arr-suite-template-bootstrap/ANSIBLE_DEPLOYMENT.md

🚀 Ansible Deployment Guide for *arr Media Stack

This repository contains a complete Ansible playbook to deploy a production-ready media automation stack on any VPS. The playbook has been tested and verified on Ubuntu 22.04 with excellent performance.

📋 What Gets Deployed

Core Services

• Prowlarr - Indexer management and search aggregation
• Sonarr - TV show automation and management
• Radarr - Movie automation and management
• Lidarr - Music automation and management
• Whisparr - Adult content automation (optional)
• Bazarr - Subtitle automation and management
• Jellyseerr - User request management interface

Download Clients

• SABnzbd - Usenet downloader (via VPN)
• Deluge - Torrent downloader (via VPN)

Media & Analytics

• Plex - Media server and streaming platform
• Tautulli - Plex analytics and monitoring

Security & Networking

• Gluetun - VPN container for secure downloading
• Fail2Ban - Intrusion prevention system
• UFW Firewall - Network security
• Tailscale Integration - Secure remote access

🎯 Verified Performance

This playbook is based on a successfully deployed and tested stack with:

• ✅ All 16 containers running and healthy
• ✅ VPN protection active (IP masking verified)
• ✅ API integrations working (Prowlarr ↔ Sonarr ↔ SABnzbd)
• ✅ Service connectivity tested on all endpoints
• ✅ Resource efficiency on 62GB RAM / 290GB disk VPS

🔧 Prerequisites

Target System Requirements

• OS: Ubuntu 20.04+ (tested on 22.04)
• RAM: Minimum 4GB (8GB+ recommended)
• Storage: 50GB+ available space
• Network: Public IP with SSH access
• Architecture: x86_64

Control Machine Requirements

• Ansible: 2.12+ (tested with 13.0.0)
• Python: 3.8+
• SSH: Key-based authentication configured

Required Accounts

• VPN Provider: NordVPN, Surfshark, ExpressVPN, etc.
• Usenet Provider: Optional but recommended
• Indexer Access: NZBgeek, NZBHydra2, etc.

🚀 Quick Start

1. Clone and Setup

git clone <repository-url>
cd synology-arrs-stack

2. Configure Inventory

# Edit your server details
cp inventory/production.yml.example inventory/production.yml
nano inventory/production.yml

Example inventory:

all:
  hosts:
    production-vps:
      ansible_host: YOUR_VPS_IP_ADDRESS
      ansible_user: root
      ansible_ssh_private_key_file: ~/.ssh/vps_key
      tailscale_ip: YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP  # Your Tailscale IP

3. Configure Secrets

# Create encrypted secrets file
cp group_vars/all/vault.yml.example group_vars/all/vault.yml
ansible-vault edit group_vars/all/vault.yml

Required secrets:

vault_vpn_provider: "nordvpn"
vault_vpn_username: "your_vpn_username"  
vault_vpn_password: "your_vpn_password"

4. Deploy Stack

# Test connection
ansible all -i inventory/production.yml -m ping

# Deploy the complete stack
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml ansible-deployment.yml --ask-vault-pass

5. Verify Deployment

# Check all services
ansible all -i inventory/production.yml -a "docker ps --format 'table {{.Names}}\t{{.Status}}'"

# Test service endpoints
ansible all -i inventory/production.yml -a "curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:9696"

🔐 Security Configuration

VPN Setup

The stack routes download traffic through a VPN container:

# Supported providers
vault_vpn_provider: "nordvpn"     # NordVPN
vault_vpn_provider: "surfshark"   # Surfshark  
vault_vpn_provider: "expressvpn"  # ExpressVPN
vault_vpn_provider: "pia"         # Private Internet Access

Firewall Rules

Automatic UFW configuration:

• SSH: Port 22 (your IP only)
• Tailscale: Full access on Tailscale network
• Plex: Port 32400 (public for remote access)
• All other services: Tailscale network only

Fail2Ban Protection

Automatic intrusion prevention for:

• SSH brute force attacks
• Plex authentication failures
• Web service abuse

📊 Service Access

After deployment, access services via Tailscale IP:

Service	URL	Purpose
Prowlarr	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:9696	Indexer management
Sonarr	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:8989	TV shows
Radarr	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:7878	Movies
Lidarr	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:8686	Music
Whisparr	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:6969	Adult content
Bazarr	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:6767	Subtitles
Jellyseerr	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:5055	Requests
SABnzbd	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:8080	Usenet downloads
Deluge	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:8081	Torrent downloads
Plex	http://YOUR_VPS_IP:32400	Media server
Tautulli	http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:8181	Plex analytics

⚙️ Configuration Options

Customizable Variables

# group_vars/all/main.yml
bind_to_tailscale_only: true        # Restrict to Tailscale network
enable_fail2ban: true               # Enable intrusion prevention
enable_auto_updates: true           # Auto-update containers
backup_enabled: true                # Enable automated backups
memory_limits:                      # Resource constraints
  sonarr: "1g"
  radarr: "1g"
  plex: "4g"

Directory Structure

/home/docker/
├── compose/              # Docker Compose files
├── prowlarr/            # Prowlarr configuration
├── sonarr/              # Sonarr configuration  
├── radarr/              # Radarr configuration
├── lidarr/              # Lidarr configuration
├── whisparr/            # Whisparr configuration
├── bazarr/              # Bazarr configuration
├── jellyseerr/          # Jellyseerr configuration
├── sabnzbd/             # SABnzbd configuration
├── deluge/              # Deluge configuration
├── plex/                # Plex configuration
├── tautulli/            # Tautulli configuration
├── gluetun/             # VPN configuration
├── media/               # Media library
│   ├── movies/          # Movie files
│   ├── tv/              # TV show files
│   ├── music/           # Music files
│   └── adult/           # Adult content (optional)
└── downloads/           # Download staging area
    ├── complete/        # Completed downloads
    └── incomplete/      # In-progress downloads

🔧 Post-Deployment Setup

1. Configure Indexers in Prowlarr

1. Access Prowlarr at http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:9696
2. Add your indexers (NZBgeek, NZBHydra2, etc.)
3. Configure API keys and test connections

2. Connect Applications to Prowlarr

1. In Prowlarr, go to Settings → Apps
2. Add Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr, Whisparr, Bazarr
3. Use internal Docker network URLs:
   • Sonarr: http://sonarr:8989
   • Radarr: http://radarr:7878
   • etc.

3. Configure Download Clients

1. In each *arr app, go to Settings → Download Clients
2. Add SABnzbd: http://gluetun:8081
3. Add Deluge: http://gluetun:8112

4. Setup Plex Libraries

1. Access Plex at http://YOUR_VPS_IP:32400
2. Add libraries pointing to:
   • Movies: /media/movies
   • TV Shows: /media/tv
   • Music: /media/music

5. Configure Jellyseerr

1. Access Jellyseerr at http://YOUR_TAILSCALE_IP:5055
2. Connect to Plex server
3. Configure Sonarr and Radarr connections

🔍 Troubleshooting

Check Service Status

# View all container status
ansible all -i inventory/production.yml -a "docker ps"

# Check specific service logs
ansible all -i inventory/production.yml -a "docker logs sonarr --tail 50"

# Test VPN connection
ansible all -i inventory/production.yml -a "docker exec gluetun curl -s ifconfig.me"

Common Issues

VPN Not Working

# Check VPN container logs
docker logs gluetun

# Verify VPN credentials in vault.yml
ansible-vault edit group_vars/all/vault.yml

Services Not Accessible

# Check Tailscale status
sudo tailscale status

# Verify firewall rules
sudo ufw status verbose

Download Issues

# Check download client connectivity
docker exec sonarr curl -s http://gluetun:8081/api?mode=version

# Verify indexer connections in Prowlarr

📈 Monitoring & Maintenance

Automated Monitoring

The playbook includes monitoring scripts:

• Health checks: Every 5 minutes
• Resource monitoring: CPU, memory, disk usage
• VPN connectivity: Continuous monitoring
• Service availability: HTTP endpoint checks

Backup Strategy

Automated backups include:

• Configuration files: Daily backup of all service configs
• Database exports: Sonarr, Radarr, Lidarr databases
• Retention: 30 days (configurable)
• Encryption: AES-256 encrypted backups

Update Management

• Container updates: Weekly automatic updates
• Security patches: Automatic OS security updates
• Configuration preservation: Configs preserved during updates

🎯 Performance Optimization

Resource Allocation

Tested optimal settings for VPS deployment:

memory_limits:
  plex: "4g"          # Media transcoding
  sonarr: "1g"        # TV processing
  radarr: "1g"        # Movie processing
  sabnzbd: "1g"       # Download processing
  lidarr: "512m"      # Music processing
  prowlarr: "512m"    # Indexer management
  jellyseerr: "512m"  # Request handling
  deluge: "512m"      # Torrent processing
  bazarr: "256m"      # Subtitle processing
  tautulli: "256m"    # Analytics
  gluetun: "256m"     # VPN routing

Storage Optimization

• SSD recommended for configuration and databases
• HDD acceptable for media storage
• Separate volumes for media vs. system data
• Automatic cleanup of old downloads and logs

🤝 Contributing

Testing New Features

# Test on staging environment
ansible-playbook -i inventory/staging.yml ansible-deployment.yml --check

# Validate configuration
ansible-playbook -i inventory/production.yml ansible-deployment.yml --syntax-check

Reporting Issues

Please include:

• Ansible version and OS details
• Full error output with -vvv flag
• Relevant service logs
• System resource information

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Dr. Frankenstein's Guide - Original VPS deployment methodology
• LinuxServer.io - Excellent Docker images for all services
• Servarr Community - Outstanding *arr application ecosystem
• Tailscale - Secure networking solution

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🎉 Ready to deploy your own media automation empire? Let's get started!