r285 - /website/trunk/faq.mdwn

Thu Aug 23 19:19:10 UTC 2007

Author: camrdale-guest
Date: Thu Aug 23 19:19:10 2007
New Revision: 285

URL: http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/debtorrent/?sc=1&rev=285
Log:
web commit by camrdale-guest: Initial creation of FAQ.

Added:
    website/trunk/faq.mdwn

Added: website/trunk/faq.mdwn
URL: http://svn.debian.org/wsvn/debtorrent/website/trunk/faq.mdwn?rev=285&op=file
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--- website/trunk/faq.mdwn (added)
+++ website/trunk/faq.mdwn Thu Aug 23 19:19:10 2007
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+[[toc levels=3]]
+
+## Installing
+
+#### What packages do I need?
+
+All you need to get started is the [[debtorrent package|Install]]. To
+improve the communication with APT, you may also want to install the
+apt-transport-debtorrent package (and maybe even a patched version of
+APT, [find out why][10]).
+
+[10]: http://www.camrdale.org/blog/posts/Aug-19-2007.html
+
+#### Does DebTorrent require testing/unstable to work?
+
+No. You can download the debtorrent package and install it in any Debian
+version that has Python 2.3 or newer. The dependencies of
+apt-transport-debtorrent would make it hard to install in etch (but
+it's not required anyway).
+
+#### Will DebTorrent work with other distributions/Ubuntu?
+
+Yes, (I think) but not very well.
+The current DebTorrent uses some additional information that is not yet
+stored in the Debian archive `Packages` files. This information allows
+DebTorrent to break up large files into multiple pieces, as otherwise
+every file will be a single (possibly very large) piece. Not having
+this information will reduce the effectiveness of the downloading of
+DebTorrent. Eventually, this information will be added to the
+`Packages` files, so that anyone hosting a Debian-type archive will be
+able to efficiently use DebTorrent.
+
+## Downloading
+
+#### Will DebTorrent download all the packages in the archive?
+
+From version 0.1.2 on, DebTorrent listens for requests from APT for packages
+to download. When you do an `apt-get install foo`, APT will send a request
+for foo to DebTorrent, which will download that package only. Once that
+package is complete, DebTorrent will stop downloading (but will continue
+to upload foo and any others to peers).
+
+#### What happens if there's no peer that has the package I want?
+
+DebTorrent has a backup download method built into it that will use an HTTP
+mirror to download the file. This method will only be used if no peers can
+be found that have the file.
+
+## Port Forwarding
+
+#### Do I need to forward ports?
+
+As with any peer-to-peer software, port forwarding is not required, but will
+considerably improve your download and upload abilities. Therefore, port
+forwarding is recommended.
+
+#### What ports should I forward?
+
+The ports the DebTorrent client listens on are configurable in the config file:
+/etc/debtorrent/debtorrent-client.conf. You can specify a range using the
+min_port and max_port options, and how that range is used using the random_port
+option.
+
+#### How many ports should I forward? Do I need to forward more than 1?
+
+The Debtorrent client uses a single port to handle connections for multiple
+torrent downloads. However, if you specify only a single port (by making
+min_port and max_port the same), and that port isn't available at startup
+time, then the client will fail to start. The port could be unavailable due
+to a previous instance of the program not shutting down cleanly, or another
+program randomly using the port you picked. It is recommended that you
+forward a small number of ports (2 to 5) to avoid this situation.
+
+#### How do I forward ports?
+
+It depends on your router. The [Wikipedia page][20] recommends
+[this site][30] for HowTos, and [this one][40] for testing.
+
+[20]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_forwarding
+[30]: http://www.portforward.com/
+[40]: http://www.canyouseeme.org/


