Context
Having started out in the world of Napster & Limewire, I've always relied on public sources. It wasn't until in the early '10s that I lucked into a Gazelle-based tracker that was started by some fellow community members. Unfortunately, I wasn't paying enough attention when they closed shop and didn't know how to move elsewhere. Combined with some life circumstances I gave up the pursuit for the time being.
It wasn't until recently that a friend was kind enough to help me get back and introduced me to current state of automation. Over the course of a few months, I've since built up the attached systems. I've been having an absolute blast learning and am very impressed with all of the contributions!
After all of the updates due to BF deals, I put together the attached diagram as it was starting to get too complex to keep all of the interactions in my head. 😅
Setup
- All of the services run in Docker containers.
- Each container is a separate Compose file managed by Systemd.
- The system itself is in a VM running on my home server (both Arch, btw).
- Tailscale is used for remote access to the local network.
- ProtonVPN is managed by Gluetun and uses a separate network for isolating services.
Questions
- What am I missing or can be improved?
- Is there a better way to document?
- What do you do differently that might be beneficial?
Thoughts
- I had Calibre set up at one point, but I really don't like how it tracks files by renaming them. I have been considering trying to automate with the CLI instead, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
- I've been toying with the idea of creating a file-arr for analyzing disk usage, performing common operations, and exposing a web-based upload/download client so I don't have to mount the volume everywhere.
- Similarly, I'm interested in a way to aggregate logs/notifications/metrics. I'm aware of Notifiarr, but would prefer a self-hosted version.
- I just set up Last FM scrobbling so I don't have any data yet. I'm hoping to use that for discovery and if possible, playlist syncing or auto-generation.
Notes
- Diagram was made using D2lang.
- Some of the connections have been simplified to improve readability / routing.
- Some services have been redacted out of an abundance of caution.
- I know VPN with Usenet isn't necessary, but it's easier to keep it consistent.
Also, thanks for the recommendations to check out deemix/Deezer. That worked really well! 😀
Edit: HQ version of diagram
If you have the time and resources, I highly recommend it. Once it's all running it becomes mostly a 'set it and forget it' situation. You don't have to remember to scroll through pages of search results to find content. It'll automatically grab them for you based on your configured quality profile (or upgrade it to better quality). Additionally, you can easily stream it to any devices in our home network (or remote with a VPN).
You don't have to do it all at once. Start with a single service you're interested in and slowly add more over time.
Nah I feel ya, I've been seeing all the various configurations since I came to Lemmy. I've just had a hell of a summer work-wise (6-7 days a week, yay being a small business owner) plus a good amount of travel for weddings and the like, so I just haven't had the time to sit down with it all. One of my clients has a whole bunch of 2 year old metal and SAS drives they're giving me in a few weeks once they get underway with operations due to a corporate upgrade, and once I slow down for the winter season I fully intend on diving into this.
I've had a Plex server running on FreeBSD for years, I just haven't set it up since moving back in June. But I'm getting really tired of all the bullshit from these streaming services, and I'm looking forward to taking back control of my entertainment. I just have to make it palatable to my wife lol.
To me the *arrs are great enough for the wishlist/todo factor alone.
The download/management feature is just the cherry on top.