Downloading entertainment, such as films, music, podcasts, e-books, and audiobooks is hands down one of the best ways to enjoy it. Unlike with streaming, you don’t always need a consistent internet connection, and you can enjoy your preferred entertainment on the go.
But if you use a torrent site for such entertainment, you will need a torrent client to convert the file into a suitable format. What’s more, most torrent sites require that you seed back the downloads, for which, again, you will need a torrent client.
qBittorrent is currently considered one of the best user-friendly torrent clients around, and if you’re already familiar with it, there’s no reason to switch clients because you’re moving from PC or laptop to a Raspberry Pi.
In this article, we’re going to discuss how to use it on a Raspberry Pi. We’re going to cover recommended and optional equipment, installing it, setting it up, and actually running the software.
We’ll explain the setting up through both using the desktop interface and through using the command line.
We’ll wrap up at the end of the article, by which point you’ll know everything you need to get qBittorrent running on your Raspberry Pi. Please feel free to scroll ahead to any section that jumps out at you.
Here goes!
Equipment
To use qBittorrent on a Raspberry Pi, in addition to the Raspberry Pi itself, you will also need a Micro SD card with at least 8 GB of storage, and either an Ethernet cable or a Wi-Fi connection.
Optional extras include a USB keyboard, a USB mouse, and a Raspberry Pi case.
Installation of qBittorrent
Before you begin, you must ensure that you’re using up-to-date packages on your Raspberry Pi
Then to install the full desktop version of qBittorrent, you need to use the following command: sudo apt install qBittorrent
First, we’re going to walk you through setting up the full desktop version using a mouse and keyboard (see also ‘How To Change Mouse Polling Rate?‘). If instead you need to know how to set up the command line version with a headless set-up, please scroll down to that section.
Setting Up The Desktop Version With A Mouse, And Keyboard
First, you need to click on the Raspberry Pi icon in the top left corner of the screen.
Then on the start menu, hover over “internet”
Then in the drop-down menu, click on “qBittorrent”
When the legal notice pops up, click on “I Agree”
Now you can start running the software!
Setting Up The Command Line Version With A Headless Setup
Before we begin, it’s important to note that the command line version of Qbittorrent is primarily designed to be set up via its web interface and not through the command line.
First, launch qBittorrent by running the following command: qBittorrent-nox.
You will then get a message telling you that you need to control qBittorrent from its web interface and not from the command line. However, you can get around this by creating a service that will handle the use of the software. We’ll be covering this shortly.
For now, you can quit out by pressing control and C.
Running qBittorrent
We’ll walk you through both methods of running qBittorrent, please scroll to the one for you.
Running qBittorrent Through Its Web Interface (Full Desktop Version)
From the menu that runs along the top of the window, click “Tools”.
In the drop-down box, select “Preferences”.
In the “Preferences” menu, check the box next to “Web User Interface”.
This enables the web user interface, and at this point we recommend that you change the username and password.
Once your authentication details are correctly entered, simply click on “Apply” to finalize.
Running qBittorrent As A Service On A Headless Raspberry Pi
First, you need to create a user for the torrent client to operate under. For the purposes of these instructions, we’re going to call this user qBittorrent. Enter the following commands:
sudo useradd -r -m qBittorrent sudo usermod -a -G qBittorrent pi sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/qBittorrent.service
Next, save the file by pressing Control and X, then Y, followed by Enter.
Then to verify that qBittorrent is now running, use the following command:
sudo systemctl status qBittorrent
You should then receive a message telling you that the qBittorrent service is active.
You can enable the starting up of the torrent client on boot up by running the following command:
sudo systemctl enable qBittorrent
Using the qBittorrent Web Interface
The only way to manage your torrents on qBittorrent is by using a web interface. This is how.
If you’ve been following all the relevant steps so far, you should now have the qBittorrent web interface enabled, whether via the desktop client or via the command-line version.
Open your preferred web browser.
Then input the following under Go To:
http://[YOUR IP ADDRESS]:8080 (Where you replace “[YOUR IP ADDRESS]” with the local IP address of the Raspberry Pi)
Then you need to enter your username and password, and click “Login” (If you haven’t altered the authentication details, the username is “admin” and the password is “adminadmin”).
Now you’re good to go, and you’re ready to download and seed your torrents and manage the torrent client.
Configuring qBittorrent Through The Web Interface
Click on “Tools” on the menu bar along the top of the window, and select “Options”.
Then using the options dialogue box, you can configure just about every element of qBittorrent
And if you haven’t done it already, you should now set up your preferred username and password.
Wrap Up
Now you know every step for setting up qBittorrent on your Raspberry Pi, and you can start downloading all kinds of torrents. Enjoy!
As a tech enthusiast from a young age, it was inevitable that I'd find my way to the humble, yet brilliant Raspberry Pi. With this site - I aim to build out a knowledge base that will give you everything you need for your own Raspberry Pi journey!
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