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Arr’s Media Project – Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr, Prowlarr, Bazarr, Readarr in Container Manager on a Synology NAS

Important or Recent Updates
Historic UpdatesDate
New guide13/09/2023
Added additional security option to the compose to restrict the container from gaining new privileges as well as umask variable25/10/2023
Adjusted the restart variable to make sure containers start on boot28/10/2023
Historic Updates

This guide is going to eventually replace the existing separate guides for all the apps in the title. By combining these into a single project it saves you time and effort in the initial set up and makes updates more seamless.

You can add and remove the containers from this project based on your preferences.

Migration from old guides.

If you followed my older guides where you set up each of these containers in the Container Manager UI or Pre DSM7.2 Docker UI you can follow this one to migrate in a couple of steps.

  1. Stop and delete the existing containers but keep your directories!
  2. Follow the rest of this guide and all your existing configs will be kept using your old files.

Settings for the Arrs

While I cover some very basics towards the end of the guide you really need to make use of the documentation, it goes into detail of how and why the core functions work across the apps. You can find it on the Servarr Wiki.

Let’s Begin

In order for you to successfully use this guide please complete the three initial setup guides if you have not done so already

As Container Manager now supports using Docker Compose in the UI we will be using it as it will save you lots of time and steps!

What on earth is a Docker Compose?
Docker Compose allows us to define how Docker should set up one or more containers within a single configuration file. This file is yaml formatted and Container Manager uses the Projects feature to manage them.


Folder Setup

First we need to set up some folders for the Arr’s to save their configuration files and also where the Project will save the compose.

Using File Station create the following folders. (Skip ones you don’t need)

Folders
/docker/projects/arrs-compose - Required
/docker/radarr
/docker/sonarr
/docker/lidarr
/docker/prowlarr
/docker/bazarr
/docker/readarr

Container Set Up

Next we are going to set up a ‘Project’ in Container Manager. Open up Container Manager and click on Project, then on the right-hand side click ‘Create’.

In the next screen we will set up our General Settings.

SectionSetting
Project Name:media-project
Path:/docker/projects/arrs-compose
Source:Create docker-compose.yml

Next we are going to drop in our docker compose configuration, copy all the code in the box below and paste it into line ‘1’

A couple of notes:

  • I personally use the Linuxserver images, so they are used below
  • I am pulling these images directly from Docker Hub and not lscr.io this is because container manager can’t check for updates on third party sites
  • You will see notes saying #change me we will do this on the next step, and you can remove the comments if you wish
YAML
services:
  sonarr:
    image: linuxserver/sonarr:latest
    container_name: sonarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
      - PGID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
      - TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
      - UMASK=022
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/sonarr:/config
      - /volume1/data:/data
    ports:
      - 8989:8989/tcp
    network_mode: synobridge
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: always
  
  lidarr:
    image: linuxserver/lidarr:latest
    container_name: lidarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
      - PGID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
      - TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
      - UMASK=022
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/lidarr:/config
      - /volume1/data:/data
    ports:
      - 8686:8686/tcp
    network_mode: synobridge
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: always   
    
  radarr:
    image: linuxserver/radarr:latest
    container_name: radarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
      - PGID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
      - TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
      - UMASK=022
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/radarr:/config
      - /volume1/data:/data
    ports:
      - 7878:7878/tcp
    network_mode: synobridge
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: always

  readarr:
    image: linuxserver/readarr:develop
    container_name: readarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
      - PGID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
      - TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
      - UMASK=022
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/readarr:/config
      - /volume1/data/:/data
    ports:
      - 8787:8787/tcp
    network_mode: synobridge
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: always

  bazarr:
    image: linuxserver/bazarr:latest
    container_name: bazarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
      - PGID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
      - TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
      - UMASK=022
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/bazarr:/config
      - /volume1/data/:/data
    ports:
      - 6767:6767/tcp
    network_mode: synobridge
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: always

I have split out Prowlarr as you may want this running on a VPN connection if your ISP blocks certain indexers. If not copy this section into your compose as well. See my Gluetun guides for more information on adding to a VPN.

YAML
  prowlarr:
    image: linuxserver/prowlarr:latest
    container_name: prowlarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1234 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_UID
      - PGID=65432 #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_GID
      - TZ=Europe/London #CHANGE_TO_YOUR_TZ
      - UMASK=022
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/prowlarr:/config
    ports:
      - 9696:9696/tcp
    network_mode: synobridge
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    restart: always

Editing the Compose & Environment Variables

Please keep in mind that yaml formatting is very specific, so keep things lined up as per the original.

The compose contains all the Arr’s in the overall stack, you can remove any you don’t plan on using by deleting their entire section in the code.

We need to make some minor edits to the compose file in order to make sure the containers use the ‘dockerlimited’ user we created earlier and also let them know which timezone we are located. You will need to edit these in each section noted with ‘#change me’

VariableValue
PUID=Change it to the UID you obtained earlier in the first setup guides
PGID=Change it to the GID you obtained earlier in the first setup guides
TZ=You will need to change this line to your own timezone code – you can find the correct list of ones to use on wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
Key Edits

Once you have made all your required edits click ‘Next’

Nothing to change on the next screen click ‘Next’ again..

On the final screen just click ‘Done’ and you will see a new window appear which will kick of downloading of the required container image and configure the containers.

This can take a couple of minutes to finish as all the images are downloaded and extracted. You should see ‘Code 0’ when it has finished.

Once finished you will see the Project is running with a green status.


Firewall Exceptions

(Skip if you don’t have the Firewall configured)

If you have enabled and configured the Synology Firewall you will need to create exceptions for any containers that have a Web UI or have any incoming or outgoing connections. This section covers the basics of how to add these. (Please note this is a generic section and will not show the specific ports used in this guide however it applies in the same way)

Also, I would like to refer people to the great guide on getting the Firewall correctly configured over on WunderTechs site.

Head into the Control Panel> Security > Firewall, from here click Edit Rules for the profile you set up when you enabled the Firewall.

Next click on Create and you will see the screen below. Source IP and Action will be automatically selected to All and Allow, I will leave it up to you as to your own preference on whether you want to lock down specific Source IPs from having access. In this example we will leave as All.

You will now choose ‘Custom‘ and then the Custom button

Now select Destination from the drop-down menu, most web based containers require TCP access but check the guide as it will show the port and protocol. Then add comma separated ports. Then press OK.

Click OK a couple of times to get back to the main screen. You will see by default the new rule is added to the bottom of the list. You must always have your Block All rule last in the list as the rules are applied top down so move your container up.

You have now completed the Firewall changes and can continue with the guide.

Containers are ready to use

You will now be able to access each of the containers on their respective ports.

AppPort used
LidarrNASIP:8686
RadarrNASIP:7878
SonarrNASIP:8989
ReadarrNASIP:8787
BazarrNASIP:6767
ProwlarrNASIP:9696

Please see the next section which covers the ‘basics’ of each application setup as these usually catch people out. Full documentation can be found on https://wiki.servarr.com/

Key Settings within the Arrs

Settings > Media Management > Root Folders

Each of the Arr’s refer to the place(s) you keep your media as ‘Root Folders’. These are where the app will ultimately move your music/movies/books/shows once they finish downloading. Use the table below to set each of your folders correctly.

AppRoot Folder
Lidarr/data/media/music
Radarr/data/media/movies
Sonarr/data/media/tv
Readarr/data/media/books
BazarrNot required
ProwlarrNot required

Settings > Media Management > Remote Path Mappings

While most of the settings on this page are self-explanatory something that has caught people out is the Remote Path Mappings setting. If you are hosting all your services on the same NAS and in Docker do not add any settings here.

Settings > Download Client(s) > Add your Client > Host and Port

As our containers are all running on the ‘Synobridge’ custom bridge we can use the Gateway IP for this bridge for inter container networking. This will be 172.20.0.1 and the appropriate port for your Client assuming it is running in Docker!

You should now have the basics in place and I 100% recommend having a look at the previously mentioned https://wiki.servarr.com/ documentation as it will help you understand how the Arrs work.

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Published inMedia Management 7.2

146 Comments

  1. Jeff Jeff

    I have a usb enclosure attached to my NAS to handle part of my Jellyfin library that is easily replaceable. I’ve attached it and formatted it in DSM. I have done some research on trying to get it working with sonarr/radarr but am pretty confused on how to get this to work. I’ve tried several things with no luck. I’ve recreated the containers and added my goal root path of /volumeusb1/usbshare/media2/tv2 or movies2. They give me the error of folder ‘/volumeusb1/usbshare’ is not writable by user ‘abc’.

    I added the paths to Jellyfin which was able to use them without issue.

    If there’s anything you can provide in terms of making it work I’d really appreciate it.

    # 21 February 2024 Reply
    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      Glad we sorted this on Discord,

      The key for anyone reading is to ensure the user setup for the container has been granted access to the USB drive (share) in Control Panel, and then this is passed into the container using something like the below in the volumes sections of the Arrs or Plex/Jellyfin

      – /volumeusb1/usbshare:/volumeusb1/usbshare

      # 22 February 2024 Reply
  2. SynUser SynUser

    I am going through this guide now. I will report back on my success. The only thing I would like to try to do (and humbly “request” as a feature for these guides) is setting this up using Portainer.

    # 19 February 2024 Reply
    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      The only real difference is using a ‘Stack’ in Portainer vs here almost identical really as a stack is just a collection of containers within a docker compose.

      # 19 February 2024 Reply
  3. Dav Dav

    Hey Dr. Frankenstein,

    Thanks so much for these guides, I have followed them all up to this point almost to a T (with the exception of adding Prowlarr to the vpn-project. However, I’m getting this error when adding a download client to Radarr

    You are using docker; download client qBittorrent places downloads in /media/torrents/completed but this directory does not appear to exist inside the container. Review your remote path mappings and container volume settings.

    I’ve been trying to figure it out but am just at a loss, any advice?

    # 14 February 2024 Reply
    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      It sounds like you have put a slightly incorrect path into qbittorrent it should be downloading into /data/torrents/completed rather than /media/torrents/completed

      # 14 February 2024 Reply
  4. pmd pmd

    Followed the Arr guides but after configuration I get really high Synology CPU usage (90%+) checked and its all the Arr containers. If I shut them all down CPU goes to near 0%…. Its not indexing or importing as all that finished.

    I don’t have multiple instances. I have it all set up via the guide here. No firewall enabled on the Syno either. Synobridge on 172.20.0.1 etc etc…. I can connect to all the apps via web browser without issues….

    In the logs I see this for each of the Arr apps:

    [Fatal] ConsoleApp: Failed to bind to address http://[::]:8686: address already in use. This can happen if another instance of Lidarr is already running another application is using the same port (default: 8686) or the user has insufficient permissions

    and on shutting down container:
    [Info] ConsoleApp: Exiting main.
    2024/02/11 13:52:19 stdout [Info] RootFolderWatchingService: Stopping directory watching for path /data/media/music/
    2024/02/11 13:52:19 stdout [Info] Microsoft.Hosting.Lifetime: Application is shutting down…
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout Press enter to exit…
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at NzbDrone.Console.ConsoleApp.Main(String[] args) in ./Lidarr.Console/ConsoleApp.cs:line 43
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at NzbDrone.Host.Bootstrap.Start(String[] args, Action`1 trayCallback) in ./Lidarr.Host/Bootstrap.cs:line 79
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.Run(IHost host)
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.RunAsync(IHost host, CancellationToken token)
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostingAbstractionsHostExtensions.RunAsync(IHost host, CancellationToken token)
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.Internal.Host.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.GenericWebHostService.StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.KestrelServerImpl.StartAsync[TContext](IHttpApplication`1 application, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout at Microsoft.AspNetCore.Server.Kestrel.Core.KestrelServerImpl.BindAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken)
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout [v2.0.7.3849] System.Threading.Tasks.TaskCanceledException: A task was canceled.
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout
    2024/02/11 13:52:18 stdout [Fatal] ConsoleApp: EPIC FAIL!

    # 11 February 2024 Reply
    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      If that is cycling I would check the folder permissions, run the command from the User and Group guide, it’s at the bottom. You should not be getting that kind of CPU usage.

      # 11 February 2024 Reply
      • pmd pmd

        Don’t think its a permissions issue as followed the guide for the right permissions to the tee… I shut down all the containers and started them all back up again slowly one by one….

        Haven’t been able to re-trigger the:

        [Fatal] ConsoleApp: Failed to bind to address http://[::]:8686: address already in use. This can happen if another instance of Lidarr is already running another application is using the same port (default: 8686) or the user has insufficient permissions

        Error and CPU usage is back at 1-3%… Its almost like a port gets stuck connected to and the app cannot rebind (or on start up cannot bind to it) and that spins the CPU but I haven’t yet got solid repro steps for it….

        # 11 February 2024 Reply
        • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

          Yeah, that’s very odd, it’s a pain when it’s not clear as to why it’s happening!

          # 11 February 2024 Reply
  5. Denny Forntier Denny Forntier

    Possibly a stupid question, but with the function of the arrs and a download client (like qBittorrent), would downloading a file leave you with two copies of it in your NAS, like one in [data>media>movies] and one in [data>torrents>completed] or does one ‘point’ towards the other? I’m interested in managing and organizing my media but I also want to seed my files.

    To be precise, would downloading 4gb of a file ultimately take up 8gb of space?

    # 29 January 2024 Reply
    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      The files will be hardlinked, however DSM will report both files in used space which is kind of annoying.

      # 30 January 2024 Reply

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