BitTorrent on WHS

I decided to install BitTorrent on my WHS, so that I can pass it a .torrent file and let it do the rest, so that those downloads will continue while I take my laptop with me on the road. Since BitTorrent acquired and integrated µTorrent with their client, this is surprisingly easy (relatively) to do. These instructions work for both µTorrent and the current official BitTorrent client.

The instructions found here are a great starting point, but I strayed from them on several points, which I outline below. I don't care to re-invent the wheel and reiterate the step-by-steps, so I'll be fairly general about what I did.

1. When I tried creating the user in Windows, for some reason it does not allow that user to access to any of the shares, even if you add them to the appropriate RO/RW groups for a share.

Instead, I created a user through the WHS console like any other, to whom I can grant permissions to shares the proper way. The account is a regular user, not an Administrator. This is important for security reasons, I think.

2. I created a new share called simply "BitTorrent," and granted the new user (as well as our regular users) full access to it.

3. I created a directory on root of the "D:" drive for partial downloads. You probably don't want to use a share for this, as it may interfere with the drive balancing, and the C: drive is usually only 20 GB in size, which may not be sufficient for some downloads. Grant the user created in step 1 write access to this folder.

4. I installed BitTorrent normally, but did not run it after as the Administrator. Instead, I did a Run As using the new user account. For some reason, it prompts if you want to install BitTorrent (even though you've already installed it); it is important to click "No" here. If you click "Yes," it will not save your settings and will not open up the ports it needs through the Windows Firewall. I don't know why this happens, talk to BitTorrent if you're really curious.

Once open, set up all your settings. I set mine up to:

• Automatically start any .torrent files dropped into the "BitTorrent" share.
• Automatically drop completed files into the same share.
• Use the folder set up in Step 3 for downloads.
  
• I set up the scheduler to limit speeds when we are more likely to be using the server (5-10 PM weekdays, 8 AM - midnight on weekends), but downloads run full-speed overnight and while we're at work during the day.

5. The uTorrent add-in for Windows Home Server seems to have been moved around several times since being posted around the WHS forums, but I did find a good copy here.

6. I also installed the WebUI for managing downloads without needing to open the WHS Console. Additionally, I installed this Vista Sidebar Gadget for monitoring my downloads.

All-in all, it takes a fair bit of effort to get an automated BitTorrent server running on WHS like this, but I'm happy with the results. I can just save any .torrent file to the share on WHS, and it kicks off and manages the download automatically, and drops the completed file(s) into the same share when done. I don't have to leave my laptop on overnight anymore, nor do I have to run the downloads piecemeal as I'm porting it around.