🎬 Simplarr

A self-hosted media server that just works. Request a movie or TV show from your Plex watchlist and it automatically downloads and appears in your library — no manual steps required.

Simplarr bundles Plex with the popular *arr suite (Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr) and handles all the wiring between them. Run the setup, start the containers, complete two quick wizards, and you're streaming.

⚠️ Early Release Notice: While comprehensive automated testing has been completed, full end-to-end validation in diverse environments is ongoing. You may encounter issues during setup or operation. Please report any problems via GitHub issues — feedback is actively being collected and addressed to improve the setup experience.

🎯 How It Simplifies Setup

Setting up a media server typically involves lots of manual configuration. Simplarr handles the tedious parts for you:

• Plex watchlist integration — Add to your Plex watchlist, Overseerr picks it up, and it downloads automatically
• Pre-wired services — The configure script connects qBittorrent, Radarr, Sonarr, and Prowlarr so you don't have to
• Sensible defaults — qBittorrent comes pre-configured with reasonable limits, public trackers, and proper paths
• One dashboard — Access everything from a simple homepage at http://your-server/ (or your server's IP address)

Once set up, your family and Plex friends just use the Plex app — they don't need to know about the automation behind it.

📦 What's Included

Service	What It Does
Plex	Streams your media to any device
Radarr	Finds and downloads movies
Sonarr	Finds and downloads TV shows
Prowlarr	Manages torrent indexers for Radarr/Sonarr
qBittorrent	Downloads torrents
Overseerr	Lets users request content (syncs with Plex watchlists)
Tautulli	Shows Plex statistics and history
Nginx	Provides clean URLs and a unified entry point
Homepage	Dashboard with links to all services + status page

🔄 How It Works

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         YOUR EXPERIENCE                              │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                      │
│   1. Add to Plex Watchlist  ──►  2. Automatically Downloads          │
│              │                            │                          │
│              ▼                            ▼                          │
│   ┌─────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────┐                  │
│   │  Plex App       │          │  Appears in     │                  │
│   │  (any device)   │          │  Your Library   │                  │
│   └─────────────────┘          └─────────────────┘                  │
│                                                                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

                    ▼ WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND THE SCENES ▼

┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
│   Overseerr  │────►│ Radarr/Sonarr│────►│  qBittorrent │
│              │     │              │     │              │
│ Watches your │     │ Searches via │     │  Downloads   │
│ Plex watchlist     │  Prowlarr    │     │  the file    │
└──────────────┘     └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘
       ▲                    │                    │
       │                    ▼                    ▼
       │             ┌──────────────┐     ┌──────────────┐
       │             │   Prowlarr   │     │ Media Library│
       │             │              │     │              │
       └─────────────│  Pre-wired   │     │ /movies /tv  │
      Configured     │  indexers    │     │              │
      automatically  └──────────────┘     └──────────────┘

Automated Wiring: After you complete the Plex and Overseerr sign-in wizards, the configure script wires everything together — Overseerr monitors your Plex watchlist and sends requests to Radarr/Sonarr.

📋 Requirements

• Docker and Docker Compose installed on your server
• Storage for your media library (local disk, NAS, or mounted drive)
• A free Plex account — sign up at plex.tv

About Plex Pass

Simplarr works with a free Plex account. Plex Pass (paid subscription) adds:

• Hardware transcoding (useful for lower-powered servers)
• Secure remote access to your server from anywhere

If you don't have Plex Pass, remote access isn't available — but that's fine since Simplarr is designed for LAN use only anyway. This keeps the setup simple and avoids SSL certificate complexity.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Clone and enter the repo

git clone https://github.com/parsoFish/simplarr.git
cd simplarr

2. Run the setup script

# Linux/macOS
./setup.sh

# Windows PowerShell
.\setup.ps1

The script will ask for your timezone, storage paths, and Plex claim token.

3. Start the containers

docker compose -f docker-compose-unified.yml up -d

Wait a few minutes for all services to start. Check status with:

docker compose -f docker-compose-unified.yml ps

4. Complete the setup wizards (manual prerequisites)

Only a few quick manual steps remain. Replace your-server-ip with your server's IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.100):

Plex (http://your-server-ip:32400/web)

1. Sign in with your Plex account
2. Add library → Movies → /movies
3. Add library → TV Shows → /tv

Overseerr (http://your-server-ip:5055)

1. Sign in with Plex (one-time OAuth authentication - this is required to initialize Overseerr)

💡 Why this step is required first: Overseerr requires Plex OAuth sign-in before it can be configured via API. Complete this before running the configure script.

5. Wire up the services

# Linux/macOS
./configure.sh

# Windows PowerShell
.\configure.ps1

This automatically connects all services together:

• qBittorrent ↔ Radarr/Sonarr ↔ Prowlarr
• Overseerr ↔ Radarr/Sonarr (automatic requests)
• Overseerr Watchlist Sync (auto-approval enabled)

6. Done!

Access your dashboard at http://your-server-ip/ (replace with your server's IP, e.g., http://192.168.1.100/) and start adding content to your Plex watchlist.

🏗️ Deployment Options

Single Machine (Recommended)

All services run on one server. Use docker-compose-unified.yml.

Split Setup (NAS + Separate Server)

If your NAS struggles with the *arr apps, you can run Plex and qBittorrent on the NAS while running the automation services on a Raspberry Pi or separate server. This keeps the NAS focused on storage and transcoding.

Device	Services	Compose File
NAS	Plex, qBittorrent	docker-compose-nas.yml
Pi/Server	Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr, Overseerr, Tautulli, Nginx	docker-compose-pi.yml

Setup:

1. Run ./setup.sh (or ./setup.ps1) and choose Split Setup on each device to generate a local .env with the correct paths.
2. On NAS: docker compose -f docker-compose-nas.yml up -d
3. On Pi/Server: Mount NAS storage via NFS, then docker compose -f docker-compose-pi.yml up -d
4. On Pi/Server: Run ./configure.sh (or ./configure.ps1)

✅ Split setup note: For the Pi/Server, the configure script should point qBittorrent at the NAS. Set QBITTORRENT_HOST to your NAS IP (or hostname) and use QBITTORRENT_URL if the WebUI is not on the Pi.

Split Setup From a Primary Machine (No Full Clone on Both Devices)

If you don’t want to keep the full repo on both the NAS and the Pi/Server, you can copy only the required files from a primary machine:

NAS requires:

• docker-compose-nas.yml
• .env
• setup.sh or setup.ps1 (optional, if you want to generate .env locally on NAS)
• templates/qBittorrent/qBittorrent.conf (optional, for preconfigured qBittorrent settings)

Pi/Server requires:

• docker-compose-pi.yml
• .env
• configure.sh or configure.ps1
• nginx/split.conf
• homepage/ (the dashboard container build context)

Suggested flow:

1. Clone the repo on your primary machine.
2. Run setup on each device (or generate .env on the primary machine and copy it).
3. Copy only the files listed above to each device.
4. Start the NAS services first, then the Pi/Server services.

🌐 Accessing Services

Replace your-server with either:

• Your server's IP address — e.g., http://192.168.1.100/ (find it with ifconfig on Linux/Mac or ipconfig on Windows)
• A friendly hostname — e.g., http://simplarr.local/ (requires DNS setup, see below)

Service URLs

Once running, access services via direct ports or through the homepage:

Homepage Dashboard: http://your-server-ip/

• Provides a clean dashboard with links to all services
• Status page available at http://your-server-ip/status

Direct Port Access:

Service	Port	Example URL
Plex	32400	http://your-server-ip:32400/web
Radarr	7878	http://your-server-ip:7878/
Sonarr	8989	http://your-server-ip:8989/
Prowlarr	9696	http://your-server-ip:9696/
qBittorrent	8080	http://your-server-ip:8080/
Overseerr	5055	http://your-server-ip:5055/
Tautulli	8181	http://your-server-ip:8181/

Example: If your server's IP is 192.168.1.100, the homepage is at http://192.168.1.100/ and Radarr is at http://192.168.1.100:7878/

Note: The homepage JavaScript automatically detects your server hostname and builds the correct URLs for all services.

Friendly Domain Names (Optional)

If you have a DNS server like Pi-hole, you can set up local domains:

plex.local      → your-server-ip
radarr.local    → your-server-ip
overseerr.local → your-server-ip

See the Pi-hole Local DNS guide for setup instructions.

📡 qBittorrent

qBittorrent is pre-configured with sensible defaults when you run the setup script:

• Download path: /downloads
• Auto-add trackers: Enabled (public trackers for better peer discovery)
• Connection limits: 500 global, 100 per torrent
• Seeding: 1:1 ratio or 48 hours

First login: Username is admin. Find the password in container logs:

docker logs qbittorrent 2>&1 | grep -i password

Common Customizations

Lower-powered server (Raspberry Pi, older hardware)?

• Reduce connection limits: Options → Connection → Max connections global: 100-200
• Enable "Use alternative web UI": Upload lightweight UI instead of default
• Reduce upload/download slots: Connection → Parallel downloads: 2-4

High-speed connection (100+ Mbps)?

• Increase connection limits: Max connections global: 1000+
• Increase upload/download slots: Connection → Parallel downloads: 8-16

Running private trackers?

• Disable auto-add trackers to avoid getting banned: Options → BitTorrent → uncheck "Automatically add these trackers"
• Use higher seeding ratio: Advanced → Seeding → set to 2:1 or higher

Want faster torrents?

• Enable UPnP/NAT-PMP: Options → Connection → check both boxes (allows external peers to find you)
• Increase BEP3 extension: Options → BitTorrent → check "Enable DHT (for torrent discovery)"

Advanced: Changing the pre-configured settings

All settings are stored in the qBittorrent config. To reset or manually edit:

1. Stop the container: docker compose -f docker-compose-unified.yml down qbittorrent
2. Edit the config: /path/to/qbittorrent/config/qBittorrent/qBittorrent.conf
3. Restart: docker compose -f docker-compose-unified.yml up -d qbittorrent

Or use the WebUI: Open http://your-server-ip/torrent, go to Options, and adjust any setting.

🔐 VPN Support

⚠️ Note: VPN support is included but currently untested. Use at your own discretion.

If your ISP monitors torrent traffic or you want additional privacy, you can route qBittorrent through a VPN using Gluetun.

When to use a VPN:

• You want to maintain privacy from your ISP
• You want additional privacy for your download activity
• You're using public trackers (private trackers often ban VPN IPs)

Setup: Uncomment the gluetun service in your compose file and add your VPN credentials. See comments in docker-compose-unified.yml for details.

Since Simplarr is designed for LAN-only use, the VPN only affects outbound torrent traffic — it doesn't change how you access the services locally.

🔒 Security

LAN-Only Design

Simplarr uses HTTP (not HTTPS) because it's designed for your home network only. This keeps setup simple — no certificates to manage.

Do not expose these services to the internet. If someone outside your network could access them:

• Passwords and API keys would be sent unencrypted
• Your viewing/download activity would be visible to network observers
• These services aren't hardened against attacks

Remote Access

If you need to access your media outside your home:

• Plex has secure built-in remote access (requires Plex Pass or free for local playback)
• For other services, use a VPN to securely connect to your home network

Security Checklist

• Change qBittorrent's default password
• Don't port-forward these services on your router

🐛 Issues and Support

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Open an issue on GitHub.

Please include:

• What you expected to happen
• What actually happened
• Your OS and Docker version
• Relevant logs (docker compose logs service-name)

🧪 Development & Testing

For contributors: The dev-testing/ directory contains an automated test suite that validates the entire setup. This is for development only and not needed for normal use.

• test.ps1 (PowerShell) - Comprehensive test suite with ~83 tests

See dev-testing/README.md for details.

📝 License

MIT License — use and modify freely for your home setup.

🙏 Acknowledgments

Built with:

• LinuxServer.io container images
• Plex, Radarr, Sonarr, Prowlarr
• Overseerr, qBittorrent, Tautulli