aMule is a peer-to-peer file sharing application that works with the eDonkey2000 network and the Kad Network, but offers more features than the standard eDonkey client, including support for Kademlia. It is a fork of the xMule source code, which itself is a fork of the lMule project, which was the first attempt to bring the eMule client to Linux.

aMule shares code with the eMule Project and is also linked from their links page. Like eMule, aMule is free software released under the GNU General Public License.

aMule aims to be a portable over multiple platforms and is doing this with the help of the wxWidgets library. Current supported systems include Linux, Mac OS X, Berkeley Software Distribution, Windows and Solaris. Beside the stable releases the project also offers CVS versions as an unstable release.

TCP and UDP ports

According to the official FAQ, the application will use by default these ports. The traffic direction is from client perspective:

4661 TCP (outgoing): Port, on which a server listens for connection (defined by server).

4662 TCP (outgoing and incoming): Client to client transfers.

4665 UDP (outgoing and incoming): Used for global server searches and global source queries. This is always Client TCP port + 3

4672 UDP (outgoing and incoming): Extended aMule protocol, Queue Rating, File Reask Ping

4711 TCP: WebServer listening port.

4712 TCP: internal Connection port. Used to communicate aMule with other applications such as aMule WebServer or aMuleCMD.

Most of these ports are configurable.

Monolithic and Modular build

aMule can be complied using -disable-monolithic parameter: this allows aMule to be run in a modular way. Meaning that the core functionalities of the program can be started using aMuled while the software behavior can be controlled through three different interfaces:

aMuleCMDThis is command-line aMule client, it is an executable contained in the package

aMuleGUIThe regular GUI of the software. Again, another executable included in the package. Experimental, a lot of features missing in comparison with the monolithic version, plus is unstable. There are Linux and Windows version for this tool: you can connect an aMule instance running on Linux from a workstation running Windows and the Win32 version of aMuleGUI.

aMuleWEBThe web interface provided by the aMule core built-in Webserver, it can be accessed in the LAN or on the Internet, provided that you properly configure your Firewall and Port Forwarding on your internet router

Compatibility

Several users reported that aMule may not be fully compatible with Leopard, the newest Mac OS X version. The complaint includes frozen application, and sometimes, not being able to unhide aMule. aMule - 2.1.3. Versiontracker. Retrieved on 2008-02-02.