Last updated on 6 March 2025
Important or Recent Updates
| Update | Date |
|---|---|
| New guide | 02/11/2024 |
| Added additional section to GlueTUN compose | 09/11/2024 |
| Changed the default TMDB intergration to be turned off | 30/11/2024 |
| Adjusted wording of the guide now that current version is out of Beta and also the config.yml is not created automatically. | 03/03/2025 |
What is Bitmagnet?
A self-hosted BitTorrent indexer, DHT crawler, content classifier and torrent search engine with web UI, GraphQL API and Servarr stack integration.
You can integrate Bitmagnet with your media stack by adding it to Prowlarr or directly to Radarr etc.
Make sure you have a look at the System Requirements and other FAQ items as you will likely want to run this on an SSD volume with plenty of space available as my own database with 17.3 million torrents is currently 123GB. Also, if you have a capped internet service this will use a lot of data especially over the first month or so as it really fills the database.
https://bitmagnet.io/faq.html#what-are-the-system-requirements-for-bitmagnet
There is an official Discord server as well if you have any specific questions not covered by the guide or the wiki.
In this guide there are two compose versions, one runs without GlueTUN and one with, it is entirely up to you if you need to use a VPN. (See the FAQ)
Let’s Begin
In this guide I will take you through the steps to get Bitmagnet up and running in Container Manager. We will be using the Projects (Docker Compose) feature to get this running as it will save you time vs manual setup using the normal UI
In order for you to successfully use this guide please complete the three preceding guides and make note of the recommendations.
- Docker Package, SSD and Memory Recommendations
- Step 1: Directory Setup Guide
- Step 2: Setting up a restricted Docker user
- Step 3: Setting up a Docker Bridge Network (synobridge)
Folder Setup
Let’s start by getting some folders set up for the container to use. Open up File Station create the following.
/docker/projects/bitmagnet-compose
/docker/bitmagnet/postgres
/docker/bitmagnet/config
Container Manager
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, enter the following:
| Section | Setting |
|---|---|
| Project Name: | bitmagnet |
| Path: | /docker/projects/bitmagnet-compose |
| Source: | Create docker-compose.yml |
Next we are going to drop in our docker compose configuration, decide if you want to use Bitmagnet with or without a VPN and copy the appropriate compose below.
Non VPN Compose
services:
bitmagnet:
image: ghcr.io/bitmagnet-io/bitmagnet:latest
container_name: bitmagnet
user: 1234:65432 #change as per guide
environment:
- POSTGRES_HOST=bitmagnet-postgres
- POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres #change as per guide
- TMDB_ENABLED=false
# - TMDB_API_KEY=your_api_key
volumes:
- /volume1/docker/bitmagnet/config:/root/.config/bitmagnet
command:
- worker
- run
# Run all workers:
- --all
ports:
- 3333:3333
network_mode: synobridge
security_opt:
- no-new-privileges:true
depends_on:
bitmagnet-postgres:
condition: service_healthy
restart: always
bitmagnet-postgres:
image: postgres:16-alpine
container_name: bitmagnet-postgres
volumes:
- /volume1/docker/bitmagnet/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
environment:
- POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres #change as per guide
- POSTGRES_DB=bitmagnet
- PGUSER=postgres
healthcheck:
test:
- CMD-SHELL
- pg_isready
start_period: 20s
interval: 10s
shm_size: 1g
network_mode: synobridge
security_opt:
- no-new-privileges:true
restart: alwaysVPN (GlueTUN) Compose
This setup is a little different to the way we would normally add a container to GlueTUN, we are actually going to tell Bitmagnet to use the VPN container from a separate compose. This makes the assumption you have followed one of the GlueTUN guides from the left menu and have a functional connection.
We don’t normally assign specific IPs to containers however for us to split the Bitmagnet container onto our VPN and the Postgres database to remain local and still remain connectable we will assign an IP to it. As we will be using our Synobridge network I have pre-assigned a suitable IP that is high enough to remain out of the way of up to 119 other containers so you are very unlikely to have a conflict.
services:
bitmagnet:
image: ghcr.io/bitmagnet-io/bitmagnet:latest
container_name: bitmagnet
user: 1234:65432 #change as per guide
environment:
- POSTGRES_HOST=bitmagnet-postgres
- POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres #change as per guide
- TMDB_ENABLED=false
# - TMDB_API_KEY=your_api_key
volumes:
- /volume1/docker/bitmagnet/config:/root/.config/bitmagnet
command:
- worker
- run
# Run all workers:
- --all
network_mode: container:gluetun
security_opt:
- no-new-privileges:true
depends_on:
bitmagnet-postgres:
condition: service_healthy
restart: always
bitmagnet-postgres:
image: postgres:16-alpine
container_name: bitmagnet-postgres
volumes:
- /volume1/docker/bitmagnet/postgres:/var/lib/postgresql/data
environment:
- POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres #change as per guide
- POSTGRES_DB=bitmagnet
- PGUSER=postgres
healthcheck:
test:
- CMD-SHELL
- pg_isready
start_period: 20s
interval: 10s
shm_size: 1g
networks:
synobridge:
ipv4_address: 172.20.0.121 # Assign the desired IP here
security_opt:
- no-new-privileges:true
restart: always
networks:
synobridge:
external: trueEnvironment Variables
We are now going to amend a couple of key variables to make sure the container is running as our dockerlimited user and the database has a unique password (Note the postgres database will run as its own internal user)
| Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| user | Amend the UID (1234) and GID (65432) to the ones you obtained for your dockerlimited user |
| POSTGRES_PASSWORD | Enter a password for the database, make sure you do this on the two lines in the compose for the Bitmagnet and Postgres container. |
| TMDB_ENABLED | I have changed this to be false (off) by default this means your database wont contain all the cover and movie and series information making it smaller. |
| TMDB_API_KEY | Optionalal to add your own key from TMDB if you want to see art for shows and movies, I don’t personally use this. https://kb.synology.com/en-au/DSM/tutorial/How_to_apply_for_a_personal_API_key_to_get_video_info |
Once you have made the edits you can click ‘Next’.
You do not need to enable anything on the ‘Web portal settings’ screen click ‘Next’ again.
On the final screen click ‘Done’ which will begin the download of the container images and once downloaded they will be launched!
The images will now be downloaded and extracted. You should see ‘Code 0’ when it has finished.
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.
Adding Bitmagnet Ports to GlueTUN
If you went with the VPN Compose you have one more thing to change, if not skip ahead.
You will now need to add the WebUI and optional database ports to your GlueTUN project compose, this will involve stopping the GlueTUN Project, and then dropping in the ports below into the section shown in the screenshot.
You can then start up / build the GlueTUN project and then restart the Bitmagnet project to link things up.
- 3333:3333 #Bitmagnet
#- 5432:5432 database only if you want to look in it
In additional to the above you may need to layer an additional part into GlueTUN compose if you have trouble with the database connecting. This will go after the network mode line
extra_hosts:
- bitmagnet-postgres:172.20.0.121Up and Running!
Bitmagnet will now be running on port 3333 you can connect to it by going to the IP address of your NAS with that port
e.g. 192.168.0.40:3333
After 30 seconds or so you should start to see new torrents appearing in the content types on the left-hand side and in the main list. Scanning the DHT takes time so at this point its just as case of being patient while it does its thing.
You can now add this as an indexer to Prowlarr or directly to your individual Radarr, Sonarr containers. You will add as a custom Torznab Indexer using the synobridge gateway IP.
http://172.20.0.1:3333/torznab
Optional Extra Configs
You will can create a config.yml file in /docker/bitmagnet/config which allows you to make some further customisation to the UI and settings. For example if you want to block specific items appearing in the catalogue such as adult torrents you can add banned words. See the links for the Documentation and GitHub at the top of the guide.
Database Export
Thanks to Erik in the comments for this export compose – it will backup the database to an SQL file for you in case you ever need to import the database again.
services:
bitmagnet_backup:
image: postgres:16
container_name: bitmagnet_backup
network_mode: bridge
networks:
- synobridge
volumes:
- /volume1/data/backup:/backup
environment:
- PGPASSWORD=YourPostgresPassword
command: |
sh -c "pg_dump -h 172.20.0.121 -U postgres \
--column-inserts \
--data-only \
--on-conflict-do-nothing \
--rows-per-insert=1000 \
--table=metadata_sources \
--table=content \
--table=content_attributes \
--table=content_collections \
--table=content_collections_content \
--table=torrent_sources \
--table=torrents \
--table=torrent_files \
--table=torrent_hints \
--table=torrent_contents \
--table=torrent_tags \
--table=torrents_torrent_sources \
--table=key_values \
bitmagnet > /backup/backup.sql"
networks:
synobridge:
external: trueLooking for some help, join our Discord community
If you are struggling with any steps in the guides or looking to branch out into other containers join our Discord community!
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Hi Dr. I followed the guide but Im getting the following error when I “build”
Error response from daemon: No such container 33ae0721ec34712204etc…
Exit Code: 1
Im a bit lost. any help would be appreciated
Hey did you update or restart your GlueTUN container – if so the Bitmagnet container will be looking for it under its old container ID – make sure GlueTUN is running and then stop and start the Bitmagnet project.
Disregard my previous comment. It seems it’s not a postgres issue with the RAM usage but rather the way docker handles this and reports it back to the kernel. It’s showing the RAM maxed out but if you look inside the docker instance itself and run “docker stats”, prostgres is releasing the RAM but Docker reports this back to the kernel as still used.
Probably still a good idea to set a RAM limit on the postgres container though just in case due to the nature of what it’s doing and how it uses RAM.
Hey just catching up with comments I took a day off yesterday and seems like everyone arrived at the same time 🙂
Yeah thats correct its reported as the container using X amount but its actual X amount for the container and X amount for Filecache – its very misleading! It will free up the memory for other apps if required – I will make a note to try this out on my instance as well.
I’m not sure if it’s just me, just the newest update, or if there’s an issue with not doing proper cleanup of postgres in bitmagnet but the RAM usage seems to be out of control. When left unchecked, it seems that the bitmagnet-postgres container will use up pretty much all the ram you allow it to use.
Again, this could just be me. I don’t know. I found this to be an issue on my server running it as well though. So it might be worth setting a limit on the amount of RAM it’s able to use.
You can limit RAM via the Settings of the container in Container Manager or you can just add the limit to your compose. To add it in your compose you would just do it like this:
services:
postgres:
image: postgres:16-alpine
container_name: bitmagnet-postgres
mem_limit: 12g
# rest of config …
That example would allow 12gb of RAM so some may want to do less. Change it to your needs. System requirements for Bitmagnet say 1gb. Up to you.
I posted a comment but it seems it didn’t get approved so maybe I said something in the comment that would cause it to not be approved. I’ll try to re-word it. I gave more detail in my previous comment but maybe that’s what got it to not be approved. I’ll simplify my comment to the point.
I do not have a config.yml file in my /docker/bitmagnet/config folder. What could be the reasons for this?
BitMagnet is running and the db is filling up. So it all seems to be working. I just don’t have the ability to edit the config because there doesn’t appear to be one.
Hey Erik – Just have not got to your comment yet – they all go in a queue, so I don’t miss any – I need to check as I have a config file but need to spin up a fresh install to see if that was actually me setting that up! – I will come back again later on.
Never mind. No need for you to go back and dig in to this. After going through all the settings listed on their documentation, I don’t really see anything I feel the need to change. Also, I decided to just spin up a VM on my Proxmox server and run BitMagnet there instead of on the NAS so that I would have a little more flexibility with it. Thank you for your help in all your guides though. They are amazing.
No worries – yeah the defaults are pretty much all most people would want – especially if the plan is just to add to a media stack.
Just in case anyone ever comes across it. The version of postgres that DSM runs (version 11) is not compatible with the script provided on bitmagnet’s website to export a backup of the database. You could technically run commands through docker in the CLI to export the database backup but I found another way that works. If anyone ever needs to export their database to move it or merge it with another instance of bitmagnet, see below.
I just created a compose that when built and ran, it pulls down version 16 of postgres and exports the database. When it’s done, the container just stops itself and the backup of the database is saved wherever you chose. Could be useful for someone. I did this and then just the inverse to merge it in to my new instance that I installed in my VM.
services:
bitmagnet_backup:
image: postgres:16
container_name: bitmagnet_backup
network_mode: “bridge”
networks:
– synobridge
volumes:
– /volume1/data/backup:/backup #pick the path you want to save your backup file in
environment:
– PGPASSWORD=YourPostgresPassword #enter your postgres password
command: >
sh -c “pg_dump -h 172.20.0.121 -U postgres #change IP to postgres IP
–column-inserts
–data-only
–on-conflict-do-nothing
–rows-per-insert=1000
–table=metadata_sources
–table=content
–table=content_attributes
–table=content_collections
–table=content_collections_content
–table=torrent_sources
–table=torrents
–table=torrent_files
–table=torrent_hints
–table=torrent_contents
–table=torrent_tags
–table=torrents_torrent_sources
–table=key_values
bitmagnet > /backup/backup.sql”
networks:
synobridge:
external: true
Very useful thanks – I will drop this in the FAQ so its nicely formatted.
This is a great guide, I have almost everything set up!
My only issue now is that I can’t get bitmagnet connected to prowlarr. When in the prowlarr UI and add the indexer for bit magnet.
The base URL, it only gives me a dropdown menu for 2 options, I can’t customize it, and neither of those 2 options will connect.
I can access the bitmagnet UI directly, so it is up and running.
I followed the gluetun vpn method for prowlarr. and tried to get bitmagnet to work along side it, but nothing seems to work. not sure what I am missing.
Hey – Are you using synobridge across them if so the 172.20.0.1 IP should work, you can also try the NAS IP or even for some things the container name works.