Nixarr & Seerr

The services.nixarr service module provides an automated media management and request stack on NixOS using Nixarr, Seerr, and the Servarr ecosystem, following TRaSH Guides storage layout principles.

Architecture Overview

graph TD
    User["Family Members & Users"] -->|Browse & Request| Seerr["Seerr (Port 5055)<br/>seerr.home.vorburger.ch"]
    User -->|Watch Movies & TV| Jellyfin["Jellyfin (Port 8096)<br/>vorbflix.home.vorburger.ch"]
    Caddy["Caddy (Reverse Proxy & ACME)"] -->|:5055| Seerr
    Caddy -->|:8096| Jellyfin

    Seerr -->|Auth & Library Status| Jellyfin
    Seerr -->|Movie Requests| Radarr["Radarr (Port 7878)"]
    Seerr -->|TV Series Requests| Sonarr["Sonarr (Port 8989)"]

    Prowlarr["Prowlarr (Port 9696)"] -->|Declarative Settings Sync| Radarr
    Prowlarr -->|Declarative Settings Sync| Sonarr

    Radarr -->|Queue Downloads| Transmission["Transmission (Port 9091 / 51413)"]
    Sonarr -->|Queue Downloads| Transmission

    Transmission -->|Instant Hardlink & Atomic Move| Storage["TRaSH Guides Layout (/bardioc/public)<br/>├── torrents (Downloads)<br/>└── library (Movies & TV Series)"]
    Storage -->|Scan Media| Jellyfin

1. Web UI: Seerr (seerr.dev)

Seerr (formerly Jellyseerr / Overseerr) provides a clean, user-friendly discovery and request interface:

• Family Experience: Family members log in using their existing Jellyfin accounts (or local accounts). They can explore trending media, view trailers and ratings, and click Request.
• Automated Workflow: Once requested (and approved, or auto-approved for family), Seerr dispatches the request to Radarr for movies or Sonarr for TV shows.
• Reverse Proxy: Accessible via HTTPS at https://seerr.home.vorburger.ch proxied through Caddy.

2. TRaSH Guides Storage & Hardlinks (trash-guides.info)

To avoid duplicating disk space and prevent slow cross-device file copying, TRaSH Guides recommends placing downloads and the media library on the same filesystem mount:

• On titan, the single large ZFS dataset is bardioc/public (mounted at /bardioc/public).
• Nixarr organizes data into:
• /bardioc/public/torrents/ (in-progress and completed downloads).
• /bardioc/public/library/ (organized media: movies/ and shows/).
• When a torrent finishes downloading, Radarr or Sonarr creates an instant hardlink into the library folder. The file remains in torrents/ for continuous seeding while simultaneously appearing in the media library for Jellyfin, taking up zero additional disk space.

3. Servarr Stack

• **Jellyfin
• **Seerr
• Radarr (Port 7878): Tracks, searches, and organizes movie releases.
• Sonarr (Port 8989): Tracks, searches, and organizes TV series and episodes.
• Prowlarr (Port 9696): Centralized torrent indexer manager.
• Transmission (Port 9091 / 51413): BitTorrent download client.

4. Declarative Settings Sync

Nixarr provides declarative synchronization between services on boot:

• prowlarr.settings-sync.enable-nixarr-apps = true: Automatically connects Sonarr and Radarr as applications in Prowlarr.
• sonarr.settings-sync.transmission.enable = true: Pre-configures Transmission as the download client in Sonarr.
• radarr.settings-sync.transmission.enable = true: Pre-configures Transmission as the download client in Radarr.

Configuration

Enable the stack on a host (e.g. titan.nix):

services.nixarr.enable = true;

Default settings applied by services.nixarr:

nixarr = {
  enable = true;
  mediaDir = "/bardioc/public";
  stateDir = "/var/lib/nixarr";
  mediaUsers = [ "vorburger" ];

  seerr.enable = true;
  radarr.enable = true;
  sonarr.enable = true;
  prowlarr.enable = true;
  transmission.enable = true;
};

Reverse Proxy (Caddy)

Caddy automatically provisions TLS certificates via Google Cloud DNS ACME:

• https://vorbflix.home.vorburger.ch → Jellyfin (:8096)
• https://seerr.home.vorburger.ch → Seerr Web UI (:5055)

State Management & Backups

Understanding the difference between live state and backups in this architecture:

1. Live State (/var/lib/nixarr)

All active runtime data is stored on the fast NVMe root drive under /var/lib/nixarr:

2. Automated Hot Backups to ZFS (/bardioc/services/nixarr)

The services.backup module runs daily backups from the fast NVMe live state to the redundant ZFS pool bardioc. It performs two complementary steps:

1. Online SQLite Hot Backup (.backup): Safely locks and snapshots the active SQLite databases into <destDir>/db/ without needing to stop any running service:
2. radarr.db
3. sonarr.db
4. prowlarr.db
5. db.sqlite3 (Seerr)
6. File Tree Mirroring via rsync: Synchronizes all other non-database files into <destDir>/files/ (while excluding the live SQLite database and WAL/SHM sidecars to prevent corruption):
7. XML configuration files (config.xml)
8. JSON settings (settings.json)
9. Transmission active torrent files (torrents/*.torrent) and resume states (resume/*.resume)
10. Artwork caches (MediaCover/)

3. ZFS Dataset Setup for Backups

Just like bardioc/services/jellyfin, the Nixarr backup destination uses a dedicated ZFS dataset with legacy mount management:

# Create dataset for Nixarr backup destination
sudo zfs create -p bardioc/services/nixarr

# Set mountpoint to legacy so systemd mounts it automatically
sudo zfs set mountpoint=legacy bardioc/services/nixarr

# Ensure the mount point directory exists (if /bardioc/services has the immutable attribute +i, toggle it)
sudo chattr -i /bardioc/services
sudo mkdir -p /bardioc/services/nixarr
sudo chattr +i /bardioc/services

Initial Setup Checklist

After the initial deployment:

1. Access Radarr Web UI:
2. Navigate to http://localhost:7878.
3. Choose Authentication Method: Forms (Login Page)
4. Choose Authentication Required: Disabled for Local Addresses (as this is just a localhost-only service anyway)
5. Set a Username & Password
6. Navigate to http://localhost:7878/settings/general and note Radarr's API Key
7. Navigate to http://localhost:7878/settings/mediamanagement and Add Root Folder /bardioc/public/library/movies
8. Navigate to http://localhost:7878/settings/downloadclients and Add Download Client and choose Transmission (on port 9091)
9. Access Sonarr Web UI:
10. Navigate to http://localhost:8989.
11. Choose Authentication Method: Forms (Login Page)
12. Choose Authentication Required: Disabled for Local Addresses (as this is just a localhost-only service anyway)
13. Set a Username & Password
14. Navigate to http://localhost:8989/settings/general and note Sonarr's API Key
15. Navigate to http://localhost:8989/settings/mediamanagement and Add Root Folder /bardioc/public/library/shows
16. Navigate to http://localhost:8989/settings/downloadclients and Add Download Client and choose Transmission (on port 9091)
17. Configure Jellyfin Libraries:
18. Navigate to https://vorbflix.home.vorburger.ch (or http://localhost:8096) → Dashboard → Libraries.
19. Under Movies: click the three dots → Manage Folders, ensure /bardioc/public/library/movies is added, and verify Enable real time monitoring is checked.
20. Under TV Series (or Shows): click the three dots → Manage Folders, add /bardioc/public/library/shows, and verify Enable real time monitoring is checked.
21. Trigger One-Time Initial Scan: On each library card, click the three dots → Scan Library (Bibliothek durchsuchen). Jellyfin does not materialize newly added physical folder paths or attach its background inotify filesystem watcher (LibraryMonitor) until an initial scan has been run.
22. (Optional Best Practice) In Sonarr and Radarr → Settings → Connect → + → Jellyfin, add your Jellyfin server URL and API key. This proactively notifies Jellyfin to refresh the specific item immediately upon download/import, providing an active push mechanism alongside Jellyfin's inotify monitoring.
23. Access Prowlarr Web UI:
24. Navigate to http://localhost:9696.
25. Choose Authentication Method: Forms (Login Page)
26. Choose Authentication Required: Disabled for Local Addresses (as this is just a localhost-only service anyway)
27. Set a Username & Password
28. Navigate to http://localhost:9696 and Add New Indexer, add e.g. a "Bay", or filter by Protocol torrent, Privacy Public, Categories Movie + TV
29. If needed (optional), navigate to http://localhost:9696/settings/indexers to add preferred torrent Indexer Proxies (Nixarr's settings-sync will automatically sync indexers to Radarr and Sonarr.)
30. Access Seerr Web UI:
31. Navigate to https://seerr.home.vorburger.ch, choose Jellyfin.
32. Enter Jellyfin URL: http://localhost:8096.
33. Enter your Jellyfin administrator credentials to link libraries and users.
34. Navigate to Users and Import Jellyfin Users
35. Connect Radarr & Sonarr in Seerr:
36. In Seerr Settings → Radarr: add server (http://localhost:7878), enter the API key from Radarr, and select default root folder and quality profile (e.g. HD-1080p).
37. In Seerr Settings → Sonarr: add server (http://localhost:8989), enter the API key from Sonarr, and select default root folder and quality profile.
38. Pin Seerr in Jellyfin (Optional):
39. In Jellyfin Dashboard → General → Custom Links, add a link:
    • Name: Request Movies & Shows
    • URL: https://seerr.home.vorburger.ch

Troubleshooting & Diagnostics

1. Prefer journalctl Over /var/lib/... Directory Inspection

State directories for services like Jellyfin (/var/lib/jellyfin/) and Nixarr (/var/lib/nixarr/) are restricted (0700) to their respective service daemon users. Attempting to inspect files or logs directly under /var/lib/... via sudo can trigger hardware security keys (e.g. YubiKey via PAM U2F) or biometric prompts, which will hang or time out in automated or remote terminal sessions.

Instead, always prefer journalctl, which members of the wheel group can run directly without sudo:

# Jellyfin server logs
journalctl -u jellyfin -n 50 --no-pager

# Seerr request management logs
journalctl -u seerr -n 50 --no-pager

# Sonarr & Radarr logs
journalctl -u sonarr -n 50 --no-pager
journalctl -u radarr -n 50 --no-pager

# Transmission BitTorrent client logs
journalctl -u transmission -n 50 --no-pager

2. Diagnosing Missing Media in Jellyfin (Inotify & Real-Time Monitoring)

Jellyfin uses Linux inotify via its LibraryMonitor subsystem to detect newly imported media automatically. If newly downloaded movies or series exist in /bardioc/public/library/ but do not show up in Jellyfin:

1. Verify active directory watchers:

journalctl -b -u jellyfin --grep="LibraryMonitor" --no-pager

Check the output to ensure that every library folder is explicitly listed under Watching directory ...:

Watching directory /bardioc/public/library/movies
Watching directory /bardioc/public/library/shows

If a folder is missing, it has not been registered in Jellyfin (Dashboard → Libraries → Manage Folders). Even manual library scans on a collection will not pick up media from unregistered paths.

1. Verify inotify event triggers: When Radarr or Sonarr creates a hardlink for a downloaded file, Jellyfin should log a refresh event within seconds:

LibraryMonitor: movies (/bardioc/public/library/movies) will be refreshed.

1. Check last completed library scan:

   journalctl -b -u jellyfin --grep="Scan Media Library" --no-pager
   

3. Diagnosing Seerr Sync & "View in Jellyfin" Links

Seerr polls Jellyfin and Servarr periodically to reconcile media requests with library availability:

1. Check Seerr's Jellyfin sync job:

journalctl -u seerr --grep="Jellyfin Sync" -n 30 --no-pager

If a title has not been scanned by Jellyfin yet, Seerr will not see it during its sync and cannot display the "View in Jellyfin" button.

1. Check download tracking in Sonarr/Radarr:

   journalctl -u seerr --grep="Download Tracker" -n 30 --no-pager
   

   This confirms that Seerr successfully sees the completed download in Sonarr/Radarr and is waiting for Jellyfin's index to match it.

4. Hardlink & Storage Verification

To confirm that Sonarr or Radarr properly created hardlinks under the TRaSH Guides layout without cross-filesystem copies:

# Check files in library
ls -la /bardioc/public/library/shows/
ls -la /bardioc/public/library/movies/

# Check inode match between torrents and library (hardlink confirmation)
ls -i "/bardioc/public/library/shows/<Show>/<Episode>.mkv"
ls -i "/bardioc/public/torrents/<TorrentFolder>/<Episode>.mkv"