rtorrent

rtorrent is a Bittorrent client, with emphasis on speed (thats what we love about the command line:). Even tho its faster than a GUI torrent client it dose not lack the features of one, its a full-blown client that suit your every need.

You install it in Ubuntu by issuing the command

$ sudo apt-get install rtorrent

To start your saved torrents issue the command

$ rtorrent Torrent/atorrent.torrent


Your torrent, both finished and unfinished will be saved in your home directory by default. To set another directory by using the -d flag

$ rtorrent -D Downloads/ Torrents/atorrent.torrent


I would however download the default config file and make the changes you want before you open rtorrent for the first time. You can get it here or use the wget command like the example below. Save it in your home directory as .rtorrent.rc. The reason I would never go without this is because I like to have a folder where I download torrents to and then have the client auto check for .torrent files in that directory


$ wget http://libtorrent.rakshasa.no/browser/trunk/rtorrent/doc/rtorrent.rc?format=raw


Open it with nano and configure rtorrents to suite your need, you get directions in the .rc file. Don´t forget to save it as rtorrent.rc!

$ nano /home/your_account/rtorrent.rc?format=raw

To make a directory that the client watches and adds, edit the rc file like bellow.

# Watch a directory for new torrents, and stop those that have been
# deleted.
#schedule = watch_directory,5,5,load_start=./watch/*.torrent
#schedule = untied_directory,5,5,stop_untied=
schedule = watch_directory,5,5,load_start=/home/[user]/watch/*.torrent
schedule = untied_directory,5,5,stop_untied=
schedule = tied_directory,5,5,start_tied=

Note - you need to mkdir the watch directory yourself.


Adding and removing torrents
Backspace -- Add torrent using an URL or file path. Use tab to view directory content and do auto-complete. Also, wildcards can be used. For example: ~/torrent/*
Return/Enter -- Same as backspace, except the torrent remains inactive. (Use ^s to activate)
CTRL-O -- Set new download directory for selected torrent. Only works if torrent has not yet been activated.
CTRL-S -- Start download. Runs hash first unless already done.
CTRL-D -- Stop an active download, or remove a stopped download.
CTRL-R -- Initiate hash check of torrent. Without starting to download/upload.

Throttling
a/s/d -- Increase the upload throttle by 1/5/50 KB.
z/x/c -- Decrease the upload throttle by 1/5/50 KB.
A/S/D -- Increase the download throttle by 1/5/50 KB.
Z/X/C -- Decrease the download throttle by 1/5/50 KB.

Navigating
Main View Keys:
right -- Switch to Download View.
CTRL-R -- Initiate hash check of torrent.
+/- -- Change priority of torrent.
l -- View log. Exit by pressing the space-bar.
1 -- Show all downloads.
2 -- Show all downloads, ordered by name.
3 -- Show started downloads.
4 -- Show stopped downloads.
5 -- Show complete downloads.
6 -- Show incomplete downloads.
7 -- Show hashing downloads.
8 -- Show seeding downloads.

Download View Keys
right -- Switch to selected view.
left -- Switch to view selection or back to main view.
1/2 -- Adjust max uploads.
3/4 -- Adjust min peers.
5/6 -- Adjust max peers.
p -- Display peer list.
o -- Display torrent info.
i -- Display file list.
u -- Display tracker list.
t/T -- Initiate tracker request. Use capital T to force the request, ignoring the "min interval" set by the tracker.

Peer list View Keys
left -- Switch to view selection.
right -- Show file details.
space -- Change the file priority; applies recursively when done on a directory.
* -- Change the priority of all files.
/ -- Collapse directories. While collapsed, press right to expand the selected directory.

Tracker list View Keys
left -- Switch to view selection.
* -- Enable/disable tracker.
space -- Rotate trackers in a group.


rtorrent wiki here