Getting Started

What is aMule

aMule is a client for the peer-to-peer networked commenly called the eDonkey network, or the ed2k network (eDonkey 2000). This guide does not require that you are familiar with another network (but it helps), however it does require that you have gotten aMule installed on your computer. If you haven't installed aMule yet, then please refer to the installation guide appropriate for your system. Links to these can be found on the [Main_Page main page].

Running aMule for the first time

Start by running aMule. Usually this can be done by executing the command "amule" in a console window or by whatever method might be provided by your distro and windows manager.

Once started, if you are using a CVS build, aMule will display a notification telling you that you are running it for the first time. Read this to learn what you are getting yourself into. ;)

Configuring aMule

On the top of the aMule window, there is a row of labeled icons. Click the one marked preferences to enter the configuarion dialog. Before you start downloading files, you'll need to properly set your connection speed and possibly other settings.

Connection speed

You should know that the eDonkey clients enforce upload, which means that in order to download, you'll have to share files yourself (dont worry if you dont have anything to share). This is enforced in two ways:

* Your download speed depends on how fast you upload. If your upload speed is set to anything below 10kb/s, your maximum download speed will be 3 times your uploadspeed, so if you limit your upload speed to 5kb/s, you'll only be able to download with 15kb/s.
* Partially downloaded files are shared as well. You automatically start sharing a file after you've recieved at least one chunk (a chunk is a 9.28Mb piece of a file).

Note: If you ever enter the aMule forum or IRC channel to complain about this or demand that we change the ratio, then I will hunt you down and eat your spleen. -- Xaignar

When you first open the Preferences dialog, the page shown will be "General", which contains some general settings, like the nickname other people will see when they download from or upload to you. To proceed, click on the tab named "Connection": [image:Limits.gif]

The only settings releveant to this guide are the settings under "Bandwidth Limits" marked "Upload" and "Download". You dont need to enter a max download speed, but it is recommended that you set the upload speed to around 80% of your actual speed, since it can cause slower downloads otherwise.

Once you have entered the proper values, you can explore the rest of the settings. To save the changes, simply click the "Ok" button.

Connecting to a server

You should now be looking at the servers dialog: [image:ServerDlg.png]

The empty list normally contains the servers you know about, but since this is the first time you're running aMule, you dont have any. To remidy this situation, simply click in the text-field containing the text "http://www.srv1000.com/azz/server.met" and press enter. A dialog will pop up and close again once the download has completed.

You should now have a full list of servers, if not search google for "server.met" and place the file in the folder .aMule on your home dir. The list should look like this: [image:ServerList.gif]

Next you need to connect to a server. Normally it's a good idea to select one with as many users as possible, but for now, lets just click the large "Connect" button near the top-left of the window. This will connect you to a random server. Please wait while aMule contacts servers and tries to establish an connection. Once this happens, proceed on to the next section.

High and Low ID

Because p2p networks works by clients directly contact each other, being behind a firewall or router can really cause problems. If you dont know whenever or not you are behind a firewall, simply look at the icon in the bottom-right of the window. If it is green, then you have High ID and can proceed, but if it is yellow, then you need to take a look at the page on [Firewalls Firewall], since having Low ID means greatly reduced capabilities.

Basic Usage

This will cover some basic usage of aMule.

Searching and Downloading

Ok, this is what p2p'ing is about: Downloading files. For the sake of this guide, I'll presume that you are really keen on downloading the latest Knoppix CD (who isn't?). To download this, first ensure that you are connected to a server and then click on the "Searches" button.

This will bring up the search dialog: [image:SearchDlg.gif]

Since we only care about CD images, we select the option "CD-Images" from the "Type" dropdown menu. Also untick the "Global Search" setting, since we dont really need to search anything other than the currently connected server. Then we enter "Knoppix" in the top "Name" field and hit enter or the "Search" button. You should now have a listful of results: [image:SearchResults.gif]

Lets sort the list by sources, by clicking twice on the field marked "Sources", this makes it easier to find popular files. The second one looks interesting, so we double-click on it (or click on it and then on the "Download" button). This will queue the file for download.

The Download Queue

Click on the "Transfers" button to bring forth a list of files you have queued for download: [image:DownloadQueue.gif]

If you're lucky, the prgress bar will turn a nice dark shade of blue, which means that a lot of people have that file. Beware of files that have parts marked in red, since it means that no-one has that part of the file and you most likely wont be able to complete the download.

If you double-click on any of the files, you can see the sources you have found for that file.

Icons and What They Signify

Todo, hopefully by tomorrow. -- Xaignar

The Upload Queue

The upload queue can be found just beneth the download queue, and shows who are downloading files from you. In case you are wondering, no, you cannot stop uploads. Should you click on the blue icon next to the "Uploads" label, you can see who are queued for downloading from you, rather than the people who are actually downloading from you right now.

Conclusion

Hopefully this brief introduction have given you an idea of how aMule works. If you feel that something is missing from this guide, please let us know or add it yourself.