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Frank 151495c978 docs(arr): chain completion — roots live on sonarr/radarr, PUID=0 identity fix rationale

Sonarr/Radarr root folders created via API (201). Lidarr/Readarr deferred to
first-run wizard (v1 validators demand quality-profile ids that don't exist
yet). Root cause of the write failures: LSIO PUID=1000 under rootless podman
maps to host uid 101000 — a phantom user owning nothing; PUID=0 maps to the
host user that owns every media dir.

2026-08-29 07:30:03 -07:00

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*arr Stack

The *arr suite is a collection of automated media management tools for Usenet and BitTorrent. For Dankserver — which runs Copyparty, Calibre-Web, RomM, and Jellyfin — the *arr stack provides automatic downloading and library management that Copyparty alone does not cover: quality profile enforcement, series/movie discovery, metadata enrichment, and automated file organization.

The core chain is: Prowlarr (indexer API aggregator) → Sonarr/Radarr/Lidarr/Readarr (media-specific managers) → qBittorrent (download client) → Jellyfin (media server scan → auto-refresh).

Service Overview

Service	Role	Image	Port	Min RAM
Prowlarr	Indexer management	`lscr.io/linuxserver/prowlarr:latest`	9696	256 MB
Radarr	Movie management	`lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:latest`	7878	512 MB
Sonarr	TV show management	`lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:latest`	8989	512 MB
Lidarr	Music management	`lscr.io/linuxserver/lidarr:latest`	8686	256 MB
Readarr	Ebook/audiobook management	`lscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:latest`	8787	256 MB
qBittorrent	Torrent download client	`lscr.io/linuxserver/qbittorrent:latest`	8080	512 MB
Jackett	Indexer proxy (optional)	`lscr.io/linuxserver/jackett:latest`	9117	256 MB
Whisparr	NSFW movie management (optional)	`lscr.io/linuxserver/whisparr:latest`	6969	256 MB

Minimum total RAM: ~3 GB for full stack (headroom recommended).

Architecture

graph LR
    I[Indexers<br/>Torrents, Usenet] --> P[Prowlarr<br/>Indexer Manager]
    P --> S[Sonarr<br/>TV]
    P --> R[Radarr<br/>Movies]
    P --> L[Lidarr<br/>Music]
    P --> Rd[Readarr<br/>Books]
    S --> Q[qBittorrent]
    R --> Q
    L --> Q
    Rd --> Q
    Q --> M1[/tv/]
    Q --> M2[/movies/]
    Q --> M3[/music/]
    Q --> M4[/books/]
    M1 --> J[Jellyfin]
    M2 --> J
    M3 --> J
    M4 --> CW[Calibre-Web]

Docker Compose

networks:
  appnet:
    driver: bridge

services:
  prowlarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/prowlarr:latest
    container_name: prowlarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - UMASK_SET=022
    volumes:
      - /opt/prowlarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media/downloads:/downloads:ro
    ports:
      - "9696:9696"
    networks: [appnet]

  radarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:latest
    container_name: radarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - UMASK_SET=022
    volumes:
      - /opt/radarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media/movies:/movies
      - /mnt/media/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "7878:7878"
    networks: [appnet]

  sonarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:latest
    container_name: sonarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - UMASK_SET=022
    volumes:
      - /opt/sonarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media/tv:/tv
      - /mnt/media/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "8989:8989"
    networks: [appnet]

  lidarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/lidarr:latest
    container_name: lidarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - UMASK_SET=022
    volumes:
      - /opt/lidarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media/music:/music
      - /mnt/media/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "8686:8686"
    networks: [appnet]

  readarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:latest
    container_name: readarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - UMASK_SET=022
    volumes:
      - /opt/readarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media/books:/books
      - /mnt/media/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "8787:8787"
    networks: [appnet]

  qbittorrent:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/qbittorrent:latest
    container_name: qbittorrent
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - UMASK_SET=022
    volumes:
      - /opt/qbittorrent/config:/config
      - /mnt/media/downloads:/downloads
      - /mnt/media/downloads/incomplete:/downloads/incomplete
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    networks: [appnet]

  # Optional: Jackett for niche indexers
  jackett:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/jackett:latest
    container_name: jackett
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - UMASK_SET=022
    volumes:
      - /opt/jackett/config:/config
      - /opt/jackett/torrences:/torrences
    ports:
      - "9117:9117"
    networks: [appnet]

  # Optional: Whisparr for adult content
  whisparr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/whisparr:latest
    container_name: whisparr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - UMASK_SET=022
    volumes:
      - /opt/whisparr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media/whisparr-movies:/whisparr-movies
      - /mnt/media/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "6969:6969"
    networks: [appnet]

Caddy Configuration

radarr.dankserver.local {
    reverse_proxy localhost:7878
}

sonarr.dankserver.local {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8989
}

lidarr.dankserver.local {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8686
}

readarr.dankserver.local {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8787
}

prowlarr.dankserver.local {
    reverse_proxy localhost:9696
}

qbittorrent.dankserver.local {
    reverse_proxy localhost:8080
}

# Optional: Jackett
jackett.dankserver.local {
    reverse_proxy localhost:9117
}

# Optional: Whisparr
whisparr.dankserver.local {
    reverse_proxy localhost:6969
}

Configuration Steps

Phase 1: Download Client

Deploy qBittorrent first (or Transmission).
In the qBittorrent Web UI, set No auth mode for LAN (Settings → Web UI).
Create download categories: movies, tv, music, books.
Change the default Web UI password.

Phase 2: Indexer Management

Deploy Prowlarr.
Add indexers (3–5 recommended for testing). Use the Test button on each.
Add qBittorrent as a download client in Prowlarr.
Verify search from the Prowlarr web UI.

Phase 3: Arr Apps (one at a time)

Deploy Sonarr first (TV shows are the most common use case).
Add Prowlarr as the indexer source (Settings → Indexers → Add Prowlarr).
Add qBittorrent as the download client with categories.
Add a test series. Wait for the episode to download. Verify in /tv/.
Repeat for Radarr, Lidarr, Readarr.

Phase 4: Media Server Integration

Configure Jellyfin libraries pointing to /movies, /tv, /music, /books.
Set On Download notifications in each arr app → Jellyfin webhook URL.
Test end-to-end: Add a movie in Radarr → download → verify in Jellyfin.

Quality Profiles

Each arr app uses a hierarchical quality system:

Quality Profile — Defines tiers (e.g., 2160p → 1080p BluRay → 720p).
Cutoff — The quality target. Downloads at or above cutoff are accepted.
Custom Formats — Additional filters (e.g., "Has HDR", "Is Director's Cut").
Search on Grab — When content becomes available, all indexers are queried.

Radarr (Movies)

Profile: Movies 4K
  Tiers:
    1. 2160p BluRay REMUX
    2. 2160p BluRay
    3. 2160p WEB-DL
    4. 1080p BluRay
    5. 1080p WEB-DL
    6. 720p
  Cutoff: 1080p BluRay

Sonarr (TV)

Profile: TV - Standard
  Tiers: 2160p → 1080p → 720p
  Min Size: 500 MB
  Max Size: 50 GB
  Cutoff: 1080p
  Language Profile: English audio preferred

Lidarr (Music)

Profile: Music - Standard
  Tiers: Lossless (FLAC) → 320 kbps → 192 kbps
  Cutoff: 320 kbps (or Lossless)

Metadata Sources

App	Primary Source	Secondary
Radarr	TMDB	TheMovieDB API
Sonarr	TMDB	TVDB
Lidarr	MusicBrainz	—
Readarr	Goodreads, StoryGraph	—
Whisparr	XH	TMDB

*arr Stack vs Copyparty

Feature	Copyparty	*arr Stack
Auto-download from torrents	Basic (RSS + scripts)	Native, integrated
Quality profiles	No	Multi-tier, custom formats
Series/movie tracking	No	Watch lists, air dates
Manual library management	Yes	Yes, metadata-driven
Multi-user watchlists	No	Yes
Complexity	Low	Medium
Resource usage	Minimal	Moderate

Use Copyparty for curated file collections. Use *arr for automatic downloads. Use both together for maximum functionality — point *arr download directories at Copyparty's watched folders.

Live State (as-built, verified 2026-08-29)

Deployed shape differs from the design compose above — reality wins:

Mounts are the real array paths (/mnt/entropy/downloads, case-exact dirs like Movies/TVShows), not /mnt/media/*; TZ is America/Los_Angeles.
Readarr runs lscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:amd64-1.0.980 — LSIO ships no untagged latest for readarr; the tag was pinned after a manifest probe.
Prowlarr's /config mount was missing mid-deploy (off-by-one in an edit); restored in commit 67695cf.
Auth posture: every arr runs AuthenticationMethod=None + AuthenticationRequired=Enabled — verified live via each config.xml and by probing /api/v3/system/status unauthenticated (401 on all five, local and through the vhost). Net effect: a login screen with zero users defined; whoever creates the first account owns the instance. Decide the auth method (None behind the Anubis wall vs External via authentik) before WAN exposure — first-account-wins is the current race condition.
API keys live in each /config/config.xml (<ApiKey>); they are local-only secrets and stop being secret the moment a vhost serves the API unauthenticated.

Chain wiring (verified live 2026-08-29)

The download chain is wired and test-first verified: indexers → Prowlarr → per-arr qBittorrent clients (category = app name) → import.

qB webUI auth is ON (admin + generated password; verify before writing it into any config — it was generated at first boot, not a default).
Per-arr QBittorrent download clients exist on sonarr/radarr/lidarr (enabled) and readarr (parked: its qB proxy fails auth live even with correct creds — known defect of the abandoned upstream; do not enable until the image changes). Each was tested before enabling; failures stay parked with a reason, never enabled blind.
Prowlarr runs v2.5.2 where apps are first-class rows (Applications table): four Application rows (sonarr/radarr/lidarr/readarr) now carry each arr's real baseUrl+apiKey with SyncLevel=FullSync. Before this, the table was empty and every sync attempt threw NullConfig in GetIndexerMappings() — visible in podman logs prowlarr, not in any UI.
Indexers are test-before-enable: EZTV and 1337x stay disabled with reason "blocked by CloudFlare Protection" (this host's egress ASN is CF-blocked at those trackers); Nyaa.si, sukebei, RuTor, Byrutor, YTS passed live tests and are enabled. A failed test = parked with reason, never enabled blind.
Prowlarr v2 sync model: indexers stay in Prowlarr; arrs search through it and hand off to their own qB download client (category routing). Mappings materialize at grab time — zero mappings right after wiring is expected, not a fault. Chain completion (same day): Sonarr and Radarr root folders created via API (/tv, /movies → 201). Lidarr/Readarr roots deferred to their first-run wizard (v1 API validators demand quality-profile ids that don't exist yet — two clicks in the UI, not an API guess). The blocker under all of it: LSIO images run as PUID=1000, which under rootless podman's userns maps to host uid 101000 — a phantom user owning nothing; Sonarr's own validator refused /tv with "not writable by user 'abc'" (placeholder name for the unknown uid). Fix: PUID=0/PGID=0 on the arr stack + qbittorrent + prowlarr (container-root = host's dank, which owns every media dir; mapping- independent by construction). calibre-web and jellyfin untouched — not broken.

Disk Layout

/mnt/media/
├── movies/         → Radarr root
├── tv/             → Sonarr root
├── music/          → Lidarr root
├── books/          → Readarr root
├── whisparr-movies/ → Whisparr root
├── downloads/      → qBittorrent download dir
│   ├── movies/
│   ├── tv/
│   ├── music/
│   └── books/
└── incomplete/     → qBittorrent incomplete downloads

Gotchas

Timezone mismatch: All containers should use the same TZ. Sonarr's scheduler is timezone-sensitive.
File permissions: Set umask=022 in qBittorrent. Ensure arr apps can read/move downloaded files.
Network conflicts: *arr apps use many ports. Check for conflicts with existing Dankserver services.
Prowlarr API key rotation: If rotated, update it in every arr app.
qBittorrent Web UI password: Change default on first run.
Readarr stability: Readarr is still in development. Do not rely on it for mission-critical collections.
Whisparr separate Jellyfin library: Keep adult content separate from regular media.
RSS feed in qBittorrent: Can auto-add torrents matching a pattern. Useful for podcast-like series.

Best Practices

Use tags to route content to specific download clients or categories.
Enable the Blocklist in arr apps to prevent re-downloading failed torrents.
Set download limits in qBittorrent to avoid bandwidth saturation.
Back up arr configs regularly (they are small SQLite DBs + JSON).
Monitor Prowlarr indexer health — broken indexers hide new content.
Start with default quality profiles. Add custom formats gradually.
Back up arr configs: ./radarr/config, ./sonarr/config, etc.

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