qbfrt (qBittorrent fastresume tool)

Command line tool for working with qBittorrent's fastresume data. Supports the experimental SQLite database and (soon) traditional .fastresume files.

queue-bee-fart

Why?

The qBittorrent SQLite database is still experimental. While it drastically improves start up times when you have many torrents, most tools that manipulate qBittorrent fastresume data do not support the new database. This tool prevents you from having to convert back to the .fastresume files to use those other fastresume tools.

Features

With this tool you can:

• Mass update the save paths for torrents in the SQLite database
  • Change files to a new drive or directory without having to move torrents in qBittorrent or recheck all of the torrent data
  • Migrate from qBittorrent on Windows to Linux without having to recheck the torrent data
• Mass update the tracker URLs for torrents in the SQLite database
• Dump the SQLite database to fastresume files

  • Run qBittorrent tools that would normally require the BT_backup folder, such as cross-seeding tools

More functionality to come!

The application will look for the default qBittorrent data directory containing the torrents.db file. This behavior can be changed by passing a path with --data-dir /some/path/to/db

Arguments

General

• -p, --config-dir - Path to the qB local config directory (where torrents.db lives)
  • uses default qBittorrent data directory if not specified
• -d, --disable-backup - Disables the automatic torrents.db backup
• -o, --output-dir - Output directory for new files
  • uses default qBittorrent data directory if not specified
• -v, --verbose - Enables more verbose output

Save path replacement

• --old-path - Existing save path or path fragment
  • requires --new-path to be provided
• --new-path - New save path or path fragment to replace existing path
  • requires --existing-path to be provided
• --use-unix-sep - Force using path slash "/" for updated paths
• --use-win-sep - Force using Windows separators "\" for updated paths

Tracker replacement

• --old-tracker - Existing tracker or URL fragment
  • requires --new-tracker to be provided
• --new-tracker - New tracker or URL fragment to replace existing tracker
  • requires --old-tracker to be provided

Fastresume manipulation

• --db-to-fastresume - Dumps the SQLite database to fastresume files
  • This should create a 1:1 replication of what qB would create in the BT_backup directory

Examples and Usage

These assume the qBittorrent SQLite database lives in the default directory. ALWAYS CREATE A MANUAL BACKUP OF THE QBITTORRENT DATABASE BEFORE USING THIS TOOL!

Updating save path on Unix

Here the torrent is saved at ~/torrents/some/old/path/here. Running the following command will result in the save path becoming ~/torrents/new/thing/here.

qbfrt -v --old-path /some/old/path --new-path /new/thing

Updating save path on Windows

Here the torrent is saved at D:\Downloads\torrents\some\old\path\here. Running the following command will result in the save path becoming C:\torrents\some\old\path\here.

.\qbfrt -v --old-path "D:\Downloads" --new-path "C:\"

Force using specific path separator

You can force updated paths to use a specific separator by passing --use-unix-sep or --use-win-sep. This is useful if you want to update save paths for a different machine. Here the torrent is saved at D:\Downloads\some\folder on a Windows machine and we are running the command on Linux. The new path will still use Windows "\" path separators. Note you would have to escape the back slashes in bash.

qbfrt -v --old-path "D:\\Downloads" --new-path "C:\\" --use-win-sep

Deleting a directory level in the save path

Here the torrent is saved at ~/torrents/some/old/path/here. Running the following command will result in the save path becoming ~/torrents/old/path/here. Note: the trick is to flank the old path with separators.

qbfrt -v --old-path "/some/" --new-path "/"

Migrating save path from Windows to Unix

Here the torrent is saved at D:\Downloads\torrents\some\old\path\here. Running the following command will result in the save path becoming /torrents/some/old/path/here.

qbfrt -v --old-path "D:\\Downloads\\" --new-path "/" --use-unix-sep

Updating tracker URL

Here the torrent has the following trackers:

• http://some.tracker:6969/tracker
• http://other.tracker:6969/tracker

Running the following command will result in the trackers becoming:

• http://some.tracker:6969/tracker
• http://beans.tracker:6969/tracker

qbfrt -v --old-tracker other --new-tracker beans

Creating fastresume files from the database

This will dump fastresume files from the database to a directory called /generated_fastresume_files.

qbfrt -v --db-to-fastresume -o /generated_fastresume_files

Notes

• By default, a timestamped backup of the torrents.db file will be created before processing changes. Currently, a simple file copy is used to do the backup, not a proper SQL dump. qBittorrent should be completely shut down before running this tool.
• The save path replacement uses a lazy find and replace. It will replace all instances of the old string. Be careful if you are updating partial paths that may share segments with others. e.g. --existing-path /torrents/movie will match both /torrents/movies and /torrents/movie-folder. Avoid using a single word, it will replace all instances of it.
• Like the save path, the tracker replacement uses a lazy find and replace. It will replace all instances of the old string.
• If you end a string with a slash, use care to include a slash at the end of the new string, otherwise it will remove it.
• You have to run the command once for each path you want to change, currently you can not batch different path replacements.
• Use something like Beekeeper Studio to confirm the appropriate changes were made. Check the target_save_path column. You can check the libtorrent_resume_data save path and tracker list, but first you will have to convert the hex blob to text.
• Git bash/MINGW64 on Windows: mingw messes up partial paths starting with "/" and makes them relative to the local git program directory. See here. Run the command with command prompt or powershell instead.

Building From Source

Until I figure out how to compile cross-platform, you're going to have to do it yourself.

1. Install Rust

2. Clone the git repo:

git clone https://github.com/regulatedsyntax/qbfrt.git

3. Compile the app:

cargo build --release

4. Move the compiled executable where you want it:

Unix

mv /target/release/qbfrt /place/you/want/qbfrt

Windows

move ./target/release/qbfrt.exe C:/place/you/want/qbfrt.exe

5. (Optional) Add qbfrt to your path

Updating From Source

1. Pull updates from repo:

git pull

2. Follow "Building From Source" starting at step #3.