Run computer with SSH only

Question

I use my Ubuntu computer for downloading torrents via utorrent.
I use a webui to control utorrent and i then move the files it has downloaded to different folders using ssh commands (Movies, Music etc) using my XP Pro machine. They are connected via a router.
I know the basic ssh commands what im interested in is if the computer turns off, can i get it to log in and open utorrent automatically or using ssh commands?
This would help as i would like to just leave the ubuntu box hidden away and safe.

Answer 1

One solution would be to read this old post on command-line bittorrent clients, and switch to using a command-line client instead of uTorrent.

Personally, I'm happy with btlaunchmanycurses: I run it inside Screen, dumping a .torrent in the folder it's watching is enough to start it downloading, and rming the .torrent stops it seeding.

Answer 2

Here is a crude way:

1. Set Ubuntu to log in automatically at boot

2. Use the System -> Preferences -> Startup Applications to launch uTorrent

If the idea is to have a headless server, you could provide remote GUI access with VNC or with remote X-Windows session. Both protocols/sessions can be tunneled over an ssh tunnel. Of the two, I found VNC easier to set up: install it, log in with ssh, start the session, and tunnel the client over your ssh connection.

If you were using a bit torrent client that ran directly on Ubuntu, rather than needing Wine, then you can set an environment variable to tell the starting application where to draw its windows. Thus, you could start the application in an ssh session, but the process would spawn its interface in your window manager. Wine may allow you to start the windows app the same way.

Answer 3

You can also try Deluge, it has both a web interface, and a normal desktop application (based on GTK) that you can use to connect to a remote computer, running Deluge.

Answer 4

I personnaly use rtorrent, coupled with wtorrent for a nicer interface on my Ubuntu server.

Rtorrent alone is quite nice and can also be used by watching a directory entry for new torrents so it can also be used via ftp or scp. Some little more info here