Right, so we have setup our media server, so we now need to wire it all together, so the system downloads what it needs, when it needs to.

So let’s get to it. First decisions, where are we going to store our media, remember video takes up significant space. I’m going to be storing it locally, but obviously if you are storing on a network location it needs to be mounted in the Linux partition. Easiest way to do that is probably through the Linux file manager, but with so many options when it comes to storage, for this demonstration we will take the simplest option.

I recommend splitting how you store the media up now, as will make it simpler going forward, I’ve created a TV and a Movies folder , but if you have kids and music and pictures then you may want to add these areas too. Get it organised now how you want though, as it’s easier now without having to deal with huge amounts of content.

Now lets set the Plex Libraries up, this is done by going to http://127.0.0.1:32400/web and clicking the + sign on the left next to your media server name. Simply select the right media type and point it at the location the media will live.

Now we need to configure the server to connect to the Plex service, so click the Config Icon (Spanner/Screwdriver at the top right) and select the Server area, then Make sure the Friendly name is as you want it, and click the Connect section, login with your Plex username (If you don’t have one, set one up), and with that, the basics of Plex server are done.

SabNzbd

Next up is SabNzbd. This is the actual news server download engine, the bit that does the work so to say. Goto http://127.0.0.1:8080 and click on the Config item.

Click on General, and create a username and password and click save, obviously login when it asks you to. Click the Folders item, and lets setup where things go. As a general rule the Downloads/incomplete and Downloads/complete folders are fine, but if you want to place them elsewhere then here’s where to change the locations, we also need to point the Post Processing script folder, so type in /home/username/.sickbeard/autoProcessTV

Click the Servers option, then we need to setup our News Server (if you haven’t already) I use AstraWeb for my news service, and can highly recommend them, so if you don’t already have a news server account then hop over and get one. The details I’ll be showing here are Astraweb‘s, but obviously replace with yours. See the image to the right for the AstraWeb settings, I use the SSL server for all my connections, just to be safe.

Next we need to create some categories for our downloads, so click the categories option, and we need to create a Movies one and set a path for it, I’m putting it in Downloads/incomplete/Movies click save, then add a new one TV and point it at Downloads/incomplete/TV and in the Script option, select SabToSickbeard.py and click save.

That should pretty much sort out SabNzbd for now, next onto

SickBeard

Bring up http://127.0.0.1:8081 and click Config/General, untick the Launch Browser, and put a username and password in the Web Interface area and click save, tick the enable API box, then generate, and click save.

Next click Search Settings at the top, and change the NZB Method to SABnzbd and in the URL field put http://localhost:8080/ put your username and password in and then get the API Key from the Config/General area of SABNzbd and click test, then Save.

In Search providers you can add any other NZB sites you may be a member of, but for now leave it as it is.

Post processing is where we get the shows organised after they are downloaded, and all the Meta Data setup for them, so in the TV Download Folder we need the full path the the download location, in our case /home/user/Downloads/complete browse for it if your not 100% sure, untick the Keep original box if ticked. The naming logic is upto your personal preference, but how it is out of the box will probably suite. And finally in this section, Metadata type needs to be set to MediaBrowser, and make sure you select the data you want downloaded (screenshot of my config attached)

Notifications we will leave alone for now, you can however research this section later if desired.

CouchPotato

Let’s get CouchPotato set up now, so bring up http://127.0.0.1:8082 in your browser and click the cog in the top right then settings.

Click the Searcher option, select the First Search to be usenet, and select NZBClub and BinSearch. I recommend signing up on a Newznab host, I use www.oznzb.com but the others mentioned are just as good, use whichever suits yourself. Click categories sub area and make sure in the ignored section you have NL, nl, GERM, DK, FR, germ, dk, fr, ger, dut, german, dutch, french, truefrench, danish, swedish, spanish, italian, korean, dubbed, swesub, korsub, dksubs, vain, 3D as this will stop a lot of the ‘spam’ getting through, add more if you notice a type of movie getting through you don’t want. Click qualities and Create one that suits yourself, I have a quality setup as the picture to the right shows. You can also add R5/Screener etc if you want to.

Click the Downloaders menu option, select Sabnzbd and make sure the host is localhost:8080 The API key is the one from the general page in the SAB config area, and Category is movies, click test and make sure it says everything is all good.

Click Renamer, this is where the completed movies get moved to the right place, and labeled etc. So click all 3 boxes to enable the options, then in the To field click  the folder icon and select the Movies folder where completed films need to go to be seen by Plex (the same folder we set up in the Plex library earlier). Tick the UNRar and cleanup options, then the From icon and select the Movies folder we selected in the SABNzbd category earlier, type en  into the language for subtitles, and select a quality for the trailer (if you want it). Click the Metatdata sub menu, and select XBMC.

Next click the Manage menu option on the Left, and point this to the completed movie folder (the directory Plex is watching), if you want movies automatically added, you can click the Automation option, and get it to add movies based on taste etc from IMDB, Trakt etc.

That should be about it. Time to test something out.

Testing

Click the magnifying glass at the top of the window, and search for a movie.

As you can see, I’ve searched for an Open Source movie call Big Buck Bunny, but whatever you want to find is OK. Click the Add button, then click Home at the top, and the movie. Check that it’s been found, and that Sabnzbd is downloading it, next goto the Sick Beard interface, select Add Shows, then search for a show, click the one you want from the search results and select next, then click new and create a TV location, this is the same location that Plex is looking at for it’s TV Content. Click next and set the quality etc. After you click add, it should start downloading the TV.

Enjoy your automated TV and Movies.