Transmission is a set of lightweight BitTorrent clients (in GUI, CLI and daemon form). All these incarnations feature a very simple and intuitive interface, on top on an efficient, cross-platform backend: https://transmissionbt.com
Transmission is intended to download content like KA Lite to Internet-in-a-Box (IIAB), from places like https://pantry.learningequality.org/downloads/ka-lite/0.17/content/ — and also to seed content, assisting others.
For example, once KA Lite videos and thumbnails are confirmed downloaded, copy them (carefully!) from ``/library/transmission`` into ``/library/ka-lite/content`` as outlined by "KA Lite Administration: What tips & tricks exist?" at http://FAQ.IIAB.IO
2023-12-31: To make the `latest Transmission features <https://github.com/transmission/transmission/commits/main>`_ available to you, Internet-in-a-Box can compile the very latest (above and beyond `Transmission 4.x+ official releases <https://github.com/transmission/transmission/releases>`_). Just note this can take most of an hour, and is not without risk!
If you decide you want this, set ``transmission_compile_latest: True`` in `/etc/iiab/local_vars.yml <https://wiki.iiab.io/go/FAQ#What_is_local_vars.yml_and_how_do_I_customize_it%3F>`_ prior to installing Transmission, as explained below.
NOTE: Later in 2024, fast auto-installation of `Transmission 4.1+ <https://github.com/transmission/transmission/milestones>`_ should once again hopefully become mainline (`#5585 <https://github.com/transmission/transmission/discussions/5585>`_, `PR #5866 <https://github.com/transmission/transmission/pull/5866>`_) just as in recent years with Transmission 3.0 (originally from May, 2020).
Install Transmission by setting ``transmission_install: True`` and ``transmission_enabled: True`` in `/etc/iiab/local_vars.yml <https://wiki.iiab.io/go/FAQ#What_is_local_vars.yml_and_how_do_I_customize_it%3F>`_ — carefully choosing language(s) for KA Lite videos you want to download — and then install IIAB. Or, if IIAB is already installed, run as root::
Change the above password by editing ``rpc-password`` in ``/etc/transmission-daemon/settings.json`` (your plaintext will be hashed to conceal it, the next time Transmission is started).
Finally if you prefer the command-line, you can instead run `transmission-remote <https://linux.die.net/man/1/transmission-remote>`_ commands.
More settings can be changed within `/etc/transmission-daemon/settings.json <https://github.com/holta/iiab/blob/transmission-settings/roles/transmission/templates/settings.json.j2>`_ if you first ensure that the transmission-daemon.service is stopped::
*2021-03-14: Transmission 2.94 and 3.00 were intermittently***ignoring***/etc/transmission-daemon/settings.json (presumably when the file was deemed problematic/missing/etc) and creating their own*``/var/lib/transmission-daemon/.config/transmission-daemon/settings.json``*(i.e. suddenly a FILE instead of transmission-deamon's out-of-the-box SYMLINK to /etc/transmission-daemon/settings.json). IIAB*`PR #2707 <https://github.com/iiab/iiab/pull/2707>`_*should fix this problem, by reversing the direction of the symlink created by apt. See*`Troubleshooting <./README.rst#Troubleshooting>`_*below.*
Transmission can facilitate provisioning content onto your IIAB, e.g. by adding thousands of KA Lite videos from places like: https://pantry.learningequality.org/downloads/ka-lite/0.17/content/
Please read the lettered instructions (A, B, C, D) in `/etc/iiab/local_vars.yml <https://wiki.iiab.io/go/FAQ#What_is_local_vars.yml_and_how_do_I_customize_it%3F>`_ and 'KA Lite Administration: What tips & tricks exist?' at http://FAQ.IIAB.IO outlining how to use Transmission to download and then install KA Lite content.
You can also download other torrents using Transmission's web interface, or by typing `transmission-remote <https://linux.die.net/man/1/transmission-remote>`_ at the command-line::
* |ss| Default Transmission user/group may need fixing (https://github.com/transmission/transmission/issues/537) in some circumstances. You can set Ansible variables 'transmission_user' and 'transmission_group' e.g. in /opt/iiab/iiab/roles/transmission/defaults/main.yml (you might need 'User=' and 'Group=' in systemd unit file /lib/systemd/system/transmission-daemon.service — e.g. both might need to be set to 'debian-transmission' — if so then run 'systemctl daemon-reload' and 'systemctl restart transmission-daemon'). |se| |nbsp| `PR #2703 <https://github.com/iiab/iiab/pull/2703>`_
* Random Ports: Currently it is not possible to use random ports in the range 49152-65535, as it's difficult to open multiple ports in IIAB's `iptables-based firewall <https://github.com/iiab/iiab/wiki/IIAB-Networking#firewall-iptables>`_.
* transmission-daemon (4.0.6 or 4.1-dev) install onto Ubuntu 24.04 or 24.10, but (1) its systemd service times out (fails to start) (2) rebooting kinda helps, but service then crashes on 1st visit to http://box:9091 `#3756 <https://github.com/iiab/iiab/issues/3756>`_
More advanced configuration and status are in directory ``/var/lib/transmission-daemon/info/`` (symlinked to /var/lib/transmission-daemon/.config/transmission-daemon/) here::
These are further explained in |ss| https://github.com/transmission/transmission/wiki/Configuration-Files |se| (to align with the above, apt package transmission-daemon sets user debian-transmission's home directory to ``/var/lib/transmission-daemon`` in /etc/passwd).
Docs
----
As of June 2023, these docs appear to be the most up-to-date:
- https://github.com/transmission/transmission#command-line-interface-notes ("``transmission-cli`` is deprecated and exists primarily to support older hardware dependent upon it. In almost all instances, ``transmission-remote`` should be used instead.")
Increase logging by changing transmission-daemon's ``--log-level=error`` to ``--log-level=debug`` in ``/lib/systemd/system/transmission-daemon.service``
Noting that one should not normally edit files in ``/lib`` or ``/usr/lib`` — systemd has a command for customizing unit files: ``systemctl edit --full transmission-daemon.service``
