Transmission is a lightweight BitTorrent client suitable for larger torrent sessions. This guide explains how to install Transmission on your Ultra service, connect to it with Transmission Remote GUI, enable public torrent seeding, configure torrent queueing, automatically unpack .rar torrents, and upgrade Transmission from v3 to v4.
Transmission offers the following features:
- Encryption
- Web interface
- Peer exchange
- Magnet link support
- DHT, ยตTP, UPnP, and NAT-PMP port forwarding
- Webseed support
- Watch directories
- Tracker editing
- Global and per-torrent speed limits
For more information, you can view the complete list of features here.
Installation
Transmission is already configured and tuned out of the box. Install the client, set a password, and log in to the Transmission Web UI with your Ultra service username and that password.
- Go to the Installers tab of your User Control Panel.
- Find Transmission in the list and press Install.
- Set a strong password (see Protect Your Applications With A Strong Password).
- Wait for the installation to complete.
- Go to the Apps tab on the UCP.
- Find Transmission in the list and press the Show Info button to reveal the Transmission Web UI URL.
Default File Paths
- Default downloads folder:
~/downloads/transmission - Default watch folder:
~/watch/transmission - Transmission config folder:
~/.config/transmission-daemon
Older installations may use ~/files as the downloads folder. Repairing or reinstalling Transmission resets the default downloads folder to ~/downloads/transmission, so torrents added afterwards are saved there.
Use Transmission Remote GUI
Transmission Remote GUI is a feature-rich cross-platform front-end to control the Transmission daemon via its RPC protocol remotely. It is faster and has more functionality than the built-in Transmission Web UI.
Transmission Remote GUI offers the following features:
- Native application for Windows, Linux, and macOS
- uTorrent-like interface
- Select files to download
- Choose files priority
- View details about connected peers
- Full information about each torrent
- Per torrent options
You can visit the repository here: https://github.com/transmission-remote-gui/transgui
Install Transmission Remote GUI
Install the program using the links below. Listed are the direct links to the latest version of the program.
- Windows 64-bit: https://github.com/transmission-remote-gui/transgui/releases/download/v5.18.0/transgui-5.18.0-setup_64bit.exe
- Windows 32-bit: https://github.com/transmission-remote-gui/transgui/releases/download/v5.18.0/transgui-5.18.0-setup.exe
- macOS: https://github.com/transmission-remote-gui/transgui/releases/download/v5.18.0/transgui-5.18.0.dmg
For Windows, you may have to install an additional program; otherwise, upon connection, you will be greeted with the following error message: Unable to load OpenSSL library files: ssleay32.dll and libeay32.dll
To resolve this issue, please see the following: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4032938/update-for-visual-c-2013-redistributable-package
Create a New Connection
Upon your first launch, you should be greeted with a box to input your details, which are as follows:
Remote host: username.servername.usbx.me (servername refers to your server, e.g., myles)
Port: 443
Use SSL: Checked
Authentication required: Checked
Always Auto-Connect: Checked
Username: Found in your UCP
Password: Found in your UCP
RPC path: /transmission/rpc/webIf you need to change these details later, for example after an SSL error, go to Manage Connections in the top-left corner.
If you receive a GeoIP prompt, select Yes to display the country of each connected peer.
Add a Torrent File
To add a .torrent file, click Torrent in the top-left corner, then select Add torrent. This opens your file explorer, where you can select the .torrent file.
Add a Magnet Link
To add a magnet link, click Torrent, select Add torrent link, and paste the magnet link into the dialog box.
Configuration
Enable Public Torrent Seeding (Optional)
- Public torrents are stopped after download by default to avoid HDD IO resource abuse and inadvertent usage of upload traffic. You can enable public torrent seeding with the instructions given below.
- Connect to your Ultra service via SSH (see Connect to your Ultra slot via SSH).
- Execute the following command:
app-transmission restart --remove-pubscript- To enable the script again, execute the following command:
app-transmission restart --add-pubscript- Note that changing the password, repairing, or reinstalling the torrent client will disable public torrent seeding again.
Configure Torrent Queueing
If you have an Ultra service with HDD instead of NVMe, you need to be mindful of your disk neighbors and avoid high disk IO utilization. For instructions on checking your disk IO utilization, see SSH Troubleshooting Information.
One way to mitigate this is to limit the number of active downloads in your torrent client. Below you will find instructions on how to do this for Transmission.
- Connect to your Ultra service via SSH (see Connect to your Ultra slot via SSH).
- Once connected, execute the following command:
app-transmission stop- Then, execute:
nano ~/.config/transmission-daemon/settings.json- Make sure
download-queue-enabledis set totrue, and setdownload-queue-sizeto the desired value.
"download-queue-enabled": true,
"download-queue-size": 2,- Once you have edited the values, press
Ctrl+x, thenyandENTERto save and exit. - Next, restart Transmission to reload and apply the config file:
app-transmission restartAuto Unpack Torrents
To automatically unpack multifile .rar torrents, you can create a script that executes upon torrent download completion. Follow the instructions below to create and enable the script for Transmission.
- Begin by creating a scripts directory and the script itself.
mkdir -p ~/scripts && touch ~/scripts/transmission_unrar.sh- Next, open the script in the nano editor.
nano ~/scripts/transmission_unrar.sh- Paste the following into the script:
- Make sure to replace
your-usernamewith your specific username from the UCP.
#!/bin/bash
LOG_FILE=/home/your-username/scripts/transmission_unrar.log
SRC_DIR="${TR_TORRENT_DIR}/${TR_TORRENT_NAME}"
echo "Extracting $SRC_DIR" >> "$LOG_FILE"
cd "$SRC_DIR" || exit 0
unrar e *.rar >> "$LOG_FILE"- Save and exit the nano editor with
Ctrl+xandy, then pressENTERto confirm. - Make the script executable with the following command:
chmod +x ~/scripts/transmission_unrar.sh- Next, make sure to stop Transmission from the UCP or by executing the following command:
app-transmission stop- Once Transmission has been stopped, you need to configure Transmission to execute the script at torrent download completion. Open the Transmission settings file in the nano editor:
nano ~/.config/transmission-daemon/settings.json- Ensure you have these settings:
- Make sure to replace
your-usernamewith your specific username from the UCP.
"script-torrent-done-enabled": true,
"script-torrent-done-filename": "/home/your-username/scripts/transmission_unrar.sh",- Save and exit the nano editor with
Ctrl+xandy, then pressENTERto confirm. - Restart Transmission from the UCP or by executing the following command:
app-transmission restart- Download a new torrent that includes a multifile
.rararchive. - Check the log to see if it worked:
tail ~/scripts/transmission_unrar.log- Note that repairing or reinstalling Transmission resets
script-torrent-done-filename, so you need to apply these settings again afterwards.
Upgrade Transmission v3 to v4
In this section, we will show you how to successfully upgrade your Transmission instance from v3 to v4. Before proceeding with the upgrade, we recommend taking a backup of your Transmission config directory and torrent session state.
- First, stop Transmission from the Apps tab on the UCP.
- Connect to your Ultra service via SSH (see Connect to your Ultra slot via SSH).
- Execute the following command:
cp -r ~/.config/transmission-daemon ~/.config/transmission-daemon.bak- Next, go back to the UCP and uninstall Transmission. Make sure to let at least one minute pass after Transmission has been uninstalled.
- Then, while still on the UCP, go to the Installers tab and reinstall Transmission while choosing version
v4. - DO NOT click the Cleanup button, as that will wipe your Transmission config directory and torrent session state. Even though we have previously backed it up, we want to avoid doing this.
- Once the installation has been completed, you can proceed with accessing the Transmission Web UI. If successful, your Transmission configuration and torrent session state will be preserved.
- Note that the reinstall sets the default downloads folder to
~/downloads/transmission. New torrents are saved there unless you change the download location in the Transmission settings.
Restore Backup
If the Transmission configuration and torrent session state were not preserved after the upgrade, you can restore them manually from the backup you made before the upgrade.
- First, stop Transmission from the Apps tab on the UCP.
- Connect to your Ultra service via SSH (see Connect to your Ultra slot via SSH).
- Execute the following command:
rm -rf ~/.config/transmission-daemon && cp -r ~/.config/transmission-daemon.bak ~/.config/transmission-daemon- Next, restart Transmission by executing
app-transmission restart, or go back to the UCP and restart Transmission from the Apps tab. - Access your Transmission Web UI to confirm the backup restoration was successful.
Troubleshooting
Why can't I install the newest version x.x.x of Transmission?
We do not offer every new version of Transmission as soon as it is released by the developers. New releases can introduce bugs, breaking changes, or instability that could affect your torrents and seeding state, so we hold off until a version is worth adopting and has been proven reliable.
Before we make a new version available on the UCP, we wait for releases with significant changes or improvements, test them thoroughly on our infrastructure to ensure they are stable, and verify that the upgrade path preserves your configuration and torrent session state. Because of this, only versions that have passed our testing are offered. If the version you want is not yet available, it is likely still being evaluated or has been intentionally skipped for stability reasons.
If you require further assistance, you can open a support ticket here.
- Installation
- Default File Paths
- Use Transmission Remote GUI
- Install Transmission Remote GUI
- Create a New Connection
- Add a Torrent File
- Add a Magnet Link
- Configuration
- Enable Public Torrent Seeding (Optional)
- Configure Torrent Queueing
- Auto Unpack Torrents
- Upgrade Transmission v3 to v4
- Restore Backup
- Troubleshooting