Beyond Linux® From Scratch (systemd Edition) - Version 12.4

Chapter 41. Other X-based Programs

Transmission-4.0.6

Introduction to Transmission

Transmission is a cross-platform, open source BitTorrent client. This is useful for downloading large files (such as Linux ISOs) and reduces the need for the distributors to provide server bandwidth.

This package is known to build and work properly using an LFS 12.4 platform.

Package Information

Additional Downloads

Transmission Dependencies

Required

cURL-8.15.0

Recommended

libevent-2.1.12, libpsl-0.21.5 (to use system libraries instead of bundled ones), and librsvg-2.61.0

Recommended (to build a GUI)

Gtkmm-4.18.0 or Qt-6.9.2

Optional

nodejs-22.18.0 (for building the web client, not needed at run time), appindicator, dht, libb64, libdeflate, libnatpmp, libutp, and miniupnp

Editor Notes: https://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/transmission

Installation of Transmission

First, fix a build failure due to incorrect statements in CMakeLists.txt: 

patch -Np1 -i ../transmission-4.0.6-build_fix-1.patch

Next, adapt two of the third-party modules to changes in CMake 4.0: 

sed -e 's/2.8/4.0/' -i third-party/dht/CMakeLists.txt \
                       third-party/libnatpmp/CMakeLists.txt

Install Transmission by running the following commands: 

mkdir build &&
cd    build &&

cmake -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr \
      -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release  \
      -D CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR=/usr/share/doc/transmission-4.0.6 \
      .. &&

make

Now, as the root user: 

make install

Next, if the Gtkmm-4.18.0 dependency was installed, create transmission.png from the SVG file. As the root user: 

rsvg-convert                                               \
   /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/transmission.svg \
   -o /usr/share/pixmaps/transmission.png

Command Explanations

-D ENABLE_QT=OFF: This switch disables building the Qt interface. The default is to build it if Qt-6.9.2 is installed.

-D ENABLE_GTK=OFF: This switch disables building the GTK-4 interface. The default is to build it if Gtkmm-4.18.0 is installed.

-D ENABLE_WEB=OFF: This switch disables building the web client. The default is to build it if nodejs-22.18.0 is installed.

-D REBUILD_WEB=ON: This switch forces rebuilding the web client. This option needs nodejs-22.18.0 to be installed as well as an internet connection. The default is to not rebuild the client.

Contents

Installed Programs: transmission-create, transmission-daemon, transmission-edit, transmission-gtk, transmission-qt, transmission-remote, and transmission-show
Installed Libraries: None
Installed Directory: /usr/share/transmission (contains the web client) and /usr/share/doc/transmission-4.0.6

Short Descriptions

transmission-create

is a command line tool used to create .torrent files

transmission-daemon

is a daemon-based Transmission session that can be controlled via RPC commands from Transmission's web interface or transmission-remote

transmission-edit

is a command line tool to modify .torrent files' announce URLs

transmission-gtk

is a GTK+ bittorrent client

transmission-qt

is a Qt-based bittorrent client

transmission-remote

is a remote control utility for transmission-daemon and transmission

transmission-show

is a command line tool to display bittorrent .torrent file metadata