Last updated Jun 3, 2026

SABnzbd#

SABnzbd is the download client in this stack. Sonarr and Radarr send it NZB files, and SABnzbd handles the actual download from your Usenet provider, verifies the files, and unpacks them. Once a download is complete, it notifies Sonarr or Radarr to begin the import.

Docker Compose#

sabnzbd:
  image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sabnzbd:latest
  container_name: sabnzbd
  environment:
    - PUID=1000
    - PGID=1000
    - TZ=Europe/Zurich
  volumes:
    - /srv/media-stack/config/sabnzbd:/config
    - /mnt/media/downloads:/downloads
  ports:
    - "8080:8080"
  networks:
    - media_net
  restart: unless-stopped

Initial Configuration#

Open http://<docker-vm-ip>:8080.

1. Add your Usenet provider#

Go to Config → Servers → Add Server:

Field	Value
Host	`news.frugalusenet.com`
Port	`563`
SSL	Yes
Username	Your Frugal Usenet username
Password	Your Frugal Usenet password
Connections	10–20 (check your plan limit)

See Providers for more detail on Frugal Usenet.

2. Set up categories#

Categories tell SABnzbd where to put completed downloads, and they let Sonarr and Radarr identify their own jobs.

Go to Config → Categories and add:

Category	Folder
`movies`	`/downloads/movies`
`tv`	`/downloads/tv`

In Sonarr and Radarr, set the SABnzbd category to match (tv for Sonarr, movies for Radarr) when configuring the download client.

3. Get the API key#

Go to Config → General and copy the API key. You need this when adding SABnzbd as a download client in Sonarr and Radarr.

Completed download handling#

SABnzbd moves finished downloads to the category folder and notifies the requesting app. Sonarr or Radarr then picks up the file and imports it into the media library.

Do not delete files from /downloads manually. Sonarr and Radarr clean up after a successful import.

Ports#

Port	Purpose
8080	SABnzbd web UI