FAQ My files are in the downloads and in the library. Do they take twice the space?

[Silas Mariusz]

Symptoms

• The same film shows in the Download folder and in the Media Library, and for some labels in the Master Folder too.
• You worry that each of them takes its own space.

Cause
On a single volume, the files do not take twice the space. When a download finishes, the package puts it in the Master Folder as a hardlink by default: a second name for the same data, not a second copy. With the media library on, Movie Agent then files the film or episode into the Media Library under its proper name. For labels in Labels whose completed copies should be moved (by default movies, tv, kids, anime and mixed), it moves the Master Folder's copy there. For other labels it follows Operation: by default, one more hardlink. Either way, the data are on disk once, and the torrent keeps seeding from the Download folder.


Resolution

1. Open Media library. The routing diagram shows how a finished download reaches the Master Folder (hardlink, on finish) and how Movie Agent takes it into the Media Library (move here). It also shows whether those folders are on the same volume.
   
   
2. Check a file. In Files, right-click the film and choose Properties. Names reads … names (hard links) when the same data have more than one name, and Find other names lists them. Every name shows the same Inode.
   
   

Notice & Advise

• A hardlink cannot cross volumes. Where the routing diagram shows different volumes, each file is copied and takes up space again.
• Deleting a download frees no space while the library still holds the same data under its own name. Storage protection on Seeding & Retention skips such torrents for that reason.

Ref. links:
Rtorrent 16 guide: Media library