Install Sonarr on TrueNAS Scale

Sonarr is the TV series download manager — it monitors RSS feeds for new episodes, grabs the best quality from your indexers, and organizes your show library with the folder structure Plex expects.

What it is

Sonarr is the TV equivalent of Radarr (movies). It monitors RSS feeds for new episodes of every show in your library, automatically downloads the best quality match, renames and moves files into your media library, and triggers Plex library scans.

When integrated with Prowlarr, Sonarr searches every indexer you have configured. When integrated with qBittorrent or SABnzbd, it sends downloads to the right client. The key difference from Radarr: Sonarr tracks episodes across entire series, handles season packs, and manages ongoing shows that air weekly.

The hard part: season packs and episode monitoring

The install is straightforward. The hard part is configuring episode monitoring so Sonarr grabs full season packs when available instead of individual episodes.

The default configuration downloads individual episodes. For most users, season packs are preferred because they have more seeders, complete faster, and require less disk I/O. You need to enable this in Settings → Profile → Upgrade.

How to install it

Docker Compose (TrueNAS Scale custom app)

services:
  sonarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:latest
    container_name: sonarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/London
    ports:
      - 8989:8989
    volumes:
      - /mnt/apps/sonarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media:/media
      - /mnt/downloads:/downloads

After deploy:

# Open the web UI at http://<nas-ip>:8989
# No initial password required

Initial configuration

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

3. This is where Sonarr stores organized TV files

4. Settings → Download Clients → Add

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

9. Click Test → Save

10. Settings → Profiles → Quality

11. Set your quality profile (e.g., 1080p web-dl, 4K remux)

12. Enable "Upgrades Allowed" to grab better quality when available

13. Add your first show

14. Click + Add Series → search for a show
15. Set monitoring: "Future + Missing" for ongoing shows
16. Set quality profile: "HD-1080p" or your preferred profile
17. Click Add

Configuration that matters

Root folders

Quality profiles

Naming convention

This naming convention is what Plex uses to match episodes to metadata. Get it wrong and episodes show as "Unknown."

Episode monitoring

What I'd tell anyone building this

• The download path must be on the same dataset as the media path. Same rule as Radarr. If /mnt/downloads and /mnt/tv are on different pools, every file move is a full copy. Put them on the same dataset.

• Don't add indexers manually if you use Prowlarr. Prowlarr syncs indexers to Sonarr automatically. Manual indexer setup causes duplicate results and authentication conflicts.

• Season packs are almost always better. Individual episodes mean more downloads, more disk I/O, and worse seeders. Enable season pack monitoring in your quality profile settings.

• The naming convention determines whether Plex matches metadata. If episodes show as "Unknown" in Plex, your Sonarr naming convention is wrong. Check Settings → Media Management → Format.

• Sonarr does not monitor every show by default. When you add a show, you choose what to monitor. "Future + Missing" is the most common setting — it grabs new episodes and fills gaps, but does not re-download everything.

Get it

Links:

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

Quick install (Docker Compose):

services:
  sonarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:latest
    container_name: sonarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Europe/London
    ports:
      - 8989:8989
    volumes:
      - /mnt/apps/sonarr/config:/config
      - /mnt/media:/media
      - /mnt/downloads:/downloads

Log in at http://<nas-ip>:8989, add your root folder, connect your download client, and start adding shows.