Sonarr

Smart PVR for automated TV series management and quality upgrades

Sonarr is a PVR (Personal Video Recorder) for Usenet and BitTorrent users. It monitors multiple RSS feeds for new episodes of your favorite shows and automatically grabs, sorts, and renames them. Sonarr can also be configured to automatically upgrade the quality of files already downloaded when a better quality format becomes available.

Installation

Install from the Dashboard

Open App Dashboard → Package Management (/dashboard?mode=packages), find Sonarr in the catalog (browse Media Management or search), and click Install. The dashboard streams the install log live and Sonarr appears in your Application Control panel when it finishes. Reinstall, Update, and Remove are available from the same panel.

In the install dialog you can pick the release channel — Stable (default) or Nightly for the develop builds. Switching the channel later and updating moves Sonarr to that channel’s latest build. See Channels & Versions for how channels work.

For a dedicated 4K library, install Sonarr4K — a separate instance with its own port, configuration directory (~/.config/Sonarr4K), and quality profiles, so your standard and 4K libraries never conflict. It appears as its own catalog entry in Package Management; on the CLI it is the --4k flag on qb install sonarr (see below).

What you see and can manage is gated by your account: admins manage any user’s apps; regular users manage their own. For the full package flow see App Management.

Install and manage from the CLI

The CLI runs the same scripts as the Dashboard and is the full power-user/automation surface. Install Sonarr v4 (stable) for a specific user:

qb install sonarr -u username

The complete command set:

Full flag reference: CLI Reference.

Directory Structure

Configuration Details

Standard instance:

• Install location: /opt/username/Sonarr/
• Config directory: ~/.config/Sonarr/
• Database: ~/.config/Sonarr/sonarr.db
• Service: sonarr@username.service
• Default port: 8989 (auto-generated if in use)
• SSL port: 9898 (auto-generated if in use)

4K instance (—4k flag):

• Install location: /opt/username/Sonarr4K/
• Config directory: ~/.config/Sonarr4K/
• Database: ~/.config/Sonarr4K/sonarr.db
• Service: sonarr4k@username.service
• Ports: Auto-generated (typically 8990+)

Upgrading from v3 to v4

Upgrade Command

qb update sonarr -u username --v4

Pre-Upgrade Checklist

Accessing Sonarr

After installation, Sonarr is accessible through QuickBox’s nginx reverse proxy with SSL:

Network Configuration

QuickBox automatically configures:

• URL Base: /username/sonarr (or /username/sonarr4k)
• Bind Address: 127.0.0.1 (local only - proxied through nginx)
• Port: Auto-assigned (typically 8989 for standard, 8990+ for 4K)
• SSL: Handled by nginx reverse proxy (port 443)
• Authentication: Initially set to None (configure on first access)

Initial Configuration

1. Set up Authentication

1. Navigate to Settings → General
2. Under Security, configure:
   • Authentication Method: Forms (recommended) or Basic
   • Username: Your chosen username
   • Password: Strong password

2. Configure Download Client

Sonarr needs a download client to grab releases. QuickBox configures clients with SSL through nginx.

Steps:

1. Go to Settings → Download Clients
2. Click Add (+) button
3. Select your client (qBittorrent, Deluge, rTorrent, etc.)
4. Enable Show Advanced to access URL Base field
5. Enter connection details from the table below

6. Click Test to verify connection
7. Click Save if test succeeds

3. Add Indexers via Prowlarr (Recommended)

Prowlarr provides centralized indexer management across all *arr applications:

1. Install Prowlarr: qb install prowlarr -u username
2. In Prowlarr, navigate to Settings → Apps
3. Click Add (+) and select Sonarr
4. Enter:
   • Sonarr URL: http://localhost:8989/username/sonarr
   • API Key: Found in Sonarr → Settings → General → Security
5. Click Test then Save
6. Add indexers in Prowlarr—they automatically sync to Sonarr

Alternative: Manual indexers

• Go to Settings → Indexers → Add (+)
• Add trackers/usenet indexers individually

4. Set Root Folder

Define where Sonarr should store TV shows:

1. Navigate to Settings → Media Management
2. Click Root Folders
3. Click Add Root Folder
4. Enter path (e.g., /home/username/Media/TV)
5. Click OK

Recommended structure:

• Standard instance: /home/username/Media/TV
• 4K instance: /home/username/Media/TV-4K

5. Quality Profiles & Upgrades

Configure quality preferences and automatic upgrades:

1. Navigate to Settings → Profiles
2. Edit existing profile or create new one
3. Configure:
   • Upgrade Until: Maximum quality (e.g., Bluray-1080p)
   • Upgrades Allowed: ✓ Enabled
   • Cutoff: When to stop upgrading
4. Click Save

Example workflow:

• Episode airs → Download HDTV 720p
• Web release available → Upgrade to WEBDL 1080p
• Blu-ray released → Upgrade to Bluray 1080p (cutoff reached, stop upgrading)

File Naming Configuration

Recommended settings for consistent library organization:

Navigate to Settings → Media Management → File Management:

Example output:

• Standard: The Office - S02E05 - Halloween WEBDL-1080p.mkv
• Daily: The Daily Show - 2024-12-24 - Holiday Special HDTV-720p.mkv
• Anime: Attack on Titan - S01E13 - 013 - Primal Desire Bluray-1080p.mkv

Adding TV Series

1. Click Series in the main navigation
2. Click Add New button
3. Search for your show by name
4. Select the series from search results
5. Configure options:
   • Root Folder: Where to save the show
   • Quality Profile: Desired quality settings
   • Monitor: Which episodes to track (see below)
   • Series Type: Standard, Daily, or Anime
6. Click Add Series

Monitoring Options

Service Management

Sonarr runs as a systemd service for reliability and automatic startup.

4K instance commands:

Replace sonarr with sonarr4k in all commands above:

systemctl status sonarr4k@username
systemctl restart sonarr4k@username
journalctl -u sonarr4k@username -f

Troubleshooting

Sonarr Won’t Start

View detailed logs:

journalctl -u sonarr@username --since "10 minutes ago" --no-pager

Downloads Not Appearing

Permission Issues

If Sonarr can’t access files or directories:

# Fix all user permissions
qb fix permissions -u username
 
# Restart Sonarr
systemctl restart sonarr@username
 
# Verify ownership
ls -la ~/.config/Sonarr/

Database Corruption

Check database integrity:

sqlite3 ~/.config/Sonarr/sonarr.db "PRAGMA integrity_check;"

Indexer Rate Limiting

If you’re getting rate limit errors from indexers:

1. Reduce RSS sync interval: Settings → Indexers → Options → RSS Sync Interval (increase to 30-60 minutes)
2. Use Prowlarr for centralized rate limit management
3. Remove duplicate or redundant indexers
4. Consider premium/VIP indexer accounts for higher limits

Best Practices

Related Applications

Sonarr integrates seamlessly with the QuickBox ecosystem:

Additional Resources