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Home Media Server - Setup Guide

Complete step-by-step setup and configuration guide for the Home Media Server stack.

Prerequisites

  • Docker Engine 20.10+ and Docker Compose 2.0+
  • Linux system (Ubuntu 20.04+ recommended)
  • Minimum 4GB RAM, 20GB storage (more depending on media collection)
  • Tailscale account (free tier acceptable) for remote access
  • Internet connection for initial setup

Installation Steps

1. Clone Repository

git clone <your-repository-url> /home/lab/home_media
cd /home/lab/home_media

2. Create Environment Configuration

Copy the example environment file and fill in your values:

cp .env.example .env
nano .env

Required values: - TSDPROXY_AUTHKEY: Get from https://login.tailscale.com/admin/settings/keys - TSDPROXY_HOSTNAME: Your Tailscale server IP (or run tailscale ip -4 on your server) - PUID/PGID: Run id to get your user/group IDs - TZ: Your timezone (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones)

3. Prepare Data Directories

Create the expected directory structure (linked to your existing data):

# Create media organization directories
mkdir -p /data/media/{movies,tv,music}
mkdir -p /data/torrents/{movies,tv,music}

# Set appropriate permissions (adjust user:group to match your PUID:PGID)
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /data
sudo chmod -R 755 /data

Note: If migrating from existing setup, symlink existing folders: 

# Example: Link existing movie data
ln -s /path/to/existing/movies /data/media/movies

# Create empty folders for other types
mkdir -p /data/media/tv /data/media/music

4. Initialize Application Data Directories

cd ent/
mkdir -p appdata/{radarr,sonarr,lidarr,bazarr,prowlarr,qbittorrent,jellyfin,termix,dockhand}

# Set permissions so container user (UID 1000) can write
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 appdata/
chmod -R 775 appdata/

5. Start the Stack

# Start all services
docker-compose up -d

# Verify all services started
docker-compose ps

All services should show Up status. Check logs for any issues:

docker-compose logs -f # All services
docker-compose logs -f radarr # Specific service

6. Initialize Tailscale Access

If using TSDProxy for remote access (recommended):

# Check TSDProxy logs
docker-compose logs tsdproxy

# Verify Tailscale is connected
docker exec tsdproxy tailscale status

If you see authentication prompts, it means the auth key needs to be finalized:

# Check for auth URL in logs
docker-compose logs tsdproxy | grep auth

# Open the URL in a browser to approve the device

Once approved, your services will be accessible at: - radarr.YOUR_TAILSCALE_HOSTNAME - sonarr.YOUR_TAILSCALE_HOSTNAME - etc.

Service Configuration

Each service stores configuration in ./appdata/{service}/config.xml. After initial startup, configure each:

Radarr (Movies)

  1. Access at http://localhost:7878 (or via Tailscale)
  2. Settings > Media Management:
  3. Movie Folder: /data/media/movies
  4. Naming:
  5. Standard: {Movie Title} ({Release Year})/{Movie Title} ({Release Year}) - {Quality Full}
  6. Root Folders: Add /data/media
  7. Settings > Download Clients:
  8. Add qBittorrent client
  9. Host: qbittorrent
  10. Port: 8080
  11. Settings > Indexers:
  12. Leave empty or add via Prowlarr integration

Sonarr (TV Shows)

  1. Access at http://localhost:8989 (or via Tailscale)
  2. Settings > Media Management:
  3. TV Folder: /data/media/tv
  4. Naming:
  5. Series: {Series Title}
  6. Season: Season {season:00}
  7. Episode: {Series Title} - {season:00}e{episode:00} - {Episode Title} {Quality Full}
  8. Root Folders: Add /data/media
  9. Settings > Download Clients: Add qBittorrent
  10. Settings > Indexers: Connect to Prowlarr

Lidarr (Music)

  1. Access at http://localhost:8686 (or via Tailscale)
  2. Settings > Media Management:
  3. Music Folder: /data/media/music
  4. Naming:
  5. Artist: {Artist Name}
  6. Album: {Album Title} ({Release Year})
  7. Track: {track:00} - {Track Title}
  8. Root Folders: Add /data/media
  9. Settings > Download Clients: Add qBittorrent
  10. Settings > Metadata Provider: Configure preferred sources

Prowlarr (Indexer Manager)

  1. Access at http://localhost:9696 (or via Tailscale)
  2. Settings > Apps:
  3. Add Radarr, Sonarr, Lidarr instances
  4. Get API keys from each service (Settings > General)
  5. Indexers: Add your preferred torrent/usenet indexers

Bazarr (Subtitles)

  1. Access at http://localhost:6767 (or via Tailscale)
  2. Settings > Sonarr / Settings > Radarr:
  3. Enable integration
  4. Add API keys from respective services
  5. Settings > Languages: Select subtitle languages to download

qBittorrent (Downloads)

  1. Access at http://localhost:8080 (or via Tailscale)
  2. Default credentials: admin / adminadmin
  3. Highly recommend changing password immediately
  4. Options > Downloads:
  5. Default Save Path: /data/torrents/
  6. Keep torrents: Enable (for seeding)
  7. Create download categories:
  8. movies → /data/torrents/movies
  9. tv → /data/torrents/tv
  10. music → /data/torrents/music

Jellyfin (Media Server)

  1. Access at http://localhost:8096 (or via Tailscale)
  2. Libraries → Add Library:
  3. Movie Library: /data/media/movies
  4. TV Library: /data/media/tv
  5. Music Library: /data/media/music
  6. Dashboard → Plugins: Install preferred plugins
  7. Playback: Configure subtitle, audio codec preferences

Termix (Web Terminal)

  1. Access at http://localhost:8081 (or via Tailscale)
  2. First access generates JWT token and password - save these
  3. Use for system administration via browser

Dockhand (Docker UI)

  1. Access at http://localhost:3000 (or via Tailscale)
  2. Database auto-initialized in ./appdata/dockhand/
  3. Monitor and manage all Docker containers

Media Organization Standard (Trash Guides)

The stack uses Trash Guides format for consistent organization:

Movies

/data/media/movies/
 Inception (2010)/
 Inception (2010) - 1080p.mkv
 Inception (2010) - 1080p.srt
 The Dark Knight (2008)/
 Interstellar (2014)/

Radarr Naming: 

{Movie Title} ({Release Year})/{Movie Title} ({Release Year}) - {Quality Full}

TV Shows

/data/media/tv/
 Breaking Bad/
 Season 01/
 Breaking Bad - 01e01 - Pilot [1080p].mkv
 Breaking Bad - 01e02 - Cat's in the Bag [1080p].mkv
 ...
 Season 02/
 Better Call Saul/

Sonarr Naming: 

{Series Title}/Season {season:00}/{Series Title} - {season:00}e{episode:00} - {Episode Title} {Quality Full}

Music

/data/media/music/
 Taylor Swift/
 Midnights (2022)/
 01 - Midnight.flac
 02 - Karma.flac
 ...
 The Beatles/
 Abbey Road (1969)/
 The White Album (1968)/
 Dua Lipa/

Lidarr Naming: 

{Artist Name}/{Album Title} ({Release Year})/{track:00} - {Track Title}

Operations & Maintenance

Viewing Logs

# All services
docker-compose logs -f

# Specific service (follow in real-time)
docker-compose logs -f radarr

# Last 50 lines
docker-compose logs --tail=50 sonarr

# Specific time range
docker-compose logs --since 2024-01-15 --until 2024-01-16 lidarr

Updating Services

# Pull latest images
docker-compose pull

# Restart with new images
docker-compose up -d

# Verify all services healthy
docker-compose ps

Backup & Restore

Backing Up Application Configuration

# Backup all application data
tar -czf home_media_backup_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).tar.gz \
 ent/appdata/ \
 .env

# Store securely (never commit .env!)

Restoring from Backup

# Extract backup
tar -xzf home_media_backup_YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS.tar.gz

# Restart stack
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

# Services should retain all settings

Cleaning Up

# Stop stack without removing volumes
docker-compose stop

# Restart later
docker-compose start

# Full cleanup (removes containers, keeps volumes)
docker-compose down

# Full cleanup INCLUDING volumes (caution!)
docker-compose down -v

Troubleshooting

Service Won't Start

  1. Check logs: 

    docker-compose logs {service-name}

  2. Common issues:

  3. Port already in use: Change ports in .env
  4. Permission denied: Run sudo chown -R 1000:1000 appdata/
  5. Disk space: Check with df -h /data

Downloads Not Working

  1. Verify qBittorrent is accessible
  2. Ensure download categories exist in qBittorrent
  3. Check Radarr/Sonarr can connect to qBittorrent:
  4. Settings > Download Clients > Test Connection
  5. Verify /data/torrents has write permissions: 
    touch /data/torrents/test.txt
rm /data/torrents/test.txt

Jellyfin Not Showing Media

  1. Verify library paths point to correct directories
  2. Check permissions: ls -la /data/media/movies
  3. Force library scan: Jellyfin Dashboard > Scan All Libraries
  4. Check Jellyfin logs for encoding errors

TSDProxy Not Accessible

  1. Verify Tailscale is installed on host
  2. Check TSDProxy container logs: 
    docker-compose logs tsdproxy
  3. Verify auth key is valid (check Tailscale admin console)
  4. Ensure Docker socket is mounted: docker-compose ps tsdproxy

API Connection Issues

  1. Get API keys:
  2. Radarr: Settings > General > API Key
  3. Sonarr: Settings > General > API Key

  4. Lidarr: Settings > General > API Key

  5. Test connection: 

    curl -X GET "http://localhost:7878/api/v3/system/status?apikey=YOUR_KEY"

  6. For Prowlarr integration, ensure correct hostname:

  7. Use container name, not localhost: http://radarr:7878

Advanced Configuration

Custom Networking

To add additional services or integrate with other stacks:

  1. Edit docker-compose.yml

  2. Add new service with labels: 

    new-service:
image: your-image
networks:
- default
labels:
tsdproxy.enable: "true"
tsdproxy.name: "your-service-name"

  3. Access at your-service-name.YOUR_TAILSCALE_HOSTNAME

Volume Performance

For large media libraries, consider:

  1. Dedicated disk: Mount /data to separate SSD/HDD
  2. Read-only mounts: Jellyfin uses :ro tag (read-only)
  3. Docker volumes: Named volumes (tsdproxydata:) persist outside containers

Docker Cleanup

To save disk space and remove unused images/containers:

# Remove stopped containers
docker container prune

# Remove unused images
docker image prune

# Remove unused volumes
docker volume prune

# Full cleanup (all unused)
docker system prune -a

Performance Tuning

For Slow Machines

Reduce resource usage by:

  1. Disabling TSDProxy if not using Tailscale
  2. Limiting Jellyfin transcoding: Settings > Playback > Transcoding
  3. Running media analysis during off-peak hours
  4. Reducing Docker logging: Change json-file to none in compose

For High-Load Scenarios

Optimize for many concurrent users/downloads:

  1. Allocate more resources: docker update --cpus 2 container_name
  2. Use dedicated hardware: Separate server for downloads
  3. Enable qBittorrent rate limiting
  4. Use Jellyfin direct streaming (avoid transcoding)

Getting Help

  1. Check service logs (see Operations section)
  2. Verify all prerequisites are met
  3. Test network connectivity: docker-compose exec radarr ping sonarr
  4. Search GitHub issues in relevant projects:
  5. Radarr: github.com/radarr/radarr
  6. Sonarr: github.com/sonarr/sonarr
  7. Jellyfin: github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin

For detailed service documentation: - Radarr: https://wiki.servarr.com/en/radarr - Sonarr: https://wiki.servarr.com/en/sonarr - Lidarr: https://wiki.servarr.com/en/lidarr - Jellyfin: https://jellyfin.org/docs/ - qBittorrent: https://www.qbittorrent.org/ - Prowlarr: https://wiki.servarr.com/en/prowlarr - Bazarr: https://www.bazarr.media/