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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 the Synology Firewall enabled please see this additional guide for further info on exceptions and correct set up.

Containers are ready to use

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

AppAddress (not https://)
Lidarrhttp://NASIP:8686
Radarrhttp://NASIP:7878
Sonarrhttp://NASIP:8989
Readarrhttp://NASIP:8787
Bazarrhttp://NASIP:6767
Prowlarrhttp://NASIP: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.

You will see other folders when you first browse for the /data folder it is located in the top level folder.

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

Permission Issues (User ABC doesn’t have permission to access folder)

If you get this error when trying to add your Root folders check the following:

  • Your PUID and PGID are set correctly and the right way round in the compose
  • The ‘dockerlimited’ user has read and write permissions showing in the Control Panel > Shared Folders > Permissions
  • If the above has not worked go back to the User creation guide and see the section ‘Permission Fixes – only use if you have issues‘ for a couple of commands that will fix things.

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

199 Comments

  1. Robert Robert

    Following this guide I got the media project up and running pretty easily though I had to disable the firewall completely to get it to actually work, not a big deal though I don’t think. However, when I went to start the seperate prowlarr project, after copying the above code I can’t start the project because it just gives me the error

    “Property prowlarr is not allowed.” on line 1.

    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      Hey, so you should be able to just allow the specific ports as per the Firewall section of the guide, this is generic so you will need adjust that portion to the ports required. The error likely relates to the spacing being incorrect for the Prowlarr element.

      You can drop the whole yaml on my paste.drfrankenstein.co.uk and drop the link in your reply I can check it.

  2. boasist boasist

    Really helping me polish up my setup here, thank you.

    For me, volume1 has my media, and volume2 runs my apps/container. None of the arrs can see volume1, despite the permissions being in place. Any ideas?

    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      I would take a look at the User and Group guide – towards the bottom there are some permission fixes – run the appropriate one for your setup and adjust the /volume accordingly.

      • boasist boasist

        Thank you, I had to stop the containers, then under settings within that I could manually map the folder from volume1 and all was good.

  3. Starfolox Starfolox

    I’m loving theses guides, really helpfull. For some reason when I change the root folder in Radarr it comes as “Unable to add root folder Folder ‘/data/media/movies/’ is not writable by user ‘abc'”

    Is there something I need to change?

    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      Hey, sounds like a permissions issue, jump back to the User and Group setup guide, towards the bottom there are a couple of commands to use. adjust the paths show to just be /data/media/movies and run them. This should get you working.

  4. Mal Mal

    Hi, I ran into a dead end and couldn’t find anything online for my specific case. Hoping you might have insight on this issue.

    Currently: Sonarr container will start up with no errors, but does not create config.xml or any other first time start files. it stops at [custom-init] No custom files found, skipping…

    Relevant history: I had a portainer stack built with docker compose working with Sonarr, Radarr, etc. It was patched together, so I wanted to follow this guide (fantastic by the way) for a better architecture. I stupidly deleted the previous stack config files without backing them up.

    I got a new Sonarr up and running, but Radarr was having issues.

    In an attempt to get Radarr issue of “failed to load external entity config” fixed, I ran the permission scripts from your other post. While this did not fix the Radarr issue, it broke Sonarr.

    Now, even a new install won’t create a new set of config files, and I can’t access the web ui (not sure if this step is supposed to be accessible without said files being generated).

    Things I tried:
    – new container
    – new image pull
    – new portainer stack
    – new user
    – new user group
    – new shared drive
    – new folder
    – accessing container’s console as the user, and confirming it can create / delete files
    – confirming mount paths all exist
    – confirming user and user group are correct in compose

    Interestingly enough, none of my other stacks or containers broke.

    If you have any ideas or could point me further in a direction it would be greatly appreciated.

    • Dr_Frankenstein Dr_Frankenstein

      Hey, when you ran the script did you adjust it in line with your own paths/username accordingly as it should always fix what looks like a permission issue.

  5. Scaprara Scaprara

    I have everything up and running! Thanks so much for all the detail and information. Beer on it’s way!

    QQ: Readarr isn’t pulling latest develop no matter what I try. Any tips?

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