Utorrent docker VPN: The best for many users in 2020 In doing so, are all that sustainable Use of utorrent docker VPN on the hand: Our Detailevaluations and Useropinions of the product confirm unmistakably: The numerous Benefits make the purchase decision Very easily. This is a docker-compose file for a simple, secure torrent setup. It includes rTorrent (a torrent client), flood (a web interface for rTorrent), OpenVPN (to tunnel traffic through your ISP) and a simple iptables firewall to allow rTorrent to only access the internet through a VPN. Docker container This container contains Is do this, other than torrent client with running Transmission torrent client a VPN provider. Simply setup docker containers Docker -proxy/ and add the of Transmission connected through an OpenVPN tunnel - preferred choice is Usenet.

1. Best Docker Bittorrent Client Installer
2. Docker Client Go
3. Best Docker Bittorrent Client Ubuntu
4. Docker Client Java
5. Docker Client Update

A few months ago my dad gave me a spare computer and after a bit of research I set out on creating a home media server. A couple of weeks later I realized this wasn't just a project, it was a full-blown hobby.

After a ton of trial and error and a couple of hard drive wipes later, I've finally achieved a setup that I am truly happy with.

My goal here is to document as much of it as possible, and be as available as I can in the comments here so I can help out anyone else starting their home server adventure!

By the end of this guide, you will have a server that lets you access your media wherever you want, automatically grabs movies and tv shows when they are requested via a web UI and is optimized for seeding.

Prerequisites

While all of the services we install will be running in Docker, this setup expects you are using Ubuntu 18.04. You can follow along, but when I start talking about mounting hard drives and writing bash scripts you may have to figure stuff out on your own!

Table of Contents

I. The Stack

II. Tips for managing your hard drives

III. Installing mhddfs (patched)

IV. Mounting Multiple Drives as One

V. Installing Docker

VI. Plex Config

VII. Transmission Config

VIII. Jackett Config

IX. Sonarr & Radarr Config

X. Ombi Config

Here's the stack we'll be using. There will be a section describing the installation and configuration for each one of these :)

Docker lets us run and isolate each of our services into a container. Everything for each of these services will live in the container except the configuration files which will live on our host.

Plex is a 'client-server media player system'. There are a few alternatives, but I chose Plex here because they have a client available on nearly every platform.

Transmission is a torrent client. I used to use Deluge but honestly found it pretty buggy and unreliable. Transmission also lets you easily run bash scripts whenever a torrent finishes which is huge.

Jackett is a tool that Sonarr and Radarr use to search indexers and trackers for torrents

Sonarr is a tool for automating and managing your TV library. It automates the process of searching for torrents, downloading them then 'moving' them to your library. It also checks RSS feeds to automatically download new shows as soon as they're uploaded! Radarr Is a fork of Sonarr that does all the same stuff but for Movies

Ombi is a super simple web UI for sending requests to Radarr and Sonarr

Tips for managing your hard drives

Here are some tips for how to manage your hard drives and data.

Optimizing for Ratios

I use private trackers to get my torrents, and this means I need to maintain a ratio. If you aren't familiar with this term, it basically means you should be uploading as much, if not more than you download.

The best way I've found to do this is to mount your drives directly to the machine that handles your downloads. This means you can configure Sonarr and Radarr to create hardlinks when a torrent finishes. With this enabled, a reference to the data will exist in your media directory and in your torrent directory so Transmission can continue seeding everything you download.

HDD vs SSD

Can also be written as Space vs. Reliability and Speed. I'm a freaking hoarder when it comes to media now, so I go with HDDs. This means I need to worry about my drives randomly dying.

If you roll with SSDs, I envy you and you should skip this next section!

HDD Backups vs. Redundancy

HDDs are very prone to randomly dying and you need to prepare for this. You can either set up an array of drives and use something like RAID, but you usually end up losing some space and it's not very easy to expand. I'm building my library from scratch so I want to be able to expand the space on my server as I download more media.

So instead, I mount all of my drives and then use mhddfs to treat them as one file system, and what's really cool is that it automatically fills up your drives in order.

update: I still haven't found a good way to keep backups of this data and am actually working on a way around this now.

Edit: I've gotten a lot of feedback on Reddit and it sounds like using either LVM or Mergerfs + Snapraid might be a better setup. If you are interested, check this post out by Linuxserver.io! I'll be doing that soon too :)

mhddfs contains a bug where you can occasionally run into a segfault error when mounting your drives. You'll want to install it via the patch in this repo, but it's a bit tricky.

The docker installation method is outdated and doesn't run so you'll have to install fakeroot and run the command from the Readme.

It'll give you trouble about signing, ignore it and install the .deb package

To get your drives to mount on boot we have to edit your /etc/fstab file. Add the following lines at the end of your file and replace the drive IDs with your own.

This mounts both drives on /mnt/hdd1 and /mnt/hdd2 and then mounts them together via mhddfs on /mnt/media. Now let’s set up our file system with a folder for torrents and a couple for our Libraries.

This is an easy one :)

I also like to keep my configs in one easy place in case I want to transfer them anywhere, so let’s create a folder to hold our docker container configs and create our docker-compose.yml file

And add this to your docker-compose file. We will be filling in the services in the coming steps. If you are confused on how to add the services or how your file should look, here is a good resource on docker-compose.

This will start your Plex server on port 32400, and add the volumes /mnt and ~/docker-services/plex/config onto the container. If you are trying to move your current Plex configs over, run something like this

Note that plex is looking for your config directory to contain a single directory Library. Look for that directory and copy it over.

If you are on something other than Ubuntu, refer to this page to find your configs.

Notice how we mount our torrent drive on the container in the same location as the host, rather than something like /downloads (which is suggested over at linuxserver). This, plus the config below ensures Sonarr and Radarr send torrents to the right directory.

Once Transmission has started for the first time, it will make a settings.json file for you (and will overwrite/reset it every time you run docker-compose up). here are some changes you should make to the settings file. Come back here later to make these changes once everything is started, then run docker restart transmission.

Note: This get’s reset every time you create your container for some reason. Keep a backup!

See that script that get’s run once a torrent is done? This will search for any .rar files and decompress them in your torrents. Super helpful, let’s make that and then we’re done here!

This is super basic and just boots your Jackett service on port 9117. Doesn’t need much else!

Now, these guys are freaking TRICKY. Make sure those PUID and GUID match the ID for your user and group… and make sure that user has read-write permissions for /mnt/media. Sonarr and Radarr are going to try to be creating folders and files in there when they copy or hard link files over.

If you are running into issues, check the logs of the docker container or the logs in the web UI. It should tell you exactly where it’s having trouble. Then log into the user you set it to run as an attempt the same actions. See whats going on first hand.

This will open Ombi on port 3579 but sadly they don’t have SSL support by default. I can create a post on adding LetsEncrypt to this setup if it get’s enough traction!

Run this command to boot up all your services! Remember to go back and update your Transmission settings after this.

You now have these services running locally. Go to their web UI’s and configure everything.

There is some final configuration you will need to do that is out of the scope of this tutorial, but I can help if need be.

You will have to

1. Configure Jackett with your indexers
2. Point Sonarr and Radarr to Jackett for indexers and Transmission as a download client
3. Tell Sonarr and Radarr to download Movies and Shows folders you created above
4. Tell Sonarr and Radarr to use Hardlinks instead of Copies in advanced settings
5. Configure Ombi to use Sonarr and Radarr for requests

Now go invite your friends to your Plex server

The world might be gravitating to online streaming, but peer-to-peer file sharing through torrents remains ever-popular. It's important to stay safe while torrenting by using a virtual private network (VPN), even when sharing something entirely legal, but which clients are the best for the job?

ProPrivacy has compared several BitTorrent clients out there to find the cream of the crop, so you don't have to! Keep reading to discover which one is best for you.

What are the best BitTorrent clients?

There are many BitTorrent clients out there to choose from and not all of them were built equal. Take a look at what ProPrivacy considers the best of the best to torrent with:

qBitTorrent

qBitTorrent is the best torrenting client out there, being both open source and full of features

PROS

• Open source
• Lightweight
• Efficient
• Can bind to VPN
• Fully featured

CONS

• Can't think of any

As a long-term Vuze fan, it took quite something for this lightweight open source BitTorrent client to replace Vuze on my desktop. One reason I stuck with Vuze for so long is the ability to bind the torrent client to my VPN interface.

Although not strictly necessary if your VPN software features a kill switch, I have always appreciated this extra layer of security. It prevents the client downloading torrents when the VPN is not active.

qBitTorrent not only supports this feature, it makes it much easier to implement. This was a big factor in me making the change, as was qBitTorrent’s lean-and-mean 100 MB or less install size (exact size depending on platform). There is no bloat with qBitTorrent!

Despite this, qBitTorrent features just about everything most torrenters will need. This includes BitTorrent protocol encryption, torrent prioritization, torrent querying, selective content download, torrent creation, remote access, and RSS subscription. You can search for torrents from within the client, and the built-in media player is handy.

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qBitTorrent is 100% free and ad-free. It is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. For a more detailed look at this excellent software, including instructions on how to bind qBittorrent to your VPN interface, please check out 5 Best VPNs for qBittorrent.

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Transmission

Transmission has overcome older problems to build a reputation for itself as a great torrent client

PROS

• Open source
• Lightweight
• Tons of features
• Pretty
• Available natively on many obscure OSs

CONS

• Not much (vulnerability should be fixed by the time most of you read this)

Transmission started life as a Mac and Linux-only BitTorrent client, where it built up a formidable reputation. Windows users can now also get in on the act. Although a very capable BitTorrent client, the main draw of Transmission is its beautiful user interface, complete with Growl notifications for Mac users.

But it’s not all about looking pretty. Transmission features webseed support, BitTorrent protocol encryption, watch directories, tracker editing, global and per-torrent speed limits, and more. It also supports optional add-ons that can expand its feature-set. These include RSS subscription tools and a Kodi plugin.

Transmission has recently hit the headlines thanks to a vulnerability that can be exploited by hackers. I discuss this a little later in the article, but a patch is available, and the issue is very easy to fix yourself, anyway. I have therefore decided to not let this problem affect Transmission’s ranking in this 5 Best guide.

Transmission is 100% free and open source. It is available for Windows, Mac OSX/macOS, Linux (many distros), FreeBSD, Gentoo, and more.

The Transmission Vulnerability

A security researcher discovered a flaw in Transmission that could allow hackers to execute malicious code on targets’ computers. In theory, this could allow them to completely take over the infected system.

The flaw took advantage of lax security in Transmission’s remote web access feature. Note that this is a proof of concept attack, and there has been no evidence of it being exploited in the wild. The current version of Transmission has already implemented a fix.

Alternatively, if you wanted to be sure, the flaw is easy enough to fix for yourself. If you don’t use the remote web access feature, simply turn it off! Go to Preferences -> Remote and uncheck 'Enable remote access.” If you do use the remote web access feature, then change the default password to something secure. Easy!

Note that the security researcher who discovered the flaw has hinted that other BitTorrents clients may also be vulnerable. It is probably a good idea to check similar settings in whatever client you are using.

Vuze

Vuze might not be as lightweight as others in this list, but its feature-packed approach will appeal to some

PROS

• Ridiculously fully featured
• Can bind downloads to VPN
• Lots of plugins available to increase functionality
• Built-in video player
• Great Android apps

CONS

• Somewhat bulky and resource-heavy
• Ads
• Tries to install crapware
• Only partially open source
• Interface could be prettier and more intuitive

Vuze is a granddaddy of BitTorrent clients. It is no longer open source, and it creaks somewhat under the weight of its myriad features. It is, in other words, the polar opposite of lightweight clients such as qBitTorrent.

But who said a shed load of features is necessarily a bad thing? Most torrenters will never use all the tools available, but there is really almost nothing Torrent-related that Vuze can’t do. This includes being able to bind Vuze to your VPN adapter, but also loads more funky stuff such as content discovery through automated subscriptions, having an integrated media player, remote management, and much more.

You can convert files to multiple formats using Vuze’s drag-and-drop interface and analyse your downloads using a wealth of statistics and visualizations. Vuze is a power user’s dream.

On the downside, Vuze is resource-heavy and rather ugly (especially when compared to Transmission!) Its clunky interface is also showing its age. This situation is not helped by the inclusion of ads in the free version, or by the fact that you need to be careful during installation if you do not want to also install a load of crapware.

Although Vuze is primarily free, a premium version is also available for $29.90 USD per year. A Vuze Plus subscription removes the ads and provides built-in anti-virus scanning, a DVD burner, and 'play now' support. It is, admittedly, pretty funky!

This also brings me to the point that, despite its open source roots, Vuze is now closed source proprietary software. It is worth noting that reports of Vuze’s demise appear to be very premature. Vuze 5.7.6.0 was released in October 2017 and is fully functional.

Unlike the desktop client, the excellent Android app is lightweight and ad-free. A pro version is now available via in-app purchase (about $4), but I have been unable to determine what features this adds (and am too skinflint to shell out the money necessary to find out!).

Vuze Remote is a handy app for Android that allows you remote control your desktop torrent downloads.

Vuze is available for Windows, Mac OSX/macOS, Linux, and Android.

Popcorn Time

Popcorn Time has taken a leaf from Netflix's streaming book to present a video-only torrenting service

PROS

• Instant streaming of high quality BitTorrent content!
• Open source
• Very smart interface
• Chromecast, Airplay and DLNA support
• Available on just about every platform

Best Docker Bittorrent Client Ubuntu

CONS

• Only for video content

All the other programs on this list are BitTorrent clients. You download a .torrent file or click on a magnet link, and the content downloads to your computer where it is stored locally.

Popcorn Time is different; It is an open source app that uses BitTorrent technology to stream high quality video content to all major platforms. This means that unlike with traditional BitTorrent clients, you can watch a film or show without waiting for the download to complete. You might be thinking 'is Popcorn time safe?' While it can be dangerous for your computer, using a VPN can keep your machine secure.

It is notable for having a very slick and intuitive interface, and for providing access to a huge library of up-to-date content.

Although primarily a streaming platform, content can also be downloaded locally (and some content is always cached). Various versions (forks) of Popcorn Time are available, but I strongly advise only using one of the forks recommended in Best VPN for Popcorn Time guide.

Specific features vary a little depending on which fork you use, but steaming to your big-screen TV via Chromecast, Airplay and DLNA is pretty standard.

Popcorn Time is free, and respectable versions are free from ads and other crapware. It available for Windows, Mac OSX/macOS, Linux, and Android. PopcornTime.to even has an iOS VPN App that can be installed without jailbreaking your device.

Deluge

Deluge has no ads, compared to some of the more popular torrent clients out there

PROS

• Open source
• Lightweight
• Lots of features
• Expandable via plugins (incl. RSS)

CONS

• Less fully featured than some other clients

Like qBitTorrent, Deluge is a fairly conventional but lightweight and open source BitTorrent client. Its feature list is not huge, but should be more than enough to satisfy most users. Features include remote web management and support for magnet links.

Functionality can be further extended with a range of both in-house and third-party plugins. Highlights include plugins for RSS support, Growl notifications, streaming while downloading, and more.

Deluge is completely FOSS, with no ads or crapware. It is available for Windows, OSX, Linux (various distros), and FreeBSD.

Check out our 5 best Deluge VPNs page for a list of the best services to use with this BitTorrent client.

Why not uTorrent or BitTorrent?

uTorrent and its almost-identical sibling, the official BitTorrent client, remain the most popular BitTorrent clients in the world. It is, therefore, reasonable to ask why I have not included it in this best 5 BitTorrent list. Please note the different between BitTorrent as a protocol and the BitTorrent client to avoid confusion.

Both uTorrent and BitTorrent are closed source and supported by ads. These ads can be turned off if you delve deep enough into the software’s settings, but this is still very irritating. It is my personal view that this means uTorrent has all the disadvantages of Vuze, but not as many useful features.

So if you want a slightly clunky closed-source ad-supported BitTorrent client, but one that compensates for this by offering a wealth of features, then use Vuze. Other opinions are available.

What is BitTorrent?

BitTorrent is a popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing protocol. Instead of being stored on a centralized server from which you download, torrented files are shared among many other BitTorrent users. Popular files can easily be shared among hundreds of users in this way.

When you 'download” (which is something of a misnomer when it comes to torrenting) a file using the BitTorrent protocol, what you are actually doing is sharing small pieces of it with everyone else who is downloading that same file.

A file is 'downloaded” once you have all the pieces needed to reassemble that file. It is considered good form to 'seed” (continue sharing) the file for a while after it has been downloaded, in order to help others reach 100% completion.

Why use a Client?

Although still very popular, BitTorrent use has declined somewhat in recent years. This is in part thanks to the wealth of legal streaming options available from providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, hulu, and many more. The popularity of illegal options, such as Kodi and streaming websites, is also a factor. For top tips and the best VPN for Streaming, take a look at the guides below:

The more traditional method of downloading using a BitTorrent client, however, continues to offer some major advantages:

• BitTorrent content is downloaded locally, so it is available forever and can be easily physically transferred between devices.
• Literally, any kind of digital content can be download – not just video content. This includes software, images, eBook, games, and… you name it!
• But when it does come to video content, the quality is often considerably higher than streamed content. This is because there is no need to keep file sizes down to avoid buffering issues, since content is played locally.
• BitTorrent is a very efficient and resource-light way to share and promote your own content with others.

Many Linux distros find torrent links are the best way to distribute their software without having to host it on costly servers.

Use a VPN when torrenting

BitTorrent content is shared among multiple home computers. This is not good for privacy because sharing files with a bunch of other random 'downloaders” on the internet is hardly private.

Using the right software (which includes many popular BitTorrent clients), it is very easy to see the unique Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of every other person also sharing ('downloading”) the same file.

As demonstrated in Vuze above, I can see the IP addresses of every other person who is downloading the same files as me.

Is torrenting legal?

Yes, torrenting is entirely legal, while the content you share might not be. Torrenting is just a protocol that allows you to share things peer-to-peer. Since laws differ around the world, it's difficult to say what is legal and what isn't, although sharing copyrighted material without the express permission of the owner almost always errs on the side of illegal.

It's pretty easy to catch those that torrent illegally shared content, because the nature of torrenting means your IP address is on show to anyone else sharing the file. All the copyright holder, or a third party representing them, would need to do is notify your internet service provider (ISP) to take legal action against you.

This is why it is important to use a VPN to protect yourself online.

Why should I use a VPN when torrenting?

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A VPN will protect you while downloading because:

• A VPN will hide your IP address from other downloaders. As mentioned in the previous section, torrenting puts your IP address on display for others that are sharing the file. Connecting to a VPN server masks your IP address to protect your privacy.
• A VPN encrypts all internet traffic between your computer and the VPN server. This means that your ISP cannot see what you've been getting up to online. Of course, deep packet inspection will reveal that you have been downloading, but they will be none the wiser as to what.

VPNs with robust logging policies will have nothing to hand over to the authorities, no matter what pressure they may come under. A VPN will also unblock websites if they are censored for any reason.

So as long as P2P is permitted, a VPN is very effective at protecting your privacy while downloading.

For a more in-depth look at how VPNs work, please check out VPNs for Beginners – What You Need to Know. For a more in-depth guide to using a VPN while torrenting, check out Best VPN for Torrenting guide.

BitTorrent protocol encryption

Some BitTorrent clients support BitTorrent protocol encryption. These include Transmission, qBitTorrent, and Vuze. It is a feature designed to hide the fact that you are torrenting from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).

VPNs also do this, as well as hiding your real IP address from other torrent users and anyone else watching on the internet. Furthermore:

Analysis of the BitTorrent protocol encryption has shown that statistical measurements of packet sizes and packet directions of the first 100 packets in a TCP session can be used to identify the obfuscated protocol with over 96% accuracy.

This means that even the most basic Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) techniques can determine that you are using BitTorrent. Now, it is true that DPI can also easily detect VPN use (unless obfuscated), but while there are many legitimate reasons to use a VPN, there is only one reason to use BitTorrent protocol encryption…

Using BitTorrent protocol encryption is therefore probably better than using nothing at all, but using a VPN provides much better protection while downloading.

How do I use a BitTorrent client?

One reason for the popularity of online streaming services (including via the use of Kodi boxes) is the perception that torrenting is a geeky pastime that requires technical know-how. In reality, however, torrenting is very easy:

1. Download and install a BitTorrent client from the list above.
2. (Optional but strongly recommended) Ensure you have a VPN running. This will bypass censorship of torrent sites, hide your IP from others you fileshare with, and hide your downloads from your ISP. Check out our VPN for Torrents guide for a list of recommended services.
3. Visit a BitTorrent website. These websites host links to torrent files. You can browse for content that interests you, or search for something specific. Many websites include user-reviews of torrents, which can help you pick good torrents.
4. When you have found the content you want, simply click on the torrent link or magnet link. The torrent will open in your BitTorrent client and begin downloading.
5. When the download is 100% completed, enjoy! Some BitTorrent clients have media-players built-in, but VLC will play pretty much any media file you can throw at it.

Seeding

BitTorrent is a decentralized file-sharing platform. In order for it to work, users share files with other users. This happens while you download a file, but it is considered good form to leave your BitTorrent client open after you have finished downloading a file in order to benefit other users.

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This is called seeding, and it is considered good netiquette to seed to a ratio of at least 1:1 (i.e. upload the same amount of data you downloaded). Most BitTorrent clients will display the seed ratio of downloaded files.

Other Stuff

You don’t need to know much more about torrenting than the information provided above. If you ever wish to explore the subject further, however, this glossary is a good introduction to the jargon used.

Movie torrents, in particular, have a great deal of jargon associated with them. To make informed decisions about the content you plan to download, it is useful to familiarize yourself with it.

One thing to watch out for on public torrent sites is sponsored links. These are often prominently displayed and are deliberately designed to confuse. They typically point to either commercial direct download sites or Usenet services. Look for a link that specifically says 'Torrent” or 'Magnet Link.”

Find the best torrent sites

Findinf the best torrent sites can be quite difficult these days due to the blocks ISPs imposes on these websites. However, check out our best torrent sites article for a list of our favorite in 2021.

Conclusion

If anything, the torrenting crowd is over-served by great BitTorrent clients! Indeed, this top five list hardly even scrapes the surface of the many that are available. The fact that most of them are free and open source software (FOSS) warms the cockles of my heart!

With such a wealth of options available, I’m sure many of you will have a favorite that is not listed here. If so, do please write in to tell me and other readers why you think it is so great!

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