How to install Transmission on Ubuntu 20.04 – A Torrent Client for Linux

Transmission is one of the most widely used, feature-packed and lightweight torrent client. Its an cross platform application available for Microsoft Windows, Linux and macOS. It was initially out on macOS and Linux, before making its way to Windows as well.

The user interface of this application is dead simple but features most of the essential options that include magnet link support, download/upload speed configuration, remote control etc. The availability of a web interface, command-line tools and optional Daemon support, among other things, makes it a highly capable app.

Transmission allows users to quickly download files from multiple peers on the Internet and to upload their own files. By adding torrent files via the user interface, users can create a queue of files to be downloaded and uploaded. One of its biggest advantages is that this torrent client offers a wide range of add-ons that can be used to further enhance its feature set.

Key Features of Transmission

  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Fully-featured client
  • Dedicated app for embedded devices
  • Clean interface
  • Offers a wide range of add-ons
  • Support for HTTP(S)/SOCKS proxy

This article explains two methods of installing Transmission on Ubuntu 20.04.

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

Method 1: Installing Transmission from Ubuntu apt repository

Transmission 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 Transmission package.

$ sudo apt install transmission

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

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install transmission

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

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

Method 2: Installing Transmission via PPA Repository

If you want to install the most recent version of Transmission, 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 Transmission PPA to your system.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:transmissionbt/ppa

Step #2

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

$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install transmission-gtk

Once installed, launch it from your system application menu.

Starting Transmission

Transmission can be launched from the command line by typing transmission-gtk or In the Activities search bar type “Transmission” and click on the icon.

Transmission User Interface:

How to Uninstall Transmission from Ubuntu 20.04

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

Method #1

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

$ sudo apt remove transmission-gtk

Method #2

If you have installed the Transmission 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:transmissionbt/ppa

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 Transmission package.

$ sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:transmissionbt/ppa

Conclusion

I hope that now you have a good understanding of How to install Transmission 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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