Howto: Build the BitTorrent client Transmission under Karmic Koala

[andrew.46]

In February 2010 a great new version of Transmission was released. This mini-guide demonstrates how to build this version from source under Karmic Koala. First we need to remove the repository version, which has been split into a few different components (we will be building instead a single package that has the gtk frontend, the cli client, the remote utility and the daemon):

sudo apt-get remove transmission transmission-daemon \
transmission-common transmission-gtk transmission-cli transmission-qt

Don't worry if you don't actually have all of the above packages installed. Next download some compiling tools and dependencies:

sudo apt-get install build-essential automake autoconf checkinstall \
libtool pkg-config libcurl4-openssl-dev intltool libxml2-dev libgtk2.0-dev \
libnotify-dev libglib2.0-dev libgconf2-dev libcanberra-gtk-dev

Next download the source code, open the tarball and compile and install it:

$ cd $HOME
$ wget http://mirrors.m0k.org/transmission/files/transmission-1.92.tar.bz2
$ tar xjvf transmission-1.92.tar.bz2
$ cd transmission-1.92
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo checkinstall --pakdir "$HOME/Desktop" --backup=no --deldoc=yes \
  --deldesc=yes --delspec=yes --default --pkgversion "1.92"
$ make distclean

And that is it! This gives you the newest version of a great BitTorrent program, perfect for downloading and sharing the latest versions of Ubuntu. Remember: Have Fun!!

Recent Updates to this Guide:

• Mar 24th 2010: Updated to Transmission 1.92
• Feb 27th 2010: Updated to Transmission 1.91
• Feb 20th 2010: Updated to Transmission 1.90
• Jan 30th 2010: Updated to Transmission 1.83

[smeerbartje]

Will this also work on the server version without GUI? And if so, what is different?

[andrew.46]

Hi smeerbartje,

Will this also work on the server version without GUI? And if so, what is different?

The command to start the cli version is transmissioncli and its options are well documented in its own man page or by running the following:

andrew@skamandros:~$ transmissioncli --help
Transmission 1.83 (10040) - http://www.transmissionbt.com/
A fast and easy BitTorrent client

Usage: transmission-cli [options] <file|url|magnet>

Options:
  -h  --help                            Display this help page and exit
  -a  --announce             <url>      Set the new torrent's announce URL
  -b  --blocklist                       Enable peer blocklists
  -B  --no-blocklist                    Disable peer blocklists
  -c  --comment              <comment>  Set the new torrent's comment
  -d  --downlimit            <speed>    Set max download speed in KB/s
  -D  --no-downlimit                    Don't limit the download speed
  -er --encryption-required             Encrypt all peer connections
  -ep --encryption-preferred            Prefer encrypted peer connections
  -et --encryption-tolerated            Prefer unencrypted peer connections
  -f  --finish               <script>   Run a script when the torrent finishes
  -g  --config-dir           <path>     Where to find configuration files
  -i  --info                            Show torrent details and exit
  -m  --portmap                         Enable portmapping via NAT-PMP or UPnP
  -M  --no-portmap                      Disable portmapping
  -n  --new                  <source>   Create a new torrent
  -p  --port                 <port>     Port for incoming peers (Default: 51413)
  -r  --private                         Set the new torrent's 'private' flag
  -s  --scrape                          Scrape the torrent and exit
  -t  --tos                  <tos>      Peer socket TOS (0 to 255, default=0)
  -u  --uplimit              <speed>    Set max upload speed in KB/s
  -U  --no-uplimit                      Don't limit the upload speed
  -v  --verify                          Verify the specified torrent
  -w  --download-dir         <path>     Where to save downloaded data

Bear in mind the transmission-cli is not the command, the correct command is transmissioncli. I have submitted a patch to correct this.

If you actually mean what is different in this version this can be seen in the changelogs.

All the best,

Andrew

[andrew.46]

Updated the guide to Transmission 1.83 which compiles cleanly. Changes in this version noted here.

Andrew

[Yingy]

Followed your instructions and it worked like a charm. Thanks for posting clear instructions for a beginner like me.

[andrew.46]

Hi Yingy,

Followed your instructions and it worked like a charm. Thanks for posting clear instructions for a beginner like me.

Excellent news .

Andrew

[doccc]

Great work man!

Next download the source code, open the tarball and compile and install it:

$ cd $HOME
$ wget http://mirrors.m0k.org/transmission/files/transmission-1.92.tar.bz2
$ tar xjvf transmission-1.92.tar.bz2
$ cd transmission-1.92
$ ./configure
$ make
$ sudo checkinstall --pakdir "$HOME/Desktop" --backup=no --deldoc=yes \
  --deldesc=yes --delspec=yes --default --pkgversion "1.92"
$ make distclean

And that is it! This gives you the newest version of a great BitTorrent program, perfect for downloading and sharing the latest versions of Ubuntu. Remember: Have Fun!!

I've done everything else up until here,I'm confused about this part can I have detailed instructions of how to please

Thanks,

Doccc

[mchlor]

excellent guide.

[s3v3nsins]

Sorry to dig up such an old thread, but I would like to know this

1. Does andrew.46's guide make an installation of transmission whereby the GTK frontend connects to the daemon at the default rpc port of 9091 ?

2. Does this installation ensure that even if the GTK front end is closed (not minimized to tray) the daemon will continue to run at the background and download files ?

[s3v3nsins]

Hi andrew.46 can you please respond back to the above query ?