Rtorrent is a text-based ncurses BitTorrent client written in C++ based on the LibTorrent libraries for Unix. Rtorrent is very minimal and takes very few system resources. On high-bandwidth connections, It claims to be able to seed at three times the speed of the official BitTorrent client. Rtorrent is a package available for various Linux distributions. Rutorrent is a third-party Web GUI for Rtorrent used widely by headless servers that seed Linux distributions. Rutorrent makes it easier to use Rtorrent and gives it a front-end GUI to operate. We will install Rutorrent using a simple ‘bash’ script from Kerwood. The ‘bash’ script will download the dependencies required to compile and install Rtorrent and LibTorrent.

Dependencies the bash file will install

  • openssl
  • subversion
  • git
  • apache2
  • apache2-utils
  • build-essential
  • libsigc++-2.0-dev
  • libcurl4-openssl-dev
  • automake libtool
  • libcppunit-dev
  • libncurses5-dev
  • libapache2-mod-scgi
  • php5
  • php5-curl
  • php5-cli
  • libapache2-mod-php5
  • screen
  • unrar-free
  • unzip

Installing

Installing wget if you don’t have it already installed.

sudo apt-get install wgetCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

Downloading the latest version of the shell file.

wget https://raw.github.com/Kerwood/rtorrent.auto.install/master/rtorrent.auto.install-NEWEST-VERSIONCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

Make the file executable.

chmod +x rtorrent.auto.install-NEWEST-VERSIONCode language: CSS (css)

Run the script

sudo ./rtorrent.auto.install-NEWEST-VERSION

Once the bash script compiles and installs Rutorrent, it would ask you to set a username and password for the Rutorrent Web GUI. After you have chosen your username and password for Rutorrent Web GUI, It will ask you to choose plugins from a list of plugins.

  • Now Apache2 would restart.

You can access Rutorrent by visiting this link.

Now you have Rutorrent installed on your Debian system.

I compiled a list of software and services that I use to improve my workflow, here is the link to the list.

Darryl Dias

I’m Darryl. I’m a 3D Artist, Programmer and Linux enthusiast. On this site I share my insights, tips and tricks, tutorials, methods and best practices.