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Seedbox access via FTP, SSH and SFTP

From Pulsed Media Wiki


How to connect to your Pulsed Media seedbox for file transfers and shell access. SFTP is the recommended method — it encrypts everything, uses the same port as SSH, and works with all major file transfer clients.

Access details

When your seedbox is set up, you receive a URL in the format:

servername.pulsedmedia.com/user-username/

For FTP, SFTP, and SSH connections, use only the server hostname:

servername.pulsedmedia.com

Protocol Port Encrypted Use case
FTP 21 No (cleartext) Legacy clients only
SFTP 22 Yes (SSH) File transfer (recommended)
SSH 22 Yes Command-line access
SCP 22 Yes (SSH) Single file copy

Your username and password are the same ones you use for the web interface (ruTorrent/Deluge/qBittorrent).

Why SFTP over FTP

FTP sends your password and file data in cleartext. Anyone between you and the server can read it. SFTP runs over SSH, so the entire session is encrypted — login credentials, file names, and file contents.

SFTP also handles interrupted transfers better than FTP and works through most firewalls without special configuration (it uses a single TCP connection on port 22).

The only reason to use FTP is if your client software does not support SFTP. Most modern clients support both.

Connecting with SFTP

Windows

WinSCP (free, open source):

  1. Download from winscp.net
  2. New session → File protocol: SFTP
  3. Host name: servername.pulsedmedia.com
  4. Port: 22
  5. Enter your username and password
  6. Click Login

FileZilla (free, open source):

  1. Download from filezilla-project.org
  2. File → Site Manager → New Site
  3. Protocol: SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol
  4. Host: servername.pulsedmedia.com
  5. Port: 22
  6. Logon type: Normal, enter username and password
  7. Connect

See also: Connecting with FileZilla (SFTP) for a detailed guide.

macOS

macOS has a built-in SFTP client in Terminal:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> sftp username@servername.pulsedmedia.com </syntaxhighlight>

For a graphical client, Cyberduck (free) and Transmit both support SFTP.

Linux

Most Linux file managers (Nautilus, Dolphin, Thunar) can open SFTP locations directly:

<syntaxhighlight lang="text"> sftp://username@servername.pulsedmedia.com/ </syntaxhighlight>

From the terminal:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> sftp username@servername.pulsedmedia.com </syntaxhighlight>

Connecting with SSH

SSH gives you a command-line shell on your seedbox for managing files, checking disk usage, and running scripts.

Windows

PuTTY is the standard SSH client for Windows. See Connecting using Putty for setup instructions.

Windows 10 and later also include OpenSSH in PowerShell:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> ssh username@servername.pulsedmedia.com </syntaxhighlight>

macOS and Linux

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash"> ssh username@servername.pulsedmedia.com </syntaxhighlight>

Directory layout

Once connected, your home directory contains:

Path Contents
~/ Home directory (/home/username/)
~/data/ Torrent data — downloaded files go here
~/session/ rTorrent session files (.torrent files and state)
~/www/ Web interface files (ruTorrent, etc.)
~/www/public/ Public web directory — files here are accessible without login

Your torrent client downloads to ~/data/ by default. When transferring files to your local machine, this is where you will find them.

Checking disk usage

Over SSH:

<syntaxhighlight lang="bash">

  1. Check your quota

quota -s

  1. See what's using space

du -sh ~/data/* </syntaxhighlight>

See also: Checking disk usage and Storage quota: how it works.

Mounting your seedbox as a local drive

rclone can mount your seedbox storage as a local drive on your computer using SFTP. This lets you browse and play files directly without downloading them first.

See Rclone: mount seedbox via SFTP for setup instructions.

On Windows, WinSCP and SFTP Drive can also map SFTP as a network drive.

Transferring large files

For large downloads from your seedbox, a few things help:

  • Use SFTP instead of FTP. SFTP handles interrupted transfers and resumes more reliably.
  • Use a wired connection. Wi-Fi adds latency and packet loss that cuts throughput.
  • Try segmented downloads with aria2 or lftp, which open multiple connections: <syntaxhighlight lang="bash" inline>lftp -e "pget -n 4 /data/largefile.iso" sftp://user@server</syntaxhighlight>
  • If speeds are slow, run a traceroute. See Network Diagnostics and Network Troubleshooting with MTR.

PM's seedboxes are in Finland. Transfer speed depends on the network path between your location and PM's datacenters. European users generally see the best speeds; intercontinental transfers may benefit from segmented downloads.

Troubleshooting

Connection refused

  • Verify you are using the correct server hostname (not the full URL with /user-username/)
  • Check that you are connecting to port 22 (SFTP/SSH) or port 21 (FTP)
  • Your seedbox may be temporarily unreachable — try again in a few minutes

Authentication failed

  • Username and password are case-sensitive
  • Use the same credentials as for the web interface
  • If you recently changed your password, some clients cache the old one

Slow transfers

  • Run an MTR trace to check for packet loss or high latency on the route
  • Try a different time of day — congestion at transit points varies
  • Switch from FTP to SFTP (or vice versa) to rule out protocol-specific issues
  • Try segmented/parallel downloads (see above)

Permission denied

  • You can only access files within your home directory
  • Files in other users' directories are not accessible — each user is isolated
  • Some system directories are read-only

See also

Knowledge base:

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