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Downloading from seedbox

From Pulsed Media Wiki


How to get files from your Pulsed Media seedbox to your local computer. There are several methods depending on your operating system and whether you prefer a graphical client or the command line.

Your downloaded torrents are in ~/data/ on the seedbox. All methods below connect to servername.pulsedmedia.com on port 22 using the same credentials as the web interface.

For connection setup details, see Seedbox access via FTP, SSH and SFTP.

Quick comparison

Method Best for Resume Parallel GUI
SFTP client Most users Yes No (1 connection) Yes
rsync Large or repeated transfers Yes (delta) No No
lftp Maximum speed Yes Yes (segmented) No
rclone Automated sync, mounting Yes Yes Optional
Web interface Quick single-file grabs No No Yes
scp Single files from terminal No No No

SFTP (recommended for most users)

SFTP is the simplest method that still encrypts the transfer. Use any SFTP client.

FileZilla (Windows, macOS, Linux)

  1. Open FileZilla. Go to File, then Site Manager, then New Site.
  2. Protocol: SFTP
  3. Host: servername.pulsedmedia.com
  4. Port: 22
  5. Logon type: Normal. Enter your username and password.
  6. Click Connect.
  7. Navigate to /home/username/data/ on the remote side.
  8. Drag files to the left panel (your local machine).

See Connecting with FileZilla for a detailed walkthrough.

WinSCP (Windows)

  1. New session. File protocol: SFTP.
  2. Host name: servername.pulsedmedia.com, port 22.
  3. Enter username and password. Click Login.
  4. Navigate to /home/username/data/.
  5. Select files and drag to local panel, or use the Download button.

WinSCP can also queue transfers, limit bandwidth, and schedule downloads.

Cyberduck (macOS)

  1. Open Connection. Select SFTP.
  2. Server: servername.pulsedmedia.com, port 22.
  3. Enter credentials. Connect.
  4. Browse to /home/username/data/ and drag files to Finder.

rsync (large or repeated transfers)

rsync only transfers bytes that changed since the last sync. If a transfer is interrupted, rerunning the same command picks up where it left off. This makes it the best tool for keeping a local copy of your seedbox data directory.

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

  1. Sync entire data directory to local folder

rsync -avz username@servername.pulsedmedia.com:/home/username/data/ ~/seedbox/

  1. Sync a single folder

rsync -avz username@servername.pulsedmedia.com:/home/username/data/some-folder/ ~/seedbox/some-folder/

  1. Limit bandwidth to 10 MB/s (useful if you don't want to saturate your connection)

rsync -avz --bwlimit=10000 username@servername.pulsedmedia.com:/home/username/data/ ~/seedbox/ </syntaxhighlight>

Flags:

  • -a — archive mode (preserves permissions, timestamps, symlinks)
  • -v — verbose output
  • -z — compress during transfer (helps on slow connections, marginal on fast ones)

rsync is available by default on Linux and macOS. On Windows, install it via MSYS2 or use WSL.

lftp (segmented parallel downloads)

lftp can split a file into multiple segments and download them simultaneously over separate connections. On a seedbox with 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps connectivity, this can saturate your local download bandwidth.

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

  1. Download a single file with 4 parallel segments

lftp -e "pget -n 4 /home/username/data/largefile.iso; quit" sftp://username@servername.pulsedmedia.com

  1. Mirror an entire directory with 3 parallel file transfers

lftp -e "mirror --parallel=3 /home/username/data/folder/ ~/seedbox/folder/; quit" sftp://username@servername.pulsedmedia.com </syntaxhighlight>

lftp is available in most Linux package managers (apt install lftp) and via Homebrew on macOS (brew install lftp).

rclone (automated sync and mounting)

rclone can sync files like rsync, but it can also mount your seedbox as a local drive. Mounted, the files appear in your file manager and can be opened directly (useful for media playback with Jellyfin or VLC).

Setup

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> rclone config

  1. Choose: New remote
  2. Name: seedbox
  3. Type: sftp
  4. Host: servername.pulsedmedia.com
  5. User: username
  6. Port: 22
  7. (follow prompts for password or key)

</syntaxhighlight>

Sync

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

  1. Sync data directory to local

rclone sync seedbox:/home/username/data/ ~/seedbox/data/

  1. Copy only new files (don't delete local files that were removed from seedbox)

rclone copy seedbox:/home/username/data/ ~/seedbox/data/ </syntaxhighlight>

Mount

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

  1. Mount seedbox as local drive

rclone mount seedbox:/home/username/data/ ~/mnt/seedbox/ --vfs-cache-mode full </syntaxhighlight>

See Rclone: mount seedbox via SFTP for detailed mount instructions.

Web interface (quick single-file grabs)

Your seedbox web interface (ruTorrent, Deluge Web, qBittorrent Web) includes a file browser. You can download individual files directly through your browser over HTTPS.

  1. Log in to your seedbox web interface at https://servername.pulsedmedia.com/user-username/
  2. Find the torrent in the list
  3. Right-click the file or use the download button

This works for grabbing a single file without installing any software. It is slow for large transfers and does not support resume if the connection drops.

scp (single files from terminal)

scp copies a single file over SSH. It works but has no resume capability and no delta transfer. For anything beyond a quick one-off copy, use rsync or lftp instead.

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

  1. Copy a single file

scp username@servername.pulsedmedia.com:/home/username/data/file.mkv ~/Downloads/

  1. Copy an entire folder

scp -r username@servername.pulsedmedia.com:/home/username/data/folder/ ~/Downloads/ </syntaxhighlight>

Automating downloads

If you want files to arrive on your local machine automatically after they finish downloading on the seedbox, two approaches work:

Cron + rsync

Run rsync on a schedule. On Linux or macOS, add a crontab entry:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

  1. Sync every hour

0 * * * * rsync -az username@servername.pulsedmedia.com:/home/username/data/ ~/seedbox/ </syntaxhighlight>

This requires SSH key authentication (no password prompt). Set up an SSH key pair and add the public key to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on your seedbox.

rclone bisync

rclone's bisync mode keeps two directories in sync in both directions. See the rclone bisync documentation for setup.

Troubleshooting

Slow downloads

  • Check your local internet speed first. Your ISP upload/download limits apply.
  • Try lftp with parallel segments to use more of your available bandwidth.
  • Run an MTR trace to check the network path. See Network Diagnostics and Network Troubleshooting with MTR.
  • European users typically get the fastest speeds. Intercontinental transfers have more hops.

Transfer interrupted

  • rsync and lftp both resume where they left off. Rerun the same command.
  • FileZilla and WinSCP will prompt to resume existing partial files when you reconnect.
  • scp cannot resume. You have to start the transfer over.

Permission denied

  • You can only download files from your own home directory.
  • Check that the file path is correct. Typos in usernames or paths cause this error.

See also

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