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Installing qBittorrent (Host Installation)

qBittorrent is the download engine of your media automation setup. It handles all torrent activity triggered by Radarr, Sonarr, and Prowlarr. Installing it on the host system (not Docker) ensures optimal speed, stable paths, and maximum compatibility.

This guide explains:

  • What qBittorrent does in the media pipeline
  • Why it should not run inside Docker in a real-world Pi/home server setup
  • Why its configuration does not need to be moved to your external drive
  • The installation script used to install and run qBittorrent as a systemd service

🌀 What Is qBittorrent?

qBittorrent is an open‑source torrent client featuring:

  • Lightweight Web UI
  • Fast download engine
  • Built-in category and tagging support
  • Excellent integration with Radarr & Sonarr
  • Very low resource usage

It acts as the download worker for the entire Media Manager.

When Radarr or Sonarr find new media, they send the torrent to qBittorrent. Upon completion, ARR processes renaming and file management.

❌ Why qBittorrent Should NOT Run in Docker

Though technically possible, running qBittorrent in Docker on low-power hardware like Raspberry Pi causes significant issues:

1. Docker slows torrent hashing

  • Torrenting requires intensive hashing and verifying large files
  • Docker’s overlay filesystem adds overhead, causing slower hashing and higher CPU usage

2. Permissions become complicated

  • Bind-mounted volumes in Docker cause UID/GID mismatches
  • Sonarr/Radarr struggle to access or import completed downloads correctly
  • On the host, file permissions behave predictably and natively

3. Stable real file paths are necessary

  • qBittorrent expects actual Linux paths (e.g., /mnt/omnissiah-vault/downloads)
  • Containers often abstract paths, confusing ARR’s automation

4. Performance is better on the host

  • Download speeds, disk writes, and hashing all run faster without Docker’s overhead

Conclusion:

  • qBittorrent performs best installed directly on the host system.

📦 Why qBittorrent Configuration Does NOT Need External HDD

Unlike Plex’s large metadata, qBittorrent stores only minor config files such as:

  • Configuration settings
  • Small torrent resume files
  • A lightweight database

Typical config size: 2–20 MB — negligible and stable.

Keeping qBittorrent config on your system’s internal OS disk is safe and recommended.

⚙️ Installation Script (Systemd Service)

⚙️ Installation Script

This tutorial uses an installation script that:

  • Updates and upgrades system packages
  • Installs qBittorrent-nox (the headless version)
  • Creates a dedicated system user for qBittorrent
  • Adds your normal user to the qBittorrent group for file access
  • Creates a systemd service file to run qBittorrent as a background service
  • Enables and starts the qBittorrent service to run at boot

After running the script, you can access qBittorrent’s Web UI and begin configuring your download settings.

📥 Download Script

👉 install-qbittorrent.sh

🚀 After Installation

Access the Web UI at:

Text Only
http://<your_pi_ip>:8080

Default credentials:

Text Only
username: admin
password: adminadmin

Change your password on first login!

  • Configure download directories
  • Add categories such as movies and tv
  • Disable any unwanted torrenting features

ARR integration will be configured after the Docker-based ARR stack is deployed.

➡️ Next Step: Setup ARR Stack (Docker Compose)

Now that host-based components (Plex and qBittorrent) are ready, proceed to deploy the ARR stack via Docker Compose to automate searching, downloading, and organizing your media.

Go to 👉 Setup Media Manager