endif
 }
 
+/**
+ * fwupd_client_install_release:
+ * @client: A #FwupdClient
+ * @device: A #FwupdDevice
+ * @release: A #FwupdRelease
+ * @install_flags: the #FwupdInstallFlags, e.g. %FWUPD_INSTALL_FLAG_ALLOW_REINSTALL
+ * @cancellable: A #GCancellable, or %NULL
+ * @error: A #GError, or %NULL
+ *
+ * Installs a new release on a device, downloading the firmware if required.
+ *
+ * Returns: %TRUE for success
+ *
+ * Since: 1.4.5
+ **/
+gboolean
+fwupd_client_install_release (FwupdClient *client,
+			      FwupdDevice *device,
+			      FwupdRelease *release,
+			      FwupdInstallFlags install_flags,
+			      GCancellable *cancellable,
+			      GError **error)
+{
+	GChecksumType checksum_type;
+	const gchar *checksum_expected;
+	const gchar *remote_id;
+	const gchar *uri_tmp;
+	g_autofree gchar *checksum_actual = NULL;
+	g_autofree gchar *uri_str = NULL;
+	g_autoptr(GBytes) blob = NULL;
+
+	/* work out what remote-specific URI fields this should use */
+	uri_tmp = fwupd_release_get_uri (release);
+	remote_id = fwupd_release_get_remote_id (release);
+	if (remote_id != NULL) {
+		g_autoptr(FwupdRemote) remote = NULL;
+		g_autofree gchar *fn = NULL;
+
+		/* if a remote-id was specified, the remote has to exist */
+		remote = fwupd_client_get_remote_by_id (client, remote_id, cancellable, error);
+		if (remote == NULL)
+			return FALSE;
+
+		/* local and directory remotes have the firmware already */
+		if (fwupd_remote_get_kind (remote) == FWUPD_REMOTE_KIND_LOCAL) {
+			const gchar *fn_cache = fwupd_remote_get_filename_cache (remote);
+			g_autofree gchar *path = g_path_get_dirname (fn_cache);
+
+			fn = g_build_filename (path, uri_tmp, NULL);
+		} else if (fwupd_remote_get_kind (remote) == FWUPD_REMOTE_KIND_DIRECTORY) {
+			fn = g_strdup (uri_tmp + 7);
+		}
+
+		/* install with flags chosen by the user */
+		if (fn != NULL) {
+			return fwupd_client_install (client, fwupd_device_get_id (device),
+						     fn, install_flags, cancellable, error);
+		}
+
+		/* remote file */
+		uri_str = fwupd_remote_build_firmware_uri (remote, uri_tmp, error);
+		if (uri_str == NULL)
+			return FALSE;
+	} else {
+		uri_str = g_strdup (uri_tmp);
+	}
+
+	/* download file */
+	blob = fwupd_client_download_bytes (client, uri_str,
+					    FWUPD_CLIENT_DOWNLOAD_FLAG_NONE,
+					    cancellable, error);
+	if (blob == NULL)
+		return FALSE;
+
+	/* verify checksum */
+	checksum_expected = fwupd_checksum_get_best (fwupd_release_get_checksums (release));
+	checksum_type = fwupd_checksum_guess_kind (checksum_expected);
+	checksum_actual = g_compute_checksum_for_bytes (checksum_type, blob);
+	if (g_strcmp0 (checksum_expected, checksum_actual) != 0) {
+		g_set_error (error,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR,
+			     FWUPD_ERROR_INVALID_FILE,
+			     "Checksum invalid, expected %s got %s",
+			     checksum_expected, checksum_actual);
+		return FALSE;
+	}
+
+	/* if the device specifies ONLY_OFFLINE automatically set this flag */
+	if (fwupd_device_has_flag (device, FWUPD_DEVICE_FLAG_ONLY_OFFLINE))
+		install_flags |= FWUPD_INSTALL_FLAG_OFFLINE;
+	return fwupd_client_install_bytes (client,
+					   fwupd_device_get_id (device), blob,
+					   install_flags, NULL, error);
+}
+
 /**
  * fwupd_client_get_details:
  * @client: A #FwupdClient
diff --git a/libfwupd/fwupd-client.h b/libfwupd/fwupd-client.h
index 8e77ed73a..d43001b6e 100644
--- a/libfwupd/fwupd-client.h
+++ b/libfwupd/fwupd-client.h
@@ -144,6 +144,12 @@ gboolean	 fwupd_client_install_bytes		(FwupdClient	*client,
 							 FwupdInstallFlags install_flags,
 							 GCancellable	*cancellable,
 							 GError		**error);
+gboolean	 fwupd_client_install_release		(FwupdClient	*client,
+							 FwupdDevice	*device,
+							 FwupdRelease	*release,
+							 FwupdInstallFlags install_flags,
+							 GCancellable	*cancellable,
+							 GError		**error);
 gboolean	 fwupd_client_update_metadata		(FwupdClient	*client,
 							 const gchar	*remote_id,
 							 const gchar	*metadata_fn,
diff --git a/libfwupd/fwupd.map b/libfwupd/fwupd.map
index 7a3efe278..961023fe0 100644
--- a/libfwupd/fwupd.map
+++ b/libfwupd/fwupd.map
@@ -451,6 +451,7 @@ LIBFWUPD_1.4.5 {
   global:
     fwupd_client_download_bytes;
     fwupd_client_install_bytes;
+    fwupd_client_install_release;
     fwupd_client_refresh_remote;
     fwupd_client_set_feature_flags;
     fwupd_client_set_user_agent;
diff --git a/src/fu-util.c b/src/fu-util.c
index 34ccc09d3..cdf00c8e1 100644
--- a/src/fu-util.c
+++ b/src/fu-util.c
@@ -78,11 +78,6 @@ struct FuUtilPrivate {
 };
 
 static gboolean	fu_util_report_history (FuUtilPrivate *priv, gchar **values, GError **error);
-static gboolean	fu_util_download_file	(FuUtilPrivate	*priv,
-					 const gchar	*uri_str,
-					 const gchar	*fn,
-					 const gchar	*checksum_expected,
-					 GError		**error);
 
 static void
 fu_util_client_notify_cb (GObject *object,
@@ -562,6 +557,7 @@ static gchar *
 fu_util_download_if_required (FuUtilPrivate *priv, const gchar *perhapsfn, GError **error)
 {
 	g_autofree gchar *filename = NULL;
+	g_autoptr(GBytes) blob = NULL;
 	g_autoptr(SoupURI) uri = NULL;
 
 	/* a local file */
@@ -575,7 +571,14 @@ fu_util_download_if_required (FuUtilPrivate *priv, const gchar *perhapsfn, GErro
 	filename = fu_util_get_user_cache_path (perhapsfn);
 	if (!fu_common_mkdir_parent (filename, error))
 		return NULL;
-	if (!fu_util_download_file (priv, perhapsfn, filename, NULL, error))
+	blob = fwupd_client_download_bytes (priv->client, perhapsfn,
+					    FWUPD_CLIENT_DOWNLOAD_FLAG_NONE,
+					    priv->cancellable, error);
+	if (blob == NULL)
+		return NULL;
+
+	/* save file to cache */
+	if (!fu_common_set_contents_bytes (filename, blob, error))
 		return NULL;
 	return g_steal_pointer (&filename);
 }
@@ -1003,82 +1006,6 @@ fu_util_verify_update (FuUtilPrivate *priv, gchar **values, GError **error)
 	return TRUE;
 }
 
-static gboolean
-fu_util_file_exists_with_checksum (const gchar *fn,
-				   const gchar *checksum_expected,
-				   GChecksumType checksum_type)
-{
-	gsize len = 0;
-	g_autofree gchar *checksum_actual = NULL;
-	g_autofree gchar *data = NULL;
-
-	if (!g_file_get_contents (fn, &data, &len, NULL))
-		return FALSE;
-	checksum_actual = g_compute_checksum_for_data (checksum_type,
-						       (guchar *) data, len);
-	return g_strcmp0 (checksum_expected, checksum_actual) == 0;
-}
-
-static gboolean
-fu_util_download_file (FuUtilPrivate *priv,
-		       const gchar *uri_str,
-		       const gchar *fn,
-		       const gchar *checksum_expected,
-		       GError **error)
-{
-	GChecksumType checksum_type;
-	g_autoptr(GBytes) blob = NULL;
-	g_autoptr(GError) error_local = NULL;
-	g_autofree gchar *checksum_actual = NULL;
-
-	/* check if the file already exists with the right checksum */
-	checksum_type = fwupd_checksum_guess_kind (checksum_expected);
-	if (fu_util_file_exists_with_checksum (fn, checksum_expected, checksum_type)) {
-		g_debug ("skpping download as file already exists");
-		return TRUE;
-	}
-
-	/* download data */
-	if (g_str_has_suffix (uri_str, ".jcat") ||
-	    g_str_has_suffix (uri_str, ".asc") ||
-	    g_str_has_suffix (uri_str, ".p7b") ||
-	    g_str_has_suffix (uri_str, ".p7c")) {
-		/* TRANSLATORS: downloading new signing file */
-		g_print ("%s %s", _("Fetching signature"), uri_str);
-	} else if (g_str_has_suffix (uri_str, ".gz")) {
-		/* TRANSLATORS: downloading new metadata file */
-		g_print ("%s %s", _("Fetching metadata"), uri_str);
-	} else if (g_str_has_suffix (uri_str, ".cab")) {
-		/* TRANSLATORS: downloading new firmware file */
-		g_print ("%s %s", _("Fetching firmware"), uri_str);
-	} else {
-		/* TRANSLATORS: downloading unknown file */
-		g_print ("%s %s", _("Fetching file"), uri_str);
-	}
-	g_print ("\n");
-	blob = fwupd_client_download_bytes (priv->client, uri_str,
-					    FWUPD_CLIENT_DOWNLOAD_FLAG_NONE,
-					    priv->cancellable, error);
-	if (blob == NULL)
-		return FALSE;
-
-	/* verify checksum */
-	if (checksum_expected != NULL) {
-		checksum_actual = g_compute_checksum_for_bytes (checksum_type, blob);
-		if (g_strcmp0 (checksum_expected, checksum_actual) != 0) {
-			g_set_error (error,
-				     FWUPD_ERROR,
-				     FWUPD_ERROR_INVALID_FILE,
-				     "Checksum invalid, expected %s got %s",
-				     checksum_expected, checksum_actual);
-			return FALSE;
-		}
-	}
-
-	/* save file */
-	return fu_common_set_contents_bytes (fn, blob, error);
-}
-
 static gboolean
 fu_util_download_metadata_enable_lvfs (FuUtilPrivate *priv, GError **error)
 {
@@ -1552,72 +1479,14 @@ fu_util_update_device_with_release (FuUtilPrivate *priv,
 				    FwupdRelease *rel,
 				    GError **error)
 {
-	GPtrArray *checksums;
-	const gchar *remote_id;
-	const gchar *uri_tmp;
-	g_autofree gchar *fn = NULL;
-	g_autofree gchar *uri_str = NULL;
-
 	if (!priv->no_safety_check && !priv->assume_yes) {
 		if (!fu_util_prompt_warning (dev,
 					     fu_util_get_tree_title (priv),
 					     error))
 			return FALSE;
 	}
-
-	/* work out what remote-specific URI fields this should use */
-	uri_tmp = fwupd_release_get_uri (rel);
-	remote_id = fwupd_release_get_remote_id (rel);
-	if (remote_id != NULL) {
-		g_autoptr(FwupdRemote) remote = NULL;
-		remote = fwupd_client_get_remote_by_id (priv->client,
-							remote_id,
-							NULL,
-							error);
-		if (remote == NULL)
-			return FALSE;
-
-		/* local and directory remotes have the firmware already */
-		if (fwupd_remote_get_kind (remote) == FWUPD_REMOTE_KIND_LOCAL) {
-			const gchar *fn_cache = fwupd_remote_get_filename_cache (remote);
-			g_autofree gchar *path = g_path_get_dirname (fn_cache);
-
-			fn = g_build_filename (path, uri_tmp, NULL);
-		} else if (fwupd_remote_get_kind (remote) == FWUPD_REMOTE_KIND_DIRECTORY) {
-			fn = g_strdup (uri_tmp + 7);
-		}
-		/* install with flags chosen by the user */
-		if (fn != NULL) {
-			return fwupd_client_install (priv->client,
-						     fwupd_device_get_id (dev),
-						     fn, priv->flags, NULL, error);
-		}
-
-		uri_str = fwupd_remote_build_firmware_uri (remote, uri_tmp, error);
-		if (uri_str == NULL)
-			return FALSE;
-	} else {
-		uri_str = g_strdup (uri_tmp);
-	}
-
-	/* download file */
-	g_print ("Downloading %s for %s...\n",
-		 fwupd_release_get_version (rel),
-		 fwupd_device_get_name (dev));
-	fn = fu_util_get_user_cache_path (uri_str);
-	if (!fu_common_mkdir_parent (fn, error))
-		return FALSE;
-	checksums = fwupd_release_get_checksums (rel);
-	if (!fu_util_download_file (priv, uri_str, fn,
-				    fwupd_checksum_get_best (checksums),
-				    error))
-		return FALSE;
-	/* if the device specifies ONLY_OFFLINE automatically set this flag */
-	if (fwupd_device_has_flag (dev, FWUPD_DEVICE_FLAG_ONLY_OFFLINE))
-		priv->flags |= FWUPD_INSTALL_FLAG_OFFLINE;
-	return fwupd_client_install (priv->client,
-				     fwupd_device_get_id (dev), fn,
-				     priv->flags, NULL, error);
+	return fwupd_client_install_release (priv->client, dev, rel, priv->flags,
+					     priv->cancellable, error);
 }
 
 static gboolean