Is there a guide to what needs to be done to set up Torrent downloading please ??
Thanks.
You’d have to switch to the develop branch and update. Torrents is not yet live in master.
See here on how to change the branch: https://github.com/Sonarr/Sonarr/wiki/Release-Branches
Then you’ll get torrent options in the Indexers and Download Client settings pages. Just add a new Indexer or Download Client respectively. Depending on which one you pick, you’ll have to provide the URL, port, api key, pretty much the same as for usenet indexers/downloaders.
Hope this gets you on your way 
Thanks Thirston.
I’m already on the develop branch, have been for months.
So I have use BitTorrent in the past, but where do I get api information from?
Do I have to have accounts on torrent sites?
Ah ok 
Depends a bit on the torrent tracker. Different information may be required since all sites have a different api. Sonarr supports a couple of “free” trackers, requiring no account (e.g. Eztv, KickassTorrents, …) and some that require you to have an account (BitMeTv, etc). The latter will usually have a page with account settings somewhere once you log in, that lists your api key. The sonarr gui will tell you the information it needs.
The same goes for your torrent application, sonarr will need to know where it runs (localhost if on the same machine as sonarr) and usually a username/password and category, a bit simular to e.g. sabnzbd for nzb’s.
Is there any particular torrent tracker (indexer) or download client that you’re having trouble setting up? Then me or someone else can guide you for that specific site / client.
Thanks Thirrian.
I tried a couple of them and they are blocked in the UK and the other ones require accounts etc. so as to get API details.
A quick couple of questions though.
- Can I use Bittorrent instead of uTorrent as my client, and does it have to be running 24x7 like NzbGet/sabNzbD are ??
- Does Sonarr remove the downloads from the torrent client once completed ?? If not, then I’m not sure they can be imported (moved) as the file(s) would be in use by another program.
I’ll have another look over the weekend and come back if I need anything else.
Thanks.
Blocked indexers:
KickassTorrents allows you to enter any URL. So rather than http:// kickass.so, you can enter http:// some.proxy.co.uk/redirect/to/kickass
Not sure about the other indexers, I suppose as long as you can modify the URL field, you can do this as well.
- I suppose so. There is a “client” called TorrentBlackhole that you can use for the BitTorrent client. This is not preferred though, see below why.
You set it up with a folder where sonarr will drop the .torrent files, and another folder where the torrent client will move completed downloads so sonarr can pick them up.
The issue is that sonarr is running blind on your torrent downloads. With other clients, it will use that client’s api to check what’s in the queue, see if anything failed, remove it, try another torrent, etc…
With the TorrentBlackhole option, sonarr has to rely on your client to eventually make the files available in the watch folder. So you’ll have to configure the torrent client like “if this ratio is met, move the files here and remove the torrent from my list” or something along those lines. Most can do that.
When using a torrent client that sonarr can talk to via its api, having the files moved and all is not applicable. Sonarr can just ask the client what the status is and where the files are.
Running 24/7: I suppose this doesn’t matter much when using TorrentBlackhole. If/when the torrent client drops completed downloads in the watch folder, sonarr will pick them up. Sonarr isn’t talking to your torrent client anyway, so it doesn’t “know” if the torrent client is up/down either or even which torrent client you are using.
For other torrent clients that are specifically supported by sonarr, I don’t have experience with them firsthand with the exception of Transmission. I’m using it myself and it’s always running. I’m guessing that the smart folks doing all the work here have thought about it, and sonarr will simply try to reconnect to it every once in a while in case it is switched off, waiting for the torrent client to become available again.
- Remove once completed: yes, I think it does for most supported clients, excluding TorrentBlackhole as described above. Speaking from experience with Transmission only. Once Transmission says it’s completed (based on time, seed ratio, whatever), sonarr will know this and move the files and remove the torrent from the client.
Files in use: sonarr is smart about this, and will move the files and make a hardlink (kind of like a shortcut). This is useful in case you want to keep seeding when the download is already complete. Sonarr will make your torrent client think the file is still there so you can continue seeding, and it’s available in the correct series / season folder so XBMC or Mediaplayer or whatever can already index it and you can start watching.
Once your client then reports the torrent is really finished (met the ratio, time, …), sonarr will remove it and clean up the hardlink stuff.
Once again, this is my understanding and experience with how it works. Hope it helps.
Doesn’t look like many of the torrent sites supported are currently up and running, or they are blocked in the UK.
Manual torrenting is the only method I can use currently.
not if you run a VPN client connecting to a vpn service elsewhere in the world on the same system that Sonarr is on… that’s what i do and i have no problems accessing any of the torrent sites from the UK (BT is my ISP so every damn thing is blocked!)
Thanks for the info @damned, but not sure I want to use a VPN at the moment.
I don’t use torrents that often, so may just stick with what I’ve got.
Half the internet blocked? You must be in a part of China that is still under UK rule, lol.
LOL.
The USA will start blocking sites soon enough.