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Tip #159   Download torrents from the command line

The official BitTorrent distribution includes several python client applications that can be run from the command line.

To download a torrent try:

/path/to/btdownloadheadless.py --display_interval 5 --spew 1 torrentfile.torrent


To make things easier, add the following to your profile:

alias dltorrent='screen /path/to/btdownloadheadless.py --display_interval 5 --spew 1'


then type 'dltorrent whatever.torrent' to start torrenting. Using screen means that this can be detached and left running even when you aren't logged in. To detach use CONTROL-A, then D. This can then be reattached by using 'screen -ls' to get a list of screens and 'screen -dr screenname' to reattach the chosen screen.

Other options are available to adjust for example download/upload rate. Run btdownloadheadless.py with no arguments for a full list.