Update | Date |
---|---|
Added Docker Compose details Added new folder mappings to ensure atomic moves and Hard-linking | 03/05/2021 |
Guide re-written and updated with DSM7 screenshots | 01/08/2021 |
Added note about rebooting if you are unable to access the Setup Wizard | 14/01/2022 |
What is SABnzbd?
SABnzbd is a binary newsreader, it is used to download files from Usenet, and where required will also repair and extract releases. It works on its own or in conjunction with other tools such as Lidarr and Radarr.
Lets Begin
In this guide I will take you through the steps to get SABnzbd up and running in Docker.
In order for you to successfully use this guide please complete the two preceding guides
Downloading the Container
In the majority of my guides I use the containers made by LinuxServer, these have very good documentation and are very well maintained so should any issues arise there is a group of people to ask.
Open up Docker within DSM and navigate to the ‘Registry’ section and search for sabnzbd in the search box. Right click and download the Linuxserver version.

The pop-up box will ask which version you want to download, make sure you choose ‘Latest’ from the list of available versions.

You can check the status of the download over on the ‘Image’ tab.
Setting up the container
In Docker click on the ‘Image’ tab, in the list of your containers select the ‘linuxserver/sabnzbd’ image and click on ‘Launch’
You will now see the initial setup screen, you can change the name of the container, we are not going to change the resource limitations.

Next up we are going to click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ button, this will take you to a new window with a number of tabs which we are going to work through.
On the first tab enable ‘Auto Restart’ this will ensure SABnzbd will automatically start up whenever you reboot your NAS.

Volumes / Mounts
We can now move onto the volume tab in which we will be specifying the directories where SABnzbd will store its configuration files and where to download to.
Click on Add Folder, click on the docker folder and create a new sub-folder called ‘sabnzbd’ select this folder and click ‘select’
This first folder will map to /config in the mount path section.

Click Add Folder again and this time select the ‘data/usenet’ folder and click Select.
In the Mount path section for this folder enter ‘/data/usenet’
Your mounts should now look like the table/screenshot below.
File/Folder | Mount path |
---|---|
docker/sabnzbd | /config |
data/usenet | /data/usenet |

Network
We are not going to be specifying specific ports for SABnzbd to use as we want to keep things simple, tick the ‘Use the same network as Docker Host’

Links / Port Settings
You do not need to set up anything on these tabs.
Environment Variables (PGID, PUID and Timezone)
Next we are going to set up a couple of environment variables that docker will use to allow the container access to our files and folders and also to tell it where we live in the world.
Click the Add button, and fill in the following details as per the table/screenshot, you will need to do one at a time.
variable | Value |
---|---|
PUID | The UID you obtained in the user setup guide |
PGID | The GID you obtained in the user setup guide |
TZ | Your timezone wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones |

Almost done
You have now completed the setup of the container.
Click on Apply to move back to the initial settings screen and then click next, you will be shown an overall summary of the settings we have specified, this is a good time to double-check everything is correct. Finally, click on Done and the container should start to boot.

Some final steps
SABnzbd will now be running on port 8080 you can connect to it by going to the IP address of your NAS with that port
e.g 192.168.0.40:8080
Once you have completed the setup wizard, go into the settings and amend your folders to the following
(Please note, if you have trouble accessing the setup wizard or get an error after the first step. Stop the Docker package in the Package Centre and restart it, or in some cases do a reboot)
After the initial set up you will need to ensure the ‘Folders’ settings are in line with the table/screenshot below.
Setting | Path |
---|---|
Temporary Download Folder | /data/usenet/intermediate |
Completed Download Folder | /data/usenet/completed |
Watched Folder | /data/usenet/nzb |

Docker Compose
You can use the below code saved as sabnzbd.yml in the ‘/docker/sabnzbd’ share, this will do the entire process above in one quick command via SSH. Ensure you change the variables to your own
version: "3.8"
services:
linuxserver-sabnzbd:
image: linuxserver/sabnzbd:latest
container_name: sabnzbd
environment:
- PUID=YOURUID
- PGID=YOURGID
- TZ=Your/Timezone
volumes:
- /volume1/docker/sabnzbd:/config
- /volume1/data/usenet:/data/usenet
network_mode: host
restart: unless-stopped
sudo docker-compose -f /volume1/docker/sabnzbd/sabnzbd.yml up -d
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He there, new to the whole NAS thing… but, just ordered a nice 220+
I’m not new to SABnzbd, so I am curious what makes the above different if I want to use a port that I used to use for a windows maching?
Hi, Thanks for the guides! Got Plex, sonarr, radarr, sab all going a few weeks back.
But now all are saying a new version is available and clicking update I dont think will work in Docker – do I need to stop and delete the old image, then run it all again to update? Assuming it wont overwrite my settings, Plex libraries in particular.
Sorry, I just found the article you wrote answering this very question. I’ll sling you some coffees!!
So far so good! Looks like sab is up and running. Tomorrow sonarr and radarr and then test working with Plex (-:
Great tutorials by the way. Tried following the TraSh things but that went nowhere fast. This is plain and easy to follow!
Good to hear, any issues reach out via discord or the contact page 🙂
Very nice , many thanks, works like a charm !