Readarr (stack)
Readarr is a ebook collection manager for Usenet and BitTorrent users. It can monitor multiple RSS feeds for new books from your favorite authors and will interface with clients and indexers to grab, sort, and rename them.
Configuration
TypeComposelinuxlscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:develop8787:8787/config : /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/data/books : /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/books/downloads : /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/downloadsPUID=1000PGID=1000TZ=Europe/Athensunless-stoppedStandalone Install
Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying Readarr (stack)
Install on Portainer
Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys
- Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
- Log into your Portainer web UI
- Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
- Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
- Select Readarr (stack), fill in any config options, and hit Deploy
Template Import URL
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json
Show Me
Original stackfile
The compose file this template deploys, straight from its repo:
services:
readarr:
image: lscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:develop
container_name: readarr
environment:
- PUID=1000
- PGID=1000
- TZ=Europe/Athens
volumes:
- /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/data:/config
- /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/books:/books #optional
- /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/downloads:/downloads #optional
ports:
- 8787:8787
restart: unless-stopped
Or deploy it directly from the source:
git clone https://github.com/xneo1/portainer_templates
cd portainer_templates
docker compose -f Template/Stack/readarr.yml up -dMore install options in our documentation.
Serve Readarr (stack) on your own domain behind Caddy, Nginx or Traefik. Fill in your domain and copy the result. It's a starting point, some apps need their own base URL or extra headers set too.
Proxying readarr-stack.example.com to http://readarr:8787
Add this to your Caddyfile
readarr-stack.example.com {
reverse_proxy http://readarr:8787
}Check the logs first
Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.
- In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run
docker logs <container> - Exit codes help too:
137means killed, usually out of memory.126or127means the command inside the image is broken.
Port already in use
If deployment fails with "Bind for 0.0.0.0:8787 failed: port is already allocated", something else on your server is using that port.
- Find what's using it:
sudo ss -tlnp | grep :8787 - Stop the other service, or pick a different host port. In
8787:8787only the left number is yours to change, the right one belongs to the app.
Running but the page won't load
The container is up but nothing appears in your browser.
- Use your server's real IP:
http://your-server-ip:8787. The 0.0.0.0 link Portainer shows isn't a real address. - Give it a minute after first deploy, readarr can take a while to initialise.
- Make sure your firewall allows the port, e.g.
sudo ufw allow 8787
Permission denied on volumes
If the logs show "permission denied", the app can't write to its data folder on the host.
- Fix the ownership:
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/data(and the same for the other mapped folders) - Or set the
PUIDandPGIDvariables (defaults 1000:1000) to match your own user, found withid $USER
Image won't pull
Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull lscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:develop
- "manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists.
- "toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with
docker loginto raise it. - "no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with
docker system prune
"exec format error"
This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.
- Check yours with
uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.
Container keeps restarting
The unless-stopped restart policy relaunches the app after every crash, so the real error can scroll past.
- Check the logs right after a restart, the last few lines before it died are the useful ones.
- Get the exit code with
docker inspect <container> --format '{{.State.ExitCode}}' - Still stuck? Redeploy once with the restart policy set to
noso the failure stays visible.
Stack won't deploy
Compose stacks fail fast on small mistakes, and Portainer shows the reason just above the editor.
- YAML only accepts spaces for indentation, a single tab breaks the whole file.
Raise an issue
Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.
- Bug within the app: Open an issue within readarr's repo
- Template not working: Open an issue on xneo1/portainer_templates
- This website not working: Open an issue on lissy93/portainer-templates
A Compose stack
Readarr (stack) is a Compose stack, a set of containers defined in one file and brought up together by Portainer, then started and stopped as a single app.
The app image
An image is the app packed up ready to go, everything Readarr (stack) needs bundled into one download. This template pulls lscr.io/linuxserver/readarr:develop, which Docker fetches once and then starts your own copy from.
Where the image comes from
Docker pulls its images from registries, public libraries of ready-built apps. Readarr (stack)'s comes from LinuxServer's registry, published by linuxserver.
Version tags
The bit after the colon in the image name is the version tag. This one pins develop, so every redeploy gives you that exact build until you bump it yourself.
Ports
A port is the door the app answers on. A mapping like 8787:8787 means it's reachable on port 8787 of your server, where the left number is yours to change and the right one belongs to the app. It opens:
8787:8787
Volumes
A volume is where Readarr (stack) keeps its files so they survive an update or a restart. Without one, anything it saves would sit inside the container and vanish the moment it's recreated. This template mounts:
/configfrom/portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/dataon the host/booksfrom/portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/bookson the host/downloadsfrom/portainer/Files/AppData/Config/readarr/downloadson the host
Environment variables
Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. Readarr (stack) takes 3 of them, all with defaults you can leave alone or tweak:
PUID, defaults to1000PGID, defaults to1000TZ, defaults toEurope/Athens
Restart policy
The restart policy here is unless-stopped, so Docker restarts Readarr (stack) after a crash or reboot, but leaves it off when you stop it on purpose. You can change this on the deploy screen. The choices are no (never restart), on-failure (only after a crash), unless-stopped (restart unless you stop it), and always (bring it back no matter what).
Users and permissions
The PUID and PGID settings tell it which user and group to act as on your host. Point them at your own account (find yours with id $USER) so the files it writes into your mounted folders come out owned by you rather than root.
Networking
Nothing custom is set, so Readarr (stack) sits on Docker's default bridge network: its own private space that reaches the outside world only through the ports it publishes.
Container name
Once it's deployed, Portainer names the container readarr. That's what you'll spot in the containers list and use in commands like docker logs readarr.
Platform
The platform is linux, the kind of system the container is built to run on. Docker and Portainer handle this on a normal Linux server.
Portainer app templates
Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set Readarr (stack) up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying Readarr (stack) is a click rather than a wall of config.