Downloading torrent files on Linux is a topic that comes up very often since there are many torrent download applications that are constantly being released and updated.
Today we'll see how to download a torrent file from the comfort of our terminal, since one of the great advantages of downloading torrents from the terminal is that it allows users to download files to computers remotely, or even through the local network.
Downloading data through the torrent protocol has legitimate uses, most Internet service providers do not see it that way, but we cannot ignore that many of the Linux distributions are downloaded through this means.
Aria2 Installation
There are a few decent command-line torrent clients for Linux. One of the best to use is Aria2.
Since this can handle torrent magnet links, torrent files along with other types of downloads such as FTP/SFTP, HTTP, Metalink and more.
Aria2 client installation is possible on most Linux distributions quite easily.
In the case of those who are users of Debian, Ubuntu, Linux Mint and any other distro derived from these.
You should know that the Aria2 download application is available for installation from your distribution's repositories. To install it, simply open a terminal and type the following command:
sudo apt install aria2
As for those who are users of Arch Linux, Manjaro, Antergos or any other Arch Linux derivative.
You can find Aria2 directly from the Arch Linux repositories and its installation can be done by executing the following command in a terminal:
sudo pacman -S aria2
For those who are users of Fedora or any derivative of it , the Aria2 download client is found in the main Fedora software sources, so it is quite easy to install.
To do this, they just have to open a terminal and type in it:
sudo dnf install aria2 -y
Finally , for all versions of OpenSUSE, Aria2 installation is available to users from the terminal with:
sudo zypper install aria2
How to download torrent from the terminal?
Already having Aria2 installed on our system, we can begin to be able to handle torrent files by specifying the URL of the magnet link or the torrent file.
To start a download using either of these two methods, we will need to open a terminal window and in it we can add the torrent download using one of the following methods:
aria2c 'enlace magnet'
Whereas if they have a link to the torrent file and do not want to download it:
aria2c 'enlace--web-torrent'
Or locally
aria2c -T "/ruta/al/archivo.torrent"
Once this is done, the download of the file will begin.
Once the download is complete, simply press the key combination "Ctrl + C". Pressing this will end the download and display a message indicating the location of the downloaded files.
Download multiple torrents at once
Aria2 allows users to download multiple torrent files simultaneously. This can be done from a file containing a list of torrent links.
touch ~/descarga
With the echo command, we can add the Torrent or Magnet links to the file.
echo 'tu-enlace-magnet' >> ~/descarga
echo 'tu-enlace-torrent' >> ~/descarga
Or from the comfort of your desktop environment you create a file and with the text editor of your choice you add the links of the files that you are going to download.
Now simply to download all those files with Aria2, we are going to execute the following command:
aria2c -i "/ruta/a/la/lista-de-enlaces
And don't forget to press the "Ctrl + C" key combination to stop the client when the downloads are complete.