Setting up a home media server is one of the most satisfying projects you can do with an old PC or a cheap VPS. The combination of Radarr, Jackett, qBittorrent, and Plex gives you fully automated media management — from finding content to streaming it on any device. For more details, check out Installing Radarr, Jackett, QBitTorrent (qbittorrent-nox), a. For more details, check out Setting Up a Python Development Environment on VirtualBox wi. For more details, check out "Get Ready to Code and Learn: Welcome to Techie Mike’s Compu.
This guide walks through installing each piece on Ubuntu. I use this exact setup on a headless server running 24/7, and it's been rock solid for years.
Prerequisites
- A fresh installation of Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04 (server or desktop)
- SSH access to your server (strongly recommended for headless setups)
- At least 4 GB of RAM if you're running everything on one machine
- Basic command-line familiarity
Step 1: Update Your System
Before installing anything, make sure your system is up to date:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
A reboot is a good idea if the kernel got updated.
Step 2: Install qBittorrent (qbittorrent-nox)
qbittorrent-nox is the headless version of qBittorrent — no GUI, just a web interface. Perfect for a server.
sudo apt install qbittorrent-nox -y
Run qBittorrent-nox as a Service
Create a systemd service file so it starts on boot:
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/qbittorrent-nox.service
Add this content:
[Unit]
Description=qBittorrent-nox client
After=network.target
[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/qbittorrent-nox --webui-port=8080
Restart=always
User=your-username
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Replace your-username with your actual username. Start and enable the service:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now qbittorrent-nox
Check the status:
sudo systemctl status qbittorrent-nox
The web UI is available at http://your-server-ip:8080. Default login is admin / adminadmin — change this immediately after first login.
Step 3: Install Jackett
Jackett acts as an API proxy for torrent indexers, letting Radarr and Sonarr search multiple sites through a single interface.
cd /opt
sudo wget -Nc https://github.com/Jackett/Jackett/releases/latest/download/Jackett.Binaries.LinuxAMDx64.tar.gz
sudo tar -xzf Jackett.Binaries.LinuxAMDx64.tar.gz
sudo rm -f Jackett.Binaries.LinuxAMDx64.tar.gz
Install it as a systemd service:
cd Jackett*
sudo ./install_service_systemd.sh
Press Ctrl+C when the status check appears — it'll keep running in the background. Jackett's web interface is at http://your-server-ip:9117.
Step 4: Install Radarr
Radarr automates movie management — it monitors your watchlist, finds releases, sends them to qBittorrent, and organizes the files for Plex.
Use the official Servarr install script:
sudo curl -o servarr-install-script.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Servarr/Wiki/master/servarr/servarr-install-script.sh
sudo bash servarr-install-script.sh
Select option 3 (Radarr) when prompted. For the user and group, use your username and sudo for the group.
Radarr runs on port 7878 by default. Access it at http://your-server-ip:7878.
Step 5: Install Sonarr
Sonarr does for TV shows what Radarr does for movies — automated monitoring, downloading, and organization.
sudo curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Sonarr/Sonarr/develop/distribution/debian/install.sh | sudo bash
During the install, use your username for user and sudo for group. Sonarr runs on port 8989 at http://your-server-ip:8989.
Step 6: Install Plex Media Server
Plex streams your media to any device — TV, phone, tablet, or browser.
Add the Plex Repository (Updated Method)
The old method using apt-key add is deprecated on newer Ubuntu versions. Here's the current approach:
First, install the prerequisites:
sudo apt install curl apt-transport-https
Download and install the Plex repository key:
curl -fsSL https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /usr/share/keyrings/plex.gpg
Add the Plex repository to your sources list:
echo "deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/plex.gpg] https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb public main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list
Update and install:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install plexmediaserver
Start and enable Plex:
sudo systemctl enable --now plexmediaserver
Access Plex at http://your-server-ip:32400/web to complete the initial setup.
Step 7: Connect Everything Together
Now that all the services are running, here's how they fit together:
- Jackett (port 9117): Add your torrent indexers and grab the API key
- Radarr/Sonarr: Under Settings > Download Clients, add qBittorrent (host: localhost, port: 8080)
- Radarr/Sonarr: Under Settings > Indexers, add Jackett using the API key and URL (http://localhost:9117)
- qBittorrent: Configure a download directory that Plex can also read
Directory Structure
I recommend a consistent folder layout for your media:
/media/
downloads/ # qBittorrent download location (incomplete + complete)
movies/ # Radarr organized movies
tv/ # Sonarr organized TV shows
music/ # (optional)
Make sure the plex user has read access to the media directories:
sudo chown -R your-username:plex /media/movies /media/tv
sudo chmod -R 750 /media/movies /media/tv
Final Check
Verify all services are running:
sudo systemctl status qbittorrent-nox jackett radarr sonarr plexmediaserver
All should show as active (running). If any failed, check the logs with:
sudo journalctl -u servicename -n 50 --no-pager
Customization Tips
- Use a dedicated user: For better security, create a
mediauser that owns all services and media directories. Each service can then run under this user. - Set up a VPN or proxy: If your ISP monitors traffic, route qBittorrent through a VPN. Some people run it in a Docker container with Gluetun for VPN integration.
- Hard links: Configure Radarr/Sonarr to use hard links instead of copies. This saves disk space — the file exists once on disk even though it appears in both the download and media directories.
- Resource limits: On a low-spec server, limit qBittorrent's connections to prevent it from eating all your RAM.
