Build a home media center with Docker on Raspberry Pi

Introduction

In this article, I will show you how to build a home media center with Docker. We will use the following Docker containers:

• Sonarr
• Radarr
• Overseer
• Prowlarr
• Jackett
• Plex (alternatives, Jellyfin , Emby)
• Transmission (alternatives, Deluge, qBittorrent)
• Tautulli

Step 1: Install Docker

First, you need to make sure Docker is installed on your Raspberry Pi. You can check it by running the following command:

$ docker --version

If Docker is not installed, you can install it by the following command:

$ sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
$ sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

If you have installed CasaOS following the last post, we can skip this step.

Step 2: Deploy Docker containers

Method 1: Using the App Store (Recommended)

Now, let’s deploy the Docker containers. On a Raspberry Pi running CasaOS, you can use the “App Store” to deploy all the containers that we are going to use. Just search for the container name and click “Install”.

Method 2: Using Command line

If you prefer to use commands to deploy the containers, I highly recommend using docker compose files given its simplicity and reproducibility. In the App Store, you can click the Custom Install on the top right corner, and click Import to paste the docker compose file that you want to use.

Here is an example of a docker-compose.yml file that you can use to deploy Sonarr:

---
services:
  sonarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:latest
    container_name: sonarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
    volumes:
      - /path/to/data:/config
      - /path/to/tvseries:/tv #optional
      - /path/to/downloadclient-downloads:/downloads #optional
    ports:
      - 8989:8989
    restart: unless-stopped

You can modify the volumes section to match your setup. For example, you can click Files and navigate to the AppData. Then create a folder of the container name (e.g., sonarr) and create two other subfolders within it (config and tvseries). You can then copy the path of the config and tvseries folders and paste them into the volumes section of the docker-compose.yml file. After that, you can click Submit to start the container.

Alternatively, you can also use “docker-CLI” to deploy the containers. Here is an example of how to deploy the Sonarr container using the command line:

$ docker run -d \
  --name=sonarr \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=Etc/UTC \
  -p 8989:8989 \
  -v /path/to/data:/config \
  -v /path/to/tvseries:/tv \
  -v /path/to/downloadclient-downloads:/downloads \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:latest

For the rest of the containers, you can follow the same steps as above.

Step 3: Setup the containers

After deploying the containers, you can access the web interface of each container by entering the IP address of your Raspberry Pi followed by the port number of the container. For example, to access Sonarr, you can enter http://<your_raspberry_pi_ip_address>:8989 in your web browser.

You will need to go through the initial setup process for each container. This usually involves setting up the download client, media folders, and other settings.

Take Sonarr as an example, you first need to add an indexer (e.g., Jackett/Prowlarr) and a download client (e.g., Transmission). You can do this by going to Settings -> Indexers -> Add Indexer and Settings -> Download Clients -> Add Client.

Once you have added the indexer and download client, you can add a new series by clicking Series -> Add Series -> Add New Series. You can search for the series you want to add and click Add. After that, you can configure the quality, language, and other settings for the series. It’s recommended to set the quality to 1080p or 720p given the limited storage and CPU performance of Raspberry Pi. But if you are using other devices such as a NAS with more storage and stronger processors, you can set it to 4K.

Step 4: Access the media center

Now, we need to setup the media center to stream the content to your devices. You can use Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby as the media server. Here, I will show you how to set up Plex. In your browser, go to http://<your_raspberry_pi_ip_address>:32400/web to access the Plex web interface. You will need to sign in or create a new account if you don’t have one. After signing in, you can add your media libraries by clicking Add Library and selecting the folder where your media files are stored. For example, you can add the tvseries folder that you created earlier for Sonarr can select TV Shows as the library type. Please note that you should only put one type of media in each folder, otherwise, Plex may not be able to recognize the media files correctly. After adding the library, Plex will scan the folder and fetch metadata for your media files. After you have added all your media libraries, you can access them from any device (e.g., phone, computer, smart TV) using the Plex client app. You can download the Plex client app from the Plex website. You will need to sign in to your Plex account to access your media libraries.

Step 5: Enjoy your home media center

Congratulations! You have successfully set up a home media center with Docker on your Raspberry Pi. You can now add more containers to expand the functionality of your media center. Enjoy your favorite movies and TV shows!

Conclusion

In this article, I have shown you how to build a home media center with Docker on a Raspberry Pi. By using Docker containers, you can easily deploy and manage various services such as Plex, Sonarr, Radarr, and more. This setup allows you to create a powerful media center that can stream your favorite content to any device in your home. If you have any questions or run into any issues, feel free to leave a comment below. Happy streaming!