You will need the following programs:

a BitTorrent client (FileSoup recommends Azeurus or Utorrent)

a .torrent creating tool (FileSoup recommends MakeTorrent)

Download Azeurus from :http://azureus.sourceforge.net/download.php

Download Azeurus for Mac User's from : http://azureus.sourceforge.net/howto_osx.php

Download Utorrent from : http://www.utorrent.com/

Download Make Torrent from : http://www.softpedia.com/get/Internet/File-Sharing/MakeTorrent.shtml

It should be noted however that both Utorrent and Azeurus are capable of making Torrent Files.


Step 1 - Make the .torrent (with MakeTorrent)

1. Organise the files you want to share

At this stage it would be smart to put the files you want to distribute in a temporary folder and make sure everything is complete and ready for distribution.

2. Start the program to create the torrent

This example will use MakeTorrent 1.2 and a screenshot of it you can see it below.



3. Select the files or directory you want to share

A torrent consists of a selection of files or directories you want to distribute.

Click the [dir] or [file] button on MakeTorrent to select the files you want to share. This example will create a torrent of a single directory but the idea is the same for single files.



4. Set the remaining options

After selecting the file(s)/directory you want to share, there's a couple of other things to set.

o announce url: Select the tracker you want the torrent to use. Don't forget to include the full url, including /announce/ !

o comment: Optional comment describing the file(s) you are sharing

o piece size: Set this to 1024kb (or 2**20 in completedir)



5. Select the torrent type

You are now ready to make the torrent. When you press the "create torrent" button ("make" in completedir), you are asked whether you want to make a torrent of each file or the entire directory you selected earlier. Normally you would want to create one torrent of all the files.



6. Generate the torrent file

After selecting the torrent type, the actual .torrent file is being generated. You'll see a progress bar as well as the filename of the .torrent file generated. Once done, close MakeTorrent.





Step 2 - Upload a .torrent to a tracker

After creating the torrent you will have to share it with the rest of the world by uploading it to a website.

Here is an example of the upload form:



There's a couple of things you have to fill out:

your name: used so you can later on remove the torrents you have uploaded

password: same reason as "your name" above

category: select the category you want to have your torrent appear in. movies should go into movies, etc etc.

torrent to upload: use the browse button to select the .torrent file you have created earlier





Once you are done filling out the form, press the [Submit] button and your .torrent file will be uploaded to the website. If the upload goes well, the file will be listed on the website in the category you have selected earlier.



Step 3 - Seeding a .torrent file

Now the .torrent is on the website you will have to start working on uploading the data to the other people.

1. Open the .torrent file in the BitTorrent client

Seeding is done by opening the .torrent file in your BitTorrent client, and selecting the location of the directory or files that you have created the .torrent of earlier. Typically you can just double-click on the .torrent file and select the proper location.

After opening the .torrent and selecting the files, the existing files will be checked to see if they are correct. Of course they are, but normally you would use this method to resume a torrent you have interrupted earlier.

2. Seed, seed, seed!

When the checking is done, the uploading starts. Other people will connect to your BitTorrent client and the uploading will start. Your job is finished! Keep the BitTorrent client open so that people can get the full file from you and the other peers until everyone who wants the file(s) get their copy.

The client will show you some statistics of all that's going on.

When people complete their download and leave the client open, they will become seeds as well and the distribution will continue and improve.