A Raspberry Pi Torrent Box

I own a Raspberry Pi for long time but it’s been sitting idle in my closet since then. Finally I decided to put it to use as a 24x7 download box. For those who are new to Raspberry Pi: It’s a tiny little computer.

I ordered clear case, memory card & a WiFi dongle as accessories to the bare single board computer

Install Ubuntu Core

We are using Ubuntu core as it is relatively easy to setup. Also it has its own app store! Following instructions are for Ubuntu but if you are using windows on your laptop then head over here.

Start by downloading Ubuntu Core image for RPi 2. Open disks, select your memory card and click on restore disk image option — available in the top right corner.

Once the restoration is complete we will setup WiFi.

WiFi Configuration

WiFi setup is bit more involved. Start by downloading config file from here. The zip contains following 3 files:

libnl-3–200_3.2.24–2_armhf.deb
libpcsclite1_1.8.11–3ubuntu1_armhf.deb
wpasupplicant_0.7.3–6ubuntu2.4_armhf.deb

Move these files to the memory card and place them at the following path

/writable/user-data/ubuntu/Downloads

Boot up the Pi with the memory card we just configured. Now connect it to your laptop using Ethernet and ssh into it (you can use Putty if you are on windows) using

ssh ubuntu@webdm.local
password: ubuntu

cd to Downloads folder and run following commands

sudo mount -o remount,rw /
sudo dpkg -i *.deb

Files necessary for WiFi configuration are now installed. Now let’s connect Pi to your hotspot. Make sure you have connected your WiFi dongle to your Pi before running the following commands

#specify your network name and password
wpa_passphrase <hotspot_name> <hotspot_password>
#Reboot your Pi
sudo reboot

Your Pi should now be connected to your wireless network. You can now go to http://webdm.local:4200/store to install transmission BitTorrent client. Once installed you can manage your torrents by visiting Transmissions’s web interface at http://webdm.local:9091/transmission/web/

Transmission’s web interface can be accessed from internet if you know the external IP of your Pi

If you have any queries or suggestions please use the comments section below.

Happy Torrenting!