One of the first things I did after completing my Windows Home Server (WHS) Beta 2 installation was look into ways to make it my complete always on computer solution; one of the major requirements was for it to run a BitTorrent client. I had always used my personal computer to download torrents overnight, but as the point of installing a WHS machine was to enable all other computers to be off overnight the WHS machine had to take over this job.

After a week or so of looking into the issue I found a solution to do so and as I have just recently upgraded my WHS from Beta 2 to CTP I have had to re-do this process.
The whole process is documented below so that anyone who also has the same needs as I can achieve them.

Update (13/07/07): I have an updated version of this tutorial as a PDF available here. I will also update this page with the updated version at a later stage.
You can also download a zipped version containing the tutorial and Marcel Nouwens' WHS uTorrent Add-In 1.1 here and Marcel's AnyServiceInstaller tool here which is an optional tool to help with the install process and highly recommended.

Step 1 – Download all required software.

• µTorrent
  µTorrent can be used in conjunction with the µTorrent WebUI so that it can be used on any machine via a web-browser to fully manage the torrents making it ideal for the use on a headless WHS.
  Download from: utorrent.com
  

• µTorrent WebUI
  Download from: forum.utorrent.com/viewtopic.php?id=14565

• Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit Tools
  These are required to add µTorrent as a Windows Service so as no interaction on the WHS is required.
  Download from: microsoft.com/downloads/...

Step 2 – Create new user.

1. Connect to your WHS via Remote Desktop Connection as the Administrator user.

2. On the WHS Remote Desktop open the Start menu

3. Select All Programs > Administrative Tools > Computer Management

4. On the Computer Management dialog expand Local Users and Groups and select Users.
   

5. From to toolbar select Action > New Users...

6. Fill in the details in the New User dialog making certain to un-tick the first checkbox and tick the second and third checkboxes, then hit the Create button.
    
   Note: Make sure to remember the chosen User name and Password.

7. Close the New User dialog.

8. Right-click the newly created user and select Properties.

9. Select the Member Of tab and click the Add... button.

10. In the Select Groups dialog type Administrators into the available textarea and hit the OK button.
    

11. Click the OK button in the User Properties dialog.

12. Close the Computer Management window.

13. Hi Start and select Log Off.

Step 3 – Installing the applications

1. Connect to your WHS via Remote Desktop Connection as the newly created user.

2. Locate the Windows Resource Kit installer and install it with the default settings.

3. Once that installation is complete, locate the µTorrent installer and install it with the default settings.

4. Run µTorrent.

5. When the dialog pops up asking you if you'd like to associate .torrent files with µTorrent choose whichever option you'd like, I personally chose No.

6. Choose the settings as necessary on the next dialog.

7. Location the WebUI files and extract them to a temporary folder.

8. Click the Start button and select Run...

9. Enter %AppData%\uTorrent into the dialog and hit the OK button.
   

10. Move the webui.zip file from the temporary folder to the newly opened folder.

11. Close the folder and feel free to delete the temporary folder.

12. In µTorrent select Options > Preferences... from the toolbar.

13. Select Downloads and fill out all necessary options making sure to use folders formatted as \\Server\Directory\ oppose to C:\Directory\
     

14. Select Advanced > Web UI, tick the Enable Web Interface checkbox, fill out the Username and Password with credentials of your choice and hit the OK button.

15. Close µTorrent.

Step 4 – Creating the service

1. In the WHS Remote Desktop, click on the Start button and select Run...

2. Type cmd and hit the OK button.
    

3. Presuming that the Windows Resource Kit was installed at c:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\ type the following lines:

   • "c:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\instsrv.exe" uTorrent "c:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\srvany.exe"

   • exit

4. Click on the Start button and select Run...

5. Type regedit and hit the OK button.
   

6. In the Registry Editor dialog select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services > uTorrent.

7. With uTorrent selected, hit Edit > New > Key from the toolbar.

8. Type Parameters and hit enter.

9. From the toolbar select Edit > New > String Value.

10. Type Application and hit enter.

11. Right-click Application and select Modify.

12. Presuming µTorrent was installed c:\Program Files\uTorrent\ type the following into Value data:

    • c:\Program Files\uTorrent\utorrent.exe

13. Hit the OK button.
    

14. Close the Registry Editor.

15. Hit the Start button and select All Programs > Administrative Tools > Services.

16. Locate the uTorrent service, right-click it and select Properties.

17. Select the Log On tab, click the This account radio button and fill in the details with the Username and Password created earlier.

18. Click the OK button.

19. Close the Services dialog.

20. Click the Start button and select Shut Down.

21. In the Shut Down Windows dialog select Restart from the drop down and hit the OK button.

22. If all went as planned when the WHS restarts you should be able to connect to the WebUI via the following address:

    • http://[Server Name]:[uTorrent Port]/gui/