How To Install uTorrent On Linux With Wine
Despite the many torrent clients for Linux (Transmission, qBittorrent, etc), uTorrent remains one of the more popular requested programs to be ported to Linux. Unfortunately, not much is known about the Linux version of uTorrent, and as far as anyone knows, there aren’t any plans to bring it to the platform. Luckily, there is a way to get the Windows version of the program working. The first step to running a Windows program like uTorrent on Linux is to install, configure, and set-up Wine.
Wine lets you run games like Skyrim on Linux, as well as other Windows apps that have yet to be ported to the Linux platform. There are many different ways to install Wine on Linux. Follow our guide to install Wine on Linux. Once you have Wine installed, open up a terminal and follow the tutorial below.
Install uTorrent
Installing uTorrent on Linux via the Wine software is pretty straightforward, but if you choose to do it by hand, it proves to be tedious. This is why we’ll be making use of software that makes installing Windows software on Linux via Wine much easier. It’s called Winetricks. It’s a tool that users can use in the command-line, or as a regular GUI tool. With Winetricks, you can choose from a list of Windows programs, and automate the installation.
Please keep in mind that installing uTorrent on Linux via Wine is iffy, and may not work with your Linux distribution. Try at your own risk.
Ubuntu
sudo apt install winetricks
Debian
sudo apt-get install winetricks
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S winetricks
Fedora
sudo dnf install winetricks
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper install winetricks
Other Linux
The Winetricks program is a Bash script. It can run on just about any Linux distribution, and many different ones carry it. If you can’t find Winetricks in the software sources on your PC, consider heading over to the Wine website to download it manually. There’s nothing to compile, just follow the instructions, and it should be pretty easy to get going.
Install uTorrent Via Winetricks GUI
Winetricks works in multiple ways, but by far, the easiest way is to use it is via the GUI version. To open Winetricks GUI, press Alt + F2 on the keyboard, and type winetricks –gui. This command tells the Winetricks script to run in graphical mode.
Note: if uTorrent gives you problems, consider going to the Wine settings and changing windows versions from “Windows XP” to “Windows Vista”, or “Windows 7”.
The first window that the program shows is the “What do you want to do” window. This area lets you choose from installing benchmark tools, installing Windows fonts, etc. Look through the UI and click the button next to “Install an application”.
Selecting the application install option in the Winetricks window opens up a browser that has a lot of different options. Scroll through it and look for “uTorrent”. Click the button next to it.
Clicking the “uTorrent3” button should instantly launch a downloader for uTorrent3. It’ll grab the program, verify the download, and start the installation process. Winetricks does this automatically. If everything works correctly, click on the prompts in the installer to get uTorrent working on your Linux PC.
Troubleshoot Winetricks uTorrent Installation
Sometimes downloading programs with the Winetricks tool doesn’t work right. The reason for these errors are complex, but there’s a way around them. If your download of uTorrent says “Md5 mismatch” don’t worry! Just follow these steps.
Open up the file manager, enable “hidden folders” and go to this location: /home/username/.cache/winetricks/utorrent3/
Even though the Winetricks tool stopped the automatic installation due to a “mismatch” the file is still there. Find the uTorrent installer and right-click on it. In the right-click menu, you should see the option to open it in the “Wine windows program loader”. If not, you’ll need to select “open with” and choose this option (or write “wine” in the command dialog).
Wine should open up the installer no problem. Just follow the tool and install it as if you were installing it on Windows. When the installation finishes, you’ll be able to find uTorrent in the applications menu like any other program.
Install uTorrent With Winetricks Via Terminal
The Winetricks GUI tool is nice, but it can also be clunky. If you’re looking to install uTorrent on Linux via Wine’s terminal interface, follow these instructions. First, open up a terminal window and call the winetricks app to download uTorrent.
winetricks utorrent3
Like the GUI instructions, Winetricks should start the automatic installation process. If there’s an Md5 mismatch, you’ll be able to bypass the error by calling the program directly. To do it, use the Wine terminal command, and run the uTorrent EXE installer.
Note: if you have multiple uTorrent EXE files in this folder, you’ll need to replace *.exe with the full name of the file, as wildcard shortcuts don’t work with multiple files at a time.
cd ~/.cache/winetricks/utorrent3/ wine *.exe
Running the wine command should instantly start the uTorrent installation process. Click through the installer and get it working. When the installation is complete, uTorrent should be usable on your Linux PC.
After you install uTorrent on Linux, you might want to look into how you can torrent safely and a VPN is a good tool that can help.
qBittorrent is much better and is native for linux