How to install qBittorrent on Ubuntu 20.04 – A BitTorrent client for Linux

qBittorrent is a free and open-source reliable P2P BitTorrent client. It’s an cross-platform application available for FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, OS/2, Microsoft Windows. This application is available in 70 languages.

This application programmed in C++ / Qt that uses libtorrent. It aims to be a good alternative to all other bittorrent clients out there. qBittorrent is fast, stable and provides unicode support as well as many features. It is one of the very few torrent clients that offers a minimalist and ad-free user interface.

Its optional search engine is written in Python. The feature-set of qBittorrent is pretty broad and includes built-in RSS feed support, which lets users download content by just adding a feed to the list.

The client then automatically downloads the content as soon as the RSS feed gets updated. You also get a built-in search engine that lets users search for their favorite content right from inside the client. This can be achieved by installing the relevant search plugin for the preferred torrent site.

These plugins are available for free and increase the functionality of the BitTorrent client.

Key Features of qBittorrent

  • Free and Open Source
  • Bandwidth scheduler
  • Cross platform application: FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, OS/2, Microsoft Windows
  • Bind all traffic to a specific interface
  • DHT, PEX, encrypted connections, LPD, UPnP, NAT-PMP port forwarding support, µTP, magnet links, private torrents
  • IPv6 support
  • Integrated torrent search engine
  • Sequential downloading
  • Torrent creation tool
  • Unicode support
  • Control over torrents, trackers, and peers
  • IP filtering: file types eMule dat, or PeerGuardian
  • Integrated RSS feed reader and downloader
  • Remote control through Secure Web User Interface
  • Super-seeding option
  • Torrent queuing, filtering, and prioritizing
  • Aavailable in 70 languages

This article explains three methods of installing qBittorrent on Ubuntu 20.04.

Choose the installation method that is most appropriate for your environment.

Method 1: Installing qBittorrent from Ubuntu apt repository

qBittorrent is included in Ubuntu 20.04. Follow the step by step guide to install the application.

Step #1

Type the following command to update the apt sources.

$ sudo apt update

Step #2

Now execute this command to install the qBittorrent package.

$ sudo apt install qbittorrent

With the help of && you can write both the commands in a single line. Something like this:

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install qbittorrent

At this step, you have successfully installed qBittorrent on Ubuntu 20.04 system.

If you are not comfortable with the command line, open Ubuntu Software, search for “qBittorrent” and install the application.

Method 2: Installing qBittorrent via PPA Repository

If you want to install the most recent version of qBittorrent, you can use the PPA repository.

Personal Package Archives (PPA) are software repositories designed for Ubuntu users and are easier to install than other third-party repositories. PPAs are often used to distribute pre-release software so that it can be tested.

Step #1

First of all open the terminal from system application launcher and type the following command to add the qBittorrent PPA to your system.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable

Step #2

Then, execute the following commands to install qBittorrent package on your Ubuntu system.

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install qbittorrent

Once installed, launch it from your system application menu.

Method 3: Installing qBittorrent via AppImage

Before installation let’s understand what is AppImage.

What is AppImage?

We have .deb packages for Debian/Ubuntu based Linux distributions and .rpm for Fedora/SUSE based Linux distributions.

While these packages provide a convenient way of installing software to their respective distribution users, it is not the most convenient for the application developer.

The developers have to create multiple packages for multiple distributions. This is where AppImage comes into picture. AppImage is a universal software package format.

By packaging the software in AppImage, the developer provides just one file to rule them all. End user can use it in most modern Linux distributions.

Step #1

Click on following button to download the latest stable version of qBittorrent AppImage executable file for Linux.

Step #2

The downloaded file name would be something like: qbittorrent-4.4.1_x86_64.AppImage.

By default, the downloaded AppImage file won’t have the execution permission. You will have to change the permission on the file to make it executable and You don’t need root privilege to do that.

Now type the following command to make the AppImage executable.

$ chmod u+x qbittorrent-4.4.1_x86_64.AppImage

Step #3

Once you have made the AppImage file executable, just double click on it to run it Or run the following command to install through terminal.

$ ./qbittorrent-4.4.1_x86_64.AppImage

That’s It.

Starting qBittorrent

qBittorrent can be launched from the command line by typing qbittorrent or In the Activities search bar type “qBittorrent” and click on the icon.

qBittorrent User Interface:

How to Uninstall qBittorrent from Ubuntu 20.04

For some reason, If you want to uninstall qBittorrent, refer following methods.

Method #1

If you have installed the qBittorrent from default ubuntu apt respository then uninstall by running the below command:

$ sudo apt remove qbittorrent

Method #2

If you have installed the application through PPA then uninstall it by following one of the below procedures.

Procedure #1

It’s most likely that you added the PPA using add-apt-repository command. You can use the same command to remove the PPA as well. Just give it --remove option in the command.

$ sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable

Note: Use this procedure only if you need to remove the PPA and not the applications installed by it.

Procedure #2

You must have noticed that in the above procedure we only talked about deleting or removing a PPA. What about the applications installed using these PPAs? Will they be removed as a result of removing the PPA? The answer is NO.

So this is when ppa-purge comes in picture. It not only disables the PPA but also uninstalls all the programs installed by the PPA or revert them to original version provided by your distribution.

So type the following command to install the ppa-purge package and uninstall the qBittorrent package.

$ sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:qbittorrent-team/qbittorrent-stable

Conclusion

I hope that now you have a good understanding of How to install qBittorrent on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa.

If anyone does have any questions about what we covered in this guide then feel free to ask in the comment section below and I will do my best to answer those.

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