Here are the steps I took to install a BitTorrent tracker on a headless redhat Linux server:
1. Go to the BitTorrent homepage. Then go to the 'Click here for source and older versions' link below the obvious download links. On the sourceforge download page grab the .tar.gz archive of the most recent release.
2. Upload this archive to your Linux server and expand it somewhere. You can unpack the archive with the command: tar -xzf BitTorrent-4.1.0.tar.gz (adjust the filename if needed).
3. cd into the directory you just unpacked. Run this command to start the bt tracker in the background: python bttrack.py --port 6969 --dfile dstate --logfile tracker.log &
To get an explanation of all the command line options available execute python bttrack.py without any options.
4. If you have a firewall installed (and you should) then make sure it allows inbound connections on the port you started the bt tracker on.
Ta-da! You should now see some messages if you point your web browser to the bittorrent port on your server (e.g. http://yourdomain.com:6969) and your announce URL will be something like http://yourdomain.com:6969/announce
Thanks to Dessent.net's btfaq for bringing some clarity to the tangleweed that is the internet.
