Sonarr/Radarr/FlexGet/NZBHydra2/CouchPotato/NZBGet/SABnzbd - wth?

[NLS]

OK disclaimer, I am rather old to remember newsgroups fine and actually used them... erm decades ago, but also someone who has given up using them for many years and can't remember a bit about them, except those tree branches that form them and that I used to need software to read them.

Newsgroups seem to refuse to die and have die hard followers.
Of course big chunk of these users are there "for the stuff".

I see various pieces of software (I hate the word "apps" as a tag to everything) that "relate" to this, but I have to say I am lost.
I am talking about the programs I list in the title and try to make a sense of them.

Any help appreciated.

 

MY MAIN GOAL: Bother only with the select few (hopefully one or two) that can actually cover everything I need and add containers for them.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I don't plan to pay some newsgroup subscription. If nothing serious can be done without one, please point this out to me and the thread stops there.

NOTE: I haven't installed any of them to try it out yet, so this is a "virgin" take from info I find online.

 

So let see what I can understand for each and PLEASE step in and correct me and fill the blanks.

 

* Sonarr, searches for and downloads (?) series episodes, from newsgroups and actually some "indexers" (already first confusion although I can mostly understand the concept).

 

* Radarr, is the same but for movies.

 

* FlexGet, advertises as a "multipurpose automation tool", I fail to grasp practical uses, although the claim is pretty bold and really seems interesting. I also don't get how it "integrates" with clients (and what do these clients miss if they don't integrate with FlexGet).

 

* NZBHydra2 a search for NZB indexers. What makes it difference from Sonarr/Radarr? It is more generic? What does it mean that it is "compatible" with Sonarr/Radarr/NZBGet etc.? Do they need it to become "better" in some way?

 

* CouchPotato. Well its description is pretty stupid-proof, as it says it searches for movies from usenet and torrents (and you don't bother with actual knowledge of the existence of trackers etc.). So I guess even without newsgroup subscription, it makes sense to use it. Right? It claims to use "our favorite download software" (how?).

 

* NZBGet. An NZB downloader. This guy here "needs" the "search for indexers" above to actually find stuff? No?

 

* sabnzbd. As above? Or not? How does it compare to it?

 

* Other app/client/service I should consider that serves as the above and is possibly better at it?

 

The reply to this can easily serve as a new FAQ.

Thanks in advance.

 

Edited November 12, 2019 by NLS

[Aggie1999]

Now days you gotta pay for a Usenet subscription. Not like the old days where your ISP, university, etc would offer a good Usenet feed. With that said, a year Usenet subscription is $20 - $30. You can also buy block accounts where you pay for say 500 GB of data for $5. Here's what I can answer on your questions:

 

Sonarr/Radarr is the thing that sits between your Usenet client (NZBGet) and the Usenet indexer/search engine. You tell Radarr you want such and such movie with specific criteria (1080p, English, etc). Radarr uses the indexer to find all copies of the movie that meet your criteria. Radarr sends the NZB file provided by the indexer to the Usenet client for download. The criteria for Radarr/Sonarr can also have levels. So say you want a 1080p version of the movie but all Radarr can find at the time is a 720p. It will have the Usenet client down the 720p version while it keeps looking for a 1080p version.

 

NZBHydra is just a front end to multiple Usenet indexers. So you get a subscription to multiple indexers and put them in NZBHydra. Then you point Radarr/Sonarr to NZBHydra instead of having to configure multiple indexers into both Radarr and Sonarr. Also, if you change indexers then you would just have to change the setting in NZBHydra.

 

CouchPotato has been replaced by Radarr. In Radarr you can tell it to use a bittorrent client as the source of the movies instead of a Usenet client. Same for Sonarr.

 

NZBGet is the Usenet client that downloads the posts, assembles them in the original binary files. Sabnzbd is another popular one and I believe older. Either is fine. Once the NZBGet has downloaded the posts and built the binaries, etc then it tells Radarr/Sonarr. Radarr/Sonarr kicks back in and moves the files to the place your media server looks at.

 

Media server such as Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, etc. It constantly monitors the location the Radarr/Sonarr moves the files to. Once it finds say a new movie on the filesystem, it downloads the metadata (poster of movie, subtitles, etc).

 

That's your basic Plex/Radarr/Sonarr/Sabnzbd stack. There are a few more things you can install but they are gravy on top of the basics.

 

Hope this helps.

[NLS]

Sure it helps. Very detailed reply thanks.

So I guess sonarr/radarr for me (as I don't plan to use usenet, just torrents).

 

FlexGet is a different beast I guess, with its "recipes". Deserves some reading, might be interesting for future projects.

 

Now a thread to help make Jellyfin (ain't Jellyfin a fork of Emby that will remain free?) act like my Media Companion on Windows...

(my Jellyfin container makes a much "poorer" metadata set than Media Companion - so I am forced to still use Media Companion - but that's for another thread)

 

[hernandito]

Do give Usenet a try. You don’t have to bother w/ upload ratios on trackers, rules, etc.

 

one missing piece above is that you need accounts on NZB indexers.... which are the equivalent of torrent trackers.  You need to google around for decent ones.

 

once you get over the learning curve of nzbget and getting yourself into a couple indexers, it truly becomes a set it and forget it. Look at SpaceInvaderOne’s awesome videos.

 

 

 

 

[NLS]

thanks