Install Radarr on TrueNAS Scale

Radarr is the movie download manager in the *arr stack — it monitors releases, grabs the best quality from your indexers via Prowlarr, and organizes your film library with proper naming for Plex.

What it is

Radarr monitors RSS feeds and indexers for new movie releases, automatically downloads the best quality match based on your profile settings, and renames/moves files into your media library with the correct folder structure. It is the movie equivalent of Sonarr (TV) and Lidarr (music).

When integrated with Prowlarr, Radarr searches every indexer you have configured. When integrated with qBittorrent or SABnzbd, it sends downloads directly to your download client. When integrated with Plex, it triggers library scans after new movies land.

The hard part: volume paths and hard links

The install is five minutes. The hard part is getting the volume mounts right so Radarr can move files from downloads to your media library without copying them across datasets.

The Servarr wiki calls this the most common Docker setup problem. If your download client writes to a different dataset than your media library, every "move" is actually a full copy plus delete. This wastes disk space and takes minutes instead of milliseconds.

How to install it

Docker Compose (TrueNAS Scale custom app)

services:
  radarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:latest
    container_name: radarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/London
    ports:
      - 7878:7878
    volumes:
      - /mnt/apps/radarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media:/media
      - /mnt/downloads:/downloads

After deploy:

# No initial password — just open the web UI
# Log in at http://<nas-ip>:7878

Initial configuration

1. Settings → Media Management → Root Folders
2. Add /movies as the root folder

3. This is where Radarr stores organized movie files

4. Settings → Download Clients → Add

5. Type: qBittorrent
6. Host: qbittorrent (container name) or NAS IP
7. Port: 8080
8. Category: radarr

9. Click Test → Save

10. Settings → Indexers → Add (or let Prowlarr sync)

11. If using Prowlarr, skip manual indexer setup

12. Prowlarr pushes indexers to Radarr automatically

13. Settings → Profiles → Quality

14. Set your quality profile (e.g., 1080p bluray, 4K remux)
15. Radarr downloads the best available quality within your profile

Configuration that matters

Root folders

Quality profiles

Naming convention

This naming convention is critical for Plex to match metadata and artwork correctly.

Metadata and tags

What I'd tell anyone building this

• The download path must be the same dataset as the media path. If /mnt/downloads and /mnt/media are on different pools or datasets, every file move is a full copy. Put them on the same dataset or mount a single parent volume to all containers.

• Don't manually add indexers if you use Prowlarr. Prowlarr syncs indexers to Radarr automatically. If you add an indexer in both places, you get duplicate search results and authentication conflicts.

• Radarr does not delete files from your download client automatically. It tells qBittorrent to remove the torrent when seeding is complete, but only if you configure the category correctly. Check Settings → Download Clients → Remove Completed.

• The initial quality profile matters. If you set it to "Any," Radarr will grab CAM rips and 480p releases. Set a minimum quality that matches your storage capacity.

• Use Plex-style naming from the start. If you rename files later, Radarr has to re-scan and re-match metadata. Set the naming convention in Settings → Media Management before importing your library.

Get it

Links:

• Radarr official site
• Radarr wiki
• LinuxServer.io Radarr image
• Servarr Docker guide

Quick install (Docker Compose):

services:
  radarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/radarr:latest
    container_name: radarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/London
    ports:
      - 7878:7878
    volumes:
      - /mnt/apps/radarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media:/media
      - /mnt/downloads:/downloads

Log in at http://<nas-ip>:7878, add your root folder, connect your download client, and let Prowlarr push indexers.