How to Set Up Radarr with Docker Compose: A Comprehensive Guide for Movie Enthusiasts

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Radarr is an open-source application for downloading, managing, and organizing movies. It automates searching for movies, downloading them when they are available, and keeping track of upcoming releases. Deploying Radarr using Docker Compose simplifies the setup and maintenance, making it an attractive solution for movie enthusiasts who prefer a self-hosted approach to managing their digital movie collection. This guide will walk you through deploying Radarr using Docker Compose.

Table of Contents

Prerequisites

Before you start, ensure you have the following:

Docker installed on your system.
Docker Compose installed on your system.
Basic Docker concepts and the YAML syntax used in Docker Compose files.

Step 1: Create a Docker Compose File

Create a directory dedicated to your Radarr setup. This directory will contain your Docker Compose file (docker-compose.yml) and any additional configuration files or directories you might need.

mkdir radarr-docker && cd radarr-docker

Next, create the docker-compose.yml file:

touch docker-compose.yml

Open this file in a text editor and insert the following configuration:

version: '3.8'
services:
  radarr:
    image: linuxserver/radarr:latest
    container_name: radarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000 # Replace with your user ID
      - PGID=1000 # Replace with your group ID
      - TZ=Europe/London # Replace with your timezone
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - /path/to/movies:/movies # Replace with the path to your movies directory
      - /path/to/downloads:/downloads # Replace with the path to your downloads directory
    ports:
      - "7878:7878"
    restart: unless-stopped

Configuration Explained:

image: Specifies the Docker image to use. linuxserver/radarr:latest pulls the latest version of Radarr provided by LinuxServer, a reliable source of Docker images for various applications.
container_name: Sets a custom name for your container for easier reference.
environment: Defines environment variables such as PUID, PGID, and TZ to match your user ID, group ID, and timezone, ensuring correct file permissions and time settings.
volumes: Maps volumes for persistent storage of Radarr’s configuration, movie library, and downloads.
ports: Exposes port 7878 on the host, mapping it to Radarr’s web interface port within the container.
restart: Ensures the container restarts automatically unless explicitly stopped, improving reliability.

Step 2: Launch Radarr

Navigate to the directory containing your docker-compose.yml file and start Radarr by running:

docker compose up -d

This command will download the necessary Docker image and start the Radarr container in detached mode.

Step 3: Access Radarr

Once the container is up and running, access the Radarr web interface by navigating to http://localhost:7878 in your web browser. Here, you can begin setting up Radarr by adding your movie collection, configuring download clients, and customizing settings to automate your movie management workflow.

Conclusion

Deploying Radarr with Docker Compose offers a streamlined and efficient method for setting up a sophisticated movie management system. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can have a Radarr instance running on your own server, providing a powerful tool for automating the download and organization of your digital movie library. Docker Compose simplifies the management of Radarr services, making it easy to maintain, backup, and upgrade your instance as your collection grows. With Radarr and Docker, movie enthusiasts can enjoy a highly customizable and automated movie management experience, all from the comfort of their own server.

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Anastasios Antoniadis

Anastasios Antoniadis is the founder and editor-in-chief of BORDERPOLAR... He is a software engineer, blogger, and avid gamer covering tech, gaming, and coding guides for over 4 years. He is a 2014 graduate of the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications of the University of Athens, an M.Sc. holder in Computer Science, and a Ph.D. student in Program Analysis.