Download Tools

Goal §

Download media files efficiently on the server.

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aria2c (CLI) §

This basically is a CLI torrent downloader. Installed aria2:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install aria2

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Attempt with Magnet Links §

Tried running:

aria2c "magnet:?xt=..."

Observed:

• command split incorrectly due to &
• multiple background jobs started
• download did not proceed properly

Errors included:

• DHT routing table issues
• no peers / no progress

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Issues with aria2c §

• not straightforward for magnet links
• requires proper quoting
• less intuitive for torrent management
• no easy UI to monitor progress

Conclusion:

• not suitable for current use

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Switching to qBittorrent-nox §

This is a web-version of qbittorrent, that you can port forward to any computer, and access your torrent from anywhere.

Installation:

sudo apt install qbittorrent-nox

Ran:

qbittorrent-nox

This opens a web window of qbittorrent, which I can open from anywhere using the IP. But this keeps the program running in the open ssh terminal. To avoid this, we can open a daemon instance of the same application using the following command.

qbittorrent-nox -d

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Usage §

• added magnet links through local UI
• selected download directories:
  • ~/Jellyfin/TV
  • ~/Jellyfin/Films

Downloads worked reliably.

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Observations §

• GUI made torrent management easier
• automatic peer discovery worked
• progress and errors visible

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Permissions Issue §

Faced error when downloading to certain folders.

Checked:

ls -ld ~/Jellyfin/*

Found mismatch in ownership.

Fixed:

sudo chown -R akwastaken:akwastaken ~/Jellyfin
chmod -R 775 ~/Jellyfin

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Notes §

• aria2c is powerful but not user-friendly for torrents
• qBittorrent works well for this setup
• directory permissions are important for downloads