{"id":44240,"date":"2023-08-18T14:11:45","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T14:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=44240"},"modified":"2024-05-05T15:38:14","modified_gmt":"2024-05-05T15:38:14","slug":"set-up-transmission-daemon-ubuntu-2204","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2023\/08\/set-up-transmission-daemon-ubuntu-2204\/","title":{"rendered":"Set up Transmission Daemon to turn Ubuntu 24.04\/22.04 as Remote Download Server"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Got a Ubuntu PC or Server and want to use it as remote download server? This is the step by step guide shows you how to do the job using Transmission Daemon.<\/p>\n

Ubuntu’s default Transmission torrent client has a daemon package, that can run silently as a background service, allowing you\u00a0to manage downloads anywhere around the world with internet connection and a web browser.<\/p>\n

To use the service, you just need to install the package, enable the service, do some changes on the config file, and grant user permission. And here’s how to do it step by step.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Install Transmission Daemon & Enable the service<\/h3>\n

Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T<\/b> on your Ubuntu PC to open terminal. Or connect to your remote Ubuntu server via SSH.<\/p>\n

1. To install the Daemon package<\/b>, run command:<\/p>\n

sudo apt install transmission-daemon<\/pre>\n
In Ubuntu Desktop, you might have dependency issue if you’ve tried 3rd-party Transmission package. In the case, try sudo apt remove transmission*<\/code> to remove the torrent packages first, then re-run the command above.<\/i><\/p>\n
2. Run the daemon service<\/b>. The daemon should run automatically after installation. Just in case, you may run it manually by running the 2 commands below one by one:<\/p>\n
systemctl enable transmission-daemon<\/pre>\n
systemctl start transmission-daemon<\/pre>\n
For Ubuntu server, you may need to add sudo<\/code> in the beginning for each command.<\/p>\n
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Step 2: Set up Downloads folder & Grant Permission<\/h3>\n
You can skip this step, if you’d like to use default location to save downloads. It’s “\/var\/lib\/transmission-daemon\/downloads\/<\/i>“, which however is NOT a good choice.<\/p>\n
1. To create a folder for saving download files<\/b>, for example ‘transmission<\/i>‘ sub-folder under Downloads,run command:<\/p>\n
mkdir -p ~\/Downloads\/transmission<\/pre>\n
For Ubuntu Desktop, you can just open ‘Files’ (Nautilus file browser) to create a folder anywhere that you want! <\/i><\/p>\n
For Ubuntu Server, you may even don’t have “Downloads” folder, so change the command accordingly! If you want, just run mkdir -p ~\/transmission<\/code> to create the folder under your user home directory.<\/i><\/p>\n
2. Add read and write permission<\/b> to that folder, for anyone in your user group.<\/p>\n
chmod g+rw ~\/Downloads\/transmission<\/pre>\n
In the command, replace ~\/Downloads\/transmission<\/code> if you selected another location for saving downloads.<\/i>
\nIn Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop edition, you can skip this command since group by default have read & write to user created folders.<\/i><\/p>\n
3. Finally, add ‘debian-transmission’ to your user group<\/b>. So, Transmission daemon has read & write permission to the folder you just created.<\/p>\n
sudo gpasswd --add debian-transmission $USER<\/pre>\n
NOTE: This change seems needing system restart<\/b> to take effect in Ubuntu Desktop, but not sure if required in Server.<\/i><\/p>\n
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Step 3: Edit the Daemon config file<\/h3>\n
The daemon by default has only one config file. It’s \/etc\/transmission-daemon\/settings.json<\/code>.<\/p>\n
1. To edit the file<\/b>, run command:<\/p>\n
sudo gedit \/etc\/transmission-daemon\/settings.json<\/pre>\n
Here you may replace gedit<\/b> with gnome-text-editor<\/b> for Ubuntu 24.04, or use nano<\/b> for Ubuntu Server and other Desktop Environment that you don’t know which text editor to use.<\/i><\/p>\n
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2. When file opens, edit it with following changes<\/b>:<\/p>\n
The file includes many configure lines, that I only write some important ones here. You can leave all others default, or edit it according to you need.<\/p>\n