Publish a Torrent

This chapter will show you how to create a Torrent­ file using Azureus.

Background

Small .torrent files contain information about other files. If you want to distribute a video file using BitTorrent, you need to first create a torrent file which contains information about the file you wish to distribute.

BitTorrent publishing relies on something called a tracker. A tracker is software that runs on an internet server. You upload the torrent files you make to a tracker. This is referred to as 'publishing'. If you publish a torrent file to a tracker, then the tracker 'keeps track of' who has the video file available for sharing. The tracker uses the information in the torrent file to do this. 

Choosing a Tracker

When creating a torrent file, you need to be able to enter the details of the tracker that you are going to upload the torrent to. So, the first thing to do is to find a tracker you wish to use. You can search the net for trackers, there are plenty of them. At the moment we will keep it simple and just refer to the most popular one (at the time of writing) on the net. This is the fabulous 'Pirate Bay'. The Pirate Bay have been around for quite some time and they provide a free tracker service. However you must first ensure you have an account with them. I will assume you have already done this before proceeding.

Creating a torrent

First open the Torrent dialog box by clicking on File and then New Torrent :

You will see a window like the following appear :

This is the screen where you need to enter the tracker location. In this example I am using ' http://tpb.tracker.thepiratebay.org:80/announce'. Enter this tracker URL in the 'Use an external Tracker' box.

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Now click on Next >

Click 'Browse...' in the following window and you should be shown a dialog box that allows you to browse your computer looking for the file you wish to share over BitTorrent. If you are using Windows you can simply Drag and Drop a file onto the window and the location of the file should appear in the 'File:' box. Drag and Drop is also meant to work with Ubuntu but it didn't work well when I tried it.

   

Click on Next >

You then get to choose where you save the torrent file. If you wish to change the default directory where the file will be saved you need to click on the Browse button. When you do this a window will appear from which you can browse your computer until you find the right place to put the file. You must remember where you save the file as you will need to find it later.

Linux Users : If you are using Linux or Ubuntu (a version of Linux) then you should change the default save location.This is because by default Azureus will save the file to a directory which under normal conditions you cannot 'see' when you look in your home directory. This is because the folder starts with a dot ('.) and any file or folder starting with a '.' is 'hidden' or invisible.

In the above window click the box next to the text "Open the torrent for seeding when done". Also click on the box next to "Allow decentralized tracking when tracking is unavailable" (see above).

Click on Finish

You will see a status window like this:

Click 'Close' and you should see your file in the lower window with a status saying seeding.

If so you are ready to upload your torrent to the tracker.