How To Install rtorrent on Kali Linux

In this tutorial we learn how to install rtorrent on Kali Linux. rtorrent is ncurses BitTorrent client based on LibTorrent from rakshasa

Introduction

In this tutorial we learn how to install rtorrent on Kali Linux.

What is rtorrent

rtorrent is:

rtorrent is a BitTorrent client based on LibTorrent. It uses ncurses and aims to be a lean, yet powerful BitTorrent client, with features similar to the most complex graphical clients.

Since it is a terminal application, it can be used with the “screen”/“dtach” utility so that the user can conveniently logout from the system while keeping the file transfers active.

Some of the features of rtorrent include:

  • Use an URL or file path to add torrents at runtime
  • Stop/delete/resume torrents
  • Optionally loads/saves/deletes torrents automatically in a session directory
  • Safe fast resume support
  • Detailed information about peers and the torrent
  • Support for distributed hash tables (DHT)
  • Support for peer-exchange (PEX)
  • Support for initial seeding (Superseeding)

There are three methods to install rtorrent on Kali Linux. We can use apt-get, apt and aptitude. In the following sections we will describe each method. You can choose one of them.

Install rtorrent Using apt-get

Update apt database with apt-get using the following command.

sudo apt-get update

After updating apt database, We can install rtorrent using apt-get by running the following command:

sudo apt-get -y install rtorrent

Install rtorrent Using apt

Update apt database with apt using the following command.

sudo apt update

After updating apt database, We can install rtorrent using apt by running the following command:

sudo apt -y install rtorrent

Install rtorrent Using aptitude

If you want to follow this method, you might need to install aptitude on Kali Linux first since aptitude is usually not installed by default on Kali Linux. Update apt database with aptitude using the following command.

sudo aptitude update

After updating apt database, We can install rtorrent using aptitude by running the following command:

sudo aptitude -y install rtorrent

How To Uninstall rtorrent on Kali Linux

To uninstall only the rtorrent package we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get remove rtorrent

Uninstall rtorrent And Its Dependencies

To uninstall rtorrent and its dependencies that are no longer needed by Kali Linux, we can use the command below:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove rtorrent

Remove rtorrent Configurations and Data

To remove rtorrent configuration and data from Kali Linux we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y purge rtorrent

Remove rtorrent configuration, data, and all of its dependencies

We can use the following command to remove rtorrent configurations, data and all of its dependencies, we can use the following command:

sudo apt-get -y autoremove --purge rtorrent

Dependencies

rtorrent have the following dependencies:

References

Summary

In this tutorial we learn how to install rtorrent package on Kali Linux using different package management tools: apt, apt-get and aptitude.