Install rTorrent with Flood on Ubuntu server 20.04

There are multiple web interface for rTorrent like the most known ruTorrent. But all these alternatives haven’t a good UI. Here comes Flood, A modern web UI for rTorrent with a Node.js backend and React frontend.

The project is still work-in-progress but it’s already usable and features are added frequently.

You can find their Github here and more screenshots : https://github.com/jfurrow/flood

Installation have been tested on 17.04 and 20.04.

1. Install rTorrent

The easiest way is to install it from the repo, run:

apt-get install rtorrent -y

2. Configure rTorrent

We need to create a dedicated user to avoid running rTorrent with root:

adduser --disabled-password rtorrent

Now we will create a configuration file :

nano /home/rtorrent/.rtorrent.rc

and copy the following:

# Where rTorrent saves the downloaded files
directory = /srv/torrent/downloads
# Where rTorrent saves the session
session = /srv/torrent/.session
# Which ports rTorrent can use (Make sure to open them in your router)
port_range = 50000-50000
port_random = no
# Check the hash after the end of the download
check_hash = yes
# Enable DHT (for torrents without trackers)
dht = auto
dht_port = 6881
peer_exchange = yes
# Authorize UDP trackers
use_udp_trackers = yes
# Enable encryption when possible
encryption = allow_incoming,try_outgoing,enable_retry
# SCGI port, used to communicate with Flood
scgi_port = 127.0.0.1:5000

You can customize the downloads path

If you haven’t created the folders (download and session), you need to do it :

mkdir /srv/torrent
mkdir /srv/torrent/downloads
mkdir /srv/torrent/.session

And set the permissions

chmod 775 -R /srv/torrent
chown rtorrent:rtorrent -R /srv/torrent
chown rtorrent:rtorrent /home/rtorrent/.rtorrent.rc

Then we need to create a systemd startup service to launch rTorrent at boot

nano /etc/systemd/system/rtorrent.service

And add to the file :

[Unit]
Description=rTorrent
After=network.target
[Service]
User=rtorrent
Type=forking
KillMode=none
ExecStart=/usr/bin/screen -d -m -fa -S rtorrent /usr/bin/rtorrent
ExecStop=/usr/bin/killall -w -s 2 /usr/bin/rtorrent
WorkingDirectory=%h
[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Then enable it at boot and start it :

systemctl enable rtorrent.service
systemctl start rtorrent

3. Install Flood

You need first to install Node.js :

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_12.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

if you don’t have Curl installed :

apt-get install curl

Then clone their repo:

cd /srv/torrent
git clone https://github.com/jfurrow/flood.git

if you don’t have Git installed :

apt-get install git

We need to copy the template config file:

cd flood
cp config.template.js config.js

Then install Flood :

npm install
npm run build

4. Start Flood

Before lauching flood we will create a systemD to lauch Flood at startup ( easier to start , stop )

Create a dedicated user to run Flood:

adduser --disabled-password flood

Add permissions

chown -R flood:flood /srv/torrent/flood/

Then create the script :

nano /etc/systemd/system/flood.service

and copy this:

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/srv/torrent/flood
ExecStart=/usr/bin/npm start
Restart=always
StandardOutput=syslog
StandardError=syslog
SyslogIdentifier=notell
User=flood
Group=flood
Environment=NODE_ENV=production
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable it at boot and start it:

systemctl enable flood

5. Testing

systemctl start flood

You should now can access it with http://YourIP:3000

Finally it will ask you to create a user/password.

Fill the rTorrent address and port with the one you put in .rtorrent.rc at scgi_port 127.0.0.1 and 5000 for me.

Congratulation ! Flood with rTorrent is installed :)

If you have issues, feel free to comment