I use rtorrent for my legitimate torrent requirements. I find it extremely useful and here is why:
- I run it on a linux server I have under a screen session so it's always available
- it's set to have an upload and a download limit for torrents
- stops after I've uploaded double what I've downloaded
- reliable
- easy to drive
Of course, getting it to this point wasn't totally straightforward. I had to set up my .rtorrent.rc file in my home directory to get all this stuff to work properly. It isn't using 100% of the capabilities of rtorrent, merely the ones I find most useful. For example I don't have it set to check for new torrents in a particular directory - I add them manually for an additional measure of control and so torrents I'm finished seeding aren't accidentally added back in. It does send me an email when a download is finished, retains info about where each torrent is up to and stops if diskspace becomes low (which it occasionally does)
Here is my .rtorrent.rc contents - everything in grey is a comment:
#=================================================================
# This is an example resource file for rTorrent. Copy to
# ~/.rtorrent.rc and enable/modify the options as needed. Remember to
# uncomment the options you wish to enable.
# Maximum and minimum number of peers to connect to per torrent.
#min_peers = 40
#max_peers = 100
# Same as above but for seeding completed torrents (-1 = same as downloading)
#min_peers_seed = 10
#max_peers_seed = 50
# Maximum number of simultanious uploads per torrent.
#max_uploads = 15
# Global upload and download rate in KiB. "0" for unlimited.
download_rate = 200
upload_rate = 5
# Default directory to save the downloaded torrents.
directory = /home/angus/torrents
# Default session directory. Make sure you don't run multiple instance
# of rtorrent using the same session directory. Perhaps using a
# relative path?
session = ~/torrents/.session
# Watch a directory for new torrents, and stop those that have been
# deleted.
#schedule = watch_directory,15,15,load_start=/home/angus/torrent/.torrent
#schedule = untied_directory,5,5,stop_untied=
# Close torrents when diskspace is low.
schedule = low_diskspace,5,60,close_low_diskspace=100M
# Stop torrents when reaching upload ratio in percent,
# when also reaching total upload in bytes, or when
# reaching final upload ratio in percent.
# Enable the default ratio group.
ratio.enable=
# Change the limits, the defaults should be sufficient.
ratio.min.set=150
ratio.max.set=200
ratio.upload.set=20M
# Changing the command triggered when the ratio is reached.
system.method.set = group.seeding.ratio.command, d.close=, d.erase=
# The ip address reported to the tracker.
ip = xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
#ip = rakshasa.no
# The ip address the listening socket and outgoing connections is
# bound to.
#bind = 127.0.0.1
#bind = rakshasa.no
# Port range to use for listening.
port_range = 6900-6999
# Start opening ports at a random position within the port range.
#port_random = no
# Check hash for finished torrents. Might be usefull until the bug is
# fixed that causes lack of diskspace not to be properly reported.
#check_hash = no
# Set whetever the client should try to connect to UDP trackers.
#use_udp_trackers = yes
# Alternative calls to bind and ip that should handle dynamic ip's.
#schedule = ip_tick,0,1800,ip=rakshasa
#schedule = bind_tick,0,1800,bind=rakshasa
# Encryption options, set to none (default) or any combination of the following:
# allow_incoming, try_outgoing, require, require_RC4, enable_retry, prefer_plaintext
#
# The example value allows incoming encrypted connections, starts unencrypted
# outgoing connections but retries with encryption if they fail, preferring
# plaintext to RC4 encryption after the encrypted handshake
#
# encryption = allow_incoming,enable_retry,prefer_plaintext
# Enable peer exchange (for torrents not marked private)
#
# peer_exchange = yes
#
# Do not modify the following parameters unless you know what you're doing.
#
# Hash read-ahead controls how many MB to request the kernel to read
# ahead. If the value is too low the disk may not be fully utilized,
# while if too high the kernel might not be able to keep the read
# pages in memory thus end up trashing.
#hash_read_ahead = 10
# Interval between attempts to check the hash, in milliseconds.
#hash_interval = 100
# Number of attempts to check the hash while using the mincore status,
# before forcing. Overworked systems might need lower values to get a
# decent hash checking rate.
#hash_max_tries = 10
# First and only argument to rtorrent_mail.sh is completed file's name (d.get_name)
system.method.set_key = event.download.finished,notify_me,"execute=~/scripts/rtorrent_mail.sh,$d.get_name="
#===================================================================
I hope this is useful for you.
