Headless Torrent Clients for Ubuntu | Generated by AI
Question: How to use the command line to download torrent files on an Ubuntu server? Is qBittorrent a GUI program?
Answer:
Yes, the regular qBittorrent package is a GUI application (it requires a desktop environment with X11/Wayland).
However, on Ubuntu Server (headless / no GUI), you should use qbittorrent-nox instead. This is the headless (no X/GUI) version of qBittorrent. It runs as a daemon and provides a very good web interface that you can access from any browser on your network.
Recommended Options for Ubuntu Server (CLI / headless)
Here are the most popular and reliable choices in 2025–2026:
| Client | Type | Best for | Web UI? | Install command | Download example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| qbittorrent-nox | daemon + web UI | Modern features, best overall | Yes | sudo apt install qbittorrent-nox |
Add torrent via web UI (http://server-ip:8080) |
| transmission-cli | pure CLI | Very simple one-shot downloads | No | sudo apt install transmission-cli |
transmission-cli file.torrent |
| aria2c | pure CLI | Fast, lightweight, multi-protocol | No | sudo apt install aria2 |
aria2c file.torrent or aria2c magnet-link |
| rtorrent | ncurses TUI | Power users who like vim-style UI | No | sudo apt install rtorrent |
Run rtorrent then load torrent with ^O shortcut |
Most Popular Choice for Ubuntu Servers: qbittorrent-nox + Web UI
# 1. (Optional but recommended) Use the official stable PPA for newer version
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable
sudo apt update
# 2. Install
sudo apt install qbittorrent-nox
# 3. Create a user for running the daemon (security best practice)
sudo adduser --system --group qbittorrent
# 4. Create download & config folders (adjust paths as you like)
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/qbittorrent/downloads
sudo chown -R qbittorrent:qbittorrent /var/lib/qbittorrent
# 5. Run it once to create config file and set web UI password
sudo -u qbittorrent qbittorrent-nox
# → it will show default username = admin, password = adminadmin
# Press Ctrl+C to stop
Then create a systemd service so it starts automatically:
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/qbittorrent-nox.service
Paste this content (adjust paths if needed):
[Unit]
Description=qBittorrent-nox service
After=network.target nss-lookup.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=qbittorrent
Group=qbittorrent
UMask=0027
ExecStart=/usr/bin/qbittorrent-nox --daemon --webui-port=8080
Restart=on-failure
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now qbittorrent-nox
Now open in browser:
http://your-server-ip:8080
(default login: admin / adminadmin — change it immediately!)
You can add .torrent files or magnet links directly from the web interface.
Quick CLI-only Alternatives
transmission-cli (very simple)
sudo apt install transmission-cli
# Basic download (downloads to current folder)
transmission-cli ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent
# Download to specific folder + daemon mode
transmission-cli -w /path/to/downloads ubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent
aria2c (fast & modern)
sudo apt install aria2
aria2c "magnet:?xt=urn:btih:..."
# or
aria2c file.torrent --dir=/downloads --seed-time=0 # stop seeding after download
Choose qbittorrent-nox if you want a nice interface and many features.
Choose aria2c or transmission-cli if you only want quick command-line one-shot downloads.
References: