Installation

pkg install transmission-daemon transmission-web transmission-cli

daemon - required to install the service

web - installs the web interface

cli - for management

Configuration

Enabling the service (daemon)

Via sysrc

sysrc transmission_enable="YES"

or manually add to /etc/rc.conf

transmission_enable="YES"

Configuring settings.json

The config file is located at /usr/local/etc/transmission/home/settings.json

⚠️ Important:
Edit the file only while the service is stopped (service transmission stop),
otherwise Transmission will reset all changes.

Some values in settings.json are set via rc.conf variables; the default values are located at /usr/local/etc/rc.d/transmission. A useful file describing all the variables, what they do, and their default values.

⚠️ Important:
Values are taken from the variables, so if you set a value in settings.json,
transmission may overwrite it

Configuring the download directory

The download directory is set via a variable in rc.conf:

transmission_download_dir="/mnt/transmission/downloads"

Default is /usr/local/etc/transmission/home/Downloads

Access configuration

Download directory permissions

By default transmission runs under the transmission user and group, so the download directory permissions need to be set:

chown -R transmission:transmission /mnt/transmission/downloads

You can also add yourself to the transmission group:

pw groupmod transmission -m $USER

Login/password authentication

You can add login/password access:

"rpc-authentication-required": true,
"rpc-username": "your_login",
"rpc-password": "your_password",

If this is on a home network and login/password isn't needed, it can be disabled:

"rpc-authentication-required": false,

Address restrictions

You can allow access from specific devices on the network, set via the rpc-whitelist parameter as a comma-separated string, with rpc-whitelist-enabled turned on:

"rpc-whitelist": "127.0.0.1,192.168.1.2",
"rpc-whitelist-enabled": true,

There's a similar setting, but for restricting the addresses at which the web interface will open.

rpc-host-whitelist (note the word host in the name), also set as a comma-separated string:

"rpc-host-whitelist": "transmission.lan,192.168.1.10",
"rpc-host-whitelist-enabled": true,