Overview

So, I came across something the other day that I felt I should at least notate. Qbittorrent is a GUI application that people use to download torrents of files to their system. This can be useful for downloading files amongst other things. It can also be used to downlaod unsolicited content to your computer. If you are on a company workstation, I would recommend that you do not install it unless required by the vender or given permission.

Data Saved in Log File

Pretty useful data is in the log file. It will show you anything that was done in the application. The date/time in the log file stored as the local system timezone. Entries include the following list.

  • Starting and stopping the application.
  • Application version.
  • External/Public IP Address.
  • Download activity.
    • Start
    • Resume
    • Removed from transfer list
    • Removed from hard disk
  • The names of the torrented files.

This makes this log file a fairly good find when you’re investigating someones workstation. Especially if the user is downloading things protected by copyright.

Log File Location

There are some things to bear in mind. Operating systems may not store the log file, or the file path will be differnet. When I looked at the log file, it provided a good timeline of what downloaded, when it was downloaded, etc. In Windows, who is downloading the data is implied because that log file is in the users AppData Local directory. Below are the log file locations separated by operating system.

Windows 10

The log file for Qbittorrent is located at the following file path in Windows 10.

  • %LOCALAPPDATA%\qBittorrent\Logs\qbittorrent.log
  • C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\qBittorrent\Logs\qbittorrent.log

GNU/Linux

  • ~/.local/share/data/qBittorrent/logs/qbittorrent.log
  • /home/username/.local/data/share/qBittorrent/logs/qbittorrent.log

OS X

  • ~/Library/ApplicationSupport/qBittorrent/logs/qbittorrent.log
  • /home/username/Library/ApplicationSupport/qBittorrent/logs/qbittorrent.log

Conclusion

As I find out more information on this, I will update the article. Should there be a need to correct something, please let me know and I will provide a correction to the site. If you enjoy these little excexcerps and find them helpful, please let me know and I will create more of them.