How to Build a Complete Media Stack: From Download to Streaming with Sonarr, Radarr, and Plex

Tired of manually searching for new episodes of your favorite shows? Want your entire media library automatically downloaded, organized, and ready to stream? You're in the right place. Building a complete media stack transforms your seedbox from a simple download machine into an intelligent, hands-off entertainment hub that works while you sleep.

In this guide, you'll learn how to set up the ultimate automation pipeline: Sonarr and Radarr will monitor your shows and movies, Jackett will find the best sources, qBittorrent will handle downloads, and Plex will serve everything to your devices in beautiful quality. By the end, you'll have a system that automatically grabs new episodes the moment they're available.

What You're Building

Before diving in, let's understand how these apps work together:

The workflow is beautifully simple: You tell Sonarr you want a TV show. Sonarr checks when new episodes air, asks Jackett to search your configured torrent sites, picks the best result, sends it to qBittorrent, waits for it to finish, then moves the file to your organized library where Plex instantly detects it.

Step 1: Deploy Your Apps on SonicBit

If you're using SonicBit, this part is ridiculously easy. Instead of manually setting up Docker containers, configuring Traefik reverse proxies, and wrestling with SSL certificates, you just click a few buttons.

From your SonicBit dashboard:

Navigate to Apps in the sidebar

Search for and deploy these apps in order:

- qBittorrent
- Jackett
- Sonarr
- Radarr
- Plex

Each app gets its own subdomain with automatic HTTPS (like qbittorrent.yourusername.sonicbit.net). Write down these URLs - you'll need them for configuration.

Step 2: Configure qBittorrent

qBittorrent is your download engine. Open it and make these essential changes:

Go to Tools → Options → Downloads

Set your default save path to /data/downloads/

Under Web UI, set up a username and password

Note the port number (usually 8080)

Here's the critical part: Go to Tools → Options → Connection and enable the Web UI. This lets Sonarr and Radarr communicate with qBittorrent to send download jobs.

Step 3: Set Up Jackett

Jackett acts as a universal translator between Sonarr/Radarr and your torrent indexers.

Open Jackett and click Add Indexer

Add your preferred torrent sites (The Pirate Bay, 1337x, RARBG alternatives, etc.)

Some indexers require configuration - follow the on-screen instructions

Copy your API Key from the top right corner

For each indexer you add, Jackett creates a unique Torznab feed. You'll use these feeds in Sonarr and Radarr.

Step 4: Configure Sonarr for TV Shows

Now comes the fun part - teaching Sonarr how to find your shows.

Add qBittorrent as Download Client

Go to Settings → Download Clients → Add → qBittorrent

Fill in the details:

- Host: qbittorrent (if using Docker) or your qBittorrent URL
- Port: 8080
- Username/Password: What you set in qBittorrent

Test the connection and save

Connect Jackett Indexers

Go to Settings → Indexers → Add → Torznab → Custom

For each Jackett indexer:

- Name: Whatever you want (e.g., "1337x via Jackett")
- URL: Copy from Jackett (looks like http://jackett:9117/api/v2.0/indexers/1337x/results/torznab/)
- API Key: Your Jackett API key
- Categories: 5030, 5040 (TV shows)

Test and save each one

Set Up Root Folders

Go to Settings → Media Management

Add a root folder like /data/media/tv/

Enable Rename Episodes* and *Create Empty Series Folders

This tells Sonarr where to organize your completed downloads.

Add Your First Show

Click Series → Add New

Search for a show (try "The Office")

Select your root folder

Choose quality profile (1080p is a good default)

Choose monitoring options (all episodes, future episodes only, etc.)

Click Add

Sonarr immediately starts searching. You'll see progress in the Activity → Queue section.

Step 5: Configure Radarr for Movies

Radarr is nearly identical to Sonarr, just for movies.

Add Download Client and Indexers

Follow the exact same steps as Sonarr:

Add qBittorrent as your download client

Add your Jackett indexers (use categories 2000, 2010 for movies)

Set Root Folder

Settings → Media Management

Add root folder: /data/media/movies/

Enable Rename Movies

Add Movies

You can add movies individually or import lists from IMDB, Trakt, or other services:

Click Movies → Add New

Search for a movie

Select quality profile and root folder

Click Add and Search

Radarr starts hunting immediately.

Step 6: Connect Plex to Your Library

Plex is where everything comes together. Your organized media becomes a Netflix-like streaming experience.

Open Plex and complete the initial setup

Click Add Library → TV Shows

Point it to /data/media/tv/

Click Add Library → Movies

Point it to /data/media/movies/

Plex scans your folders and matches everything against its metadata database, adding posters, descriptions, and cast information automatically.

Advanced Automation Tips

Once your basic stack is running, try these power-user features:

Quality Upgrades

In Sonarr/Radarr, set up Quality Profiles that automatically upgrade your library. If a 720p version downloads first, the system will grab a 1080p version when available and replace it.

Lists and Watchlists

Both Sonarr and Radarr support importing from Trakt, IMDB, and other services. Add your IMDB watchlist and new movies automatically appear in your library when released.

Remote Upload to Cloud Storage

Using SonicBit's Remote Upload feature, you can automatically sync completed downloads to Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox. This gives you unlimited storage expansion and off-site backups.

Go to Remote Upload in your SonicBit dashboard, connect your cloud accounts via OAuth, and set up automated folder syncs. Your media stack downloads to your seedbox, Plex serves it locally for fast streaming, and everything mirrors to the cloud for long-term storage.

Notifications

Set up Discord, Telegram, or email notifications in Sonarr/Radarr under Settings → Connect. Get alerts when downloads complete or if something fails.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Sonarr can't find episodes: Check that your Jackett indexers are working (test them individually). Make sure your quality profile isn't too restrictive.

Downloads stuck at 100%*: qBittorrent is still seeding. Check Sonarr's *Settings → Download Client and adjust "Completed Download Handling" settings.

Plex doesn't see new files: Force a library scan or check that file permissions allow Plex to read /data/media/.

Radarr grabs wrong version: Adjust your quality profile or use the "Custom Formats" feature to prefer specific release groups.

Your Media Stack is Ready

You've just built a professional-grade media automation system that rivals any streaming service. Add shows and movies once, and your seedbox handles everything else. New episodes download overnight, get organized perfectly, and appear in Plex ready to watch.

The beauty of this stack is its intelligence. It learns your preferences, handles quality upgrades, manages disk space, and works 24/7 without intervention. You've gone from manual downloads to complete automation in under an hour.

Sign up free at SonicBit.net and get 4GB storage. Download our app on Android and iOS to access your seedbox on the go.