Originally published at: https://quickbox.io/blog/restoring-a-sonarr-radarr-backup-file/
Over the course of the years, I have upgraded, changed, accidentally deleted my server and it has caused me a lot of stress having to re-add all of my TV Shows and Movies into Sonarr & Radarr respectively.
It wasn’t until the second time around I had to do this when someone (I can’t remember who) pointed out that if I had a backup of these files, then it can all be restored with only a few minor things to change.
This changed my life for the better and it was so quick and easy to setup Sonarr/Radarr on a new fresh installation of Linux.
Now within the Discord server, we’ve seen many people do this and most people can get it but there are a few things that I thought I would point out from my own experiences to help ease the transition when restoring a backup file.
We are going to make the assumption that you’ve moved to a new server, or you have done a fresh installation of QuickBox.
1. Download Clients
Once your file has been restored, you will need to update your Download Clients. Now it’s just as simple as updating the ports used for ruTorrent or Deluge or even NZBGet if you use that.
Once that has been updated, you can run a test to ensure that Sonarr/Radarr can connect to your download clients.
2. Indexers
Now, if you’re like me and use Jackett for your indexers, then you will need to go into each indexer and update the API key being used. No other setting will need to be updated (unless you’ve changed IP Address/Domain name for example) and it’s as simple as that.
The URL actually doesn’t change with each new installation and neither do the category codes either. Just by updating the API key, you should be set to go.
3. Root Path
Now, if you have changed the directory in which your content is being stored in, then you might need to update the root path. The quickest and easiest way to do this is via the Series Editor or Movie Editor, select everything, and then update the path in the options at the bottom of the screen.
It might take a few minutes for it to go through all of your movies and TV shows, however, once it’s done, then you’re basically done.
Now you’re free to enjoy your content once more!
But I don’t know which files I need to restore to get my Sonarr/Radarr working again?
Not to worry! It’s really simple. For Sonarr, when looking in the /home/<username>/.config/nzbdrone folder, you’ll see various files.
The only file that you’ll need to copy is “nzbdrone.db” and restore that file too. Depending on the size of your library and how much space you have, you may wish to also backup and restore the MediaCover folder too.
This is the same for Radarr too. But obviously keep those files separate as you might end up corrupting your database.
So when you’re having to restore files for Sonarr or Radarr, hopefully this has provided you with some insight and some knowledge too!