How to Self-Host Lidarr with Docker Compose

What Is Lidarr?

Lidarr is a music collection manager that automatically monitors, downloads, and organizes music. It’s the music equivalent of Sonarr (TV shows) and Radarr (movies) — part of the *arr stack. You add artists, Lidarr tracks their discography, and downloads albums through Usenet or torrent clients. Official site

Updated March 2026: Verified with latest Docker images and configurations.

Prerequisites

A Linux server (Ubuntu 22.04+ recommended)
Docker and Docker Compose installed (guide)
1 GB of free disk space (plus storage for music)
512 MB of RAM minimum
A download client: SABnzbd (Usenet) or qBittorrent (torrents)
An indexer manager: Prowlarr (recommended)

Docker Compose Configuration

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  lidarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/lidarr:3.1.0.4875
    container_name: lidarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - /path/to/music:/music          # Your music library
      - /path/to/downloads:/downloads  # Download client output
    ports:
      - "8686:8686"
    restart: unless-stopped

Environment variables:

Variable	Purpose	Required
`PUID`	User ID for file permissions	Yes
`PGID`	Group ID for file permissions	Yes
`TZ`	Timezone	Yes

Volume mounts:

Container Path	Purpose
`/config`	Lidarr configuration and database
`/music`	Your music library root
`/downloads`	Shared download directory with your download client

Start the stack:

docker compose up -d

Initial Setup

Open http://your-server-ip:8686
Set up authentication under Settings → General → Security — Lidarr has no default password
Add a root folder: Settings → Media Management → Root Folders → add /music
Connect your download client: Settings → Download Clients
Add indexers via Prowlarr or manually under Settings → Indexers

Configuration

Media Management

Settings → Media Management → File Management
Set naming format: {Artist Name}/{Album Title} ({Release Year})/{track:00} - {Track Title}
Enable Rename Tracks for consistent naming
Set quality profiles under Settings → Profiles — “Any” for maximum compatibility or specific quality tiers

Quality Profiles

Lidarr lets you prioritize audio quality:

Lossless: FLAC, ALAC (best quality, ~30-50 MB per album)
High Quality Lossy: MP3 320kbps, AAC 256kbps (~10-15 MB per album)
Standard: MP3 VBR V0 (~8-12 MB per album)

Set your preferred quality under Settings → Profiles and Lidarr will upgrade files when better quality becomes available.

Metadata Profiles

Control what Lidarr monitors per artist:

Standard: Albums only (most users want this)
None: Monitor nothing by default — add specific albums manually
Create custom profiles to include singles, EPs, or compilations

Advanced Configuration (Optional)

*arr Stack Integration

For the complete automated music setup:

services:
  lidarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/lidarr:3.1.0.4875
    container_name: lidarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - ./lidarr-config:/config
      - /data/media/music:/music
      - /data/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - "8686:8686"
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - arr

  prowlarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/prowlarr:2.3.0
    container_name: prowlarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
    volumes:
      - ./prowlarr-config:/config
    ports:
      - "9696:9696"
    restart: unless-stopped
    networks:
      - arr

networks:
  arr:
    driver: bridge

Connect Prowlarr to Lidarr: in Prowlarr, go to Settings → Apps → Add → Lidarr, enter http://lidarr:8686 and Lidarr’s API key.

Import Existing Library

If you already have a music collection:

Library → Import (mass import)
Point to your music directory
Lidarr matches folders to artists using MusicBrainz
Review matches and import

Reverse Proxy

Example Nginx Proxy Manager configuration:

Scheme: http
Forward Hostname: lidarr
Forward Port: 8686

Set a URL base under Settings → General if running under a subdirectory. Reverse Proxy Setup

Backup

Back up the /config volume — it contains your database, settings, and history:

docker compose stop lidarr
tar -czf lidarr-backup-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ./config
docker compose start lidarr

Lidarr also has built-in backups under System → Backup. Backup Strategy

Troubleshooting

Artist Not Found or Wrong Match

Symptom: Adding an artist returns no results or the wrong artist. Fix: Lidarr uses MusicBrainz for metadata. Search by MusicBrainz ID if the name is ambiguous. Less popular artists may not be in MusicBrainz — you’ll need to add them there first.

Downloads Complete but Don’t Import

Symptom: Download client finishes but Lidarr doesn’t move files to the library. Fix: Ensure the download path in Lidarr matches the download client’s output path. Both containers must see the same files at the same path. Check Activity → Queue for import errors.

High CPU Usage

Symptom: Lidarr constantly uses 50%+ CPU. Fix: Large libraries with many monitored artists cause frequent RSS checks. Increase RSS sync interval under Settings → Indexers → Advanced → RSS Sync Interval. Reduce the number of monitored artists.

Quality Upgrades Not Working

Symptom: Lidarr doesn’t replace lower-quality files with better ones. Fix: Under Settings → Profiles, ensure your quality profile has the desired qualities ranked with cutoff set appropriately. Enable Completed Download Handling under Settings → Download Clients.

Resource Requirements

RAM: ~200 MB idle, 300-500 MB with large libraries (1000+ artists)
CPU: Low (spikes during RSS sync and import processing)
Disk: ~100 MB for application data, plus your music library

Verdict

Lidarr fills the music gap in the *arr stack. If you already run Sonarr and Radarr, adding Lidarr is a no-brainer for automating music downloads. The MusicBrainz dependency means metadata quality varies — mainstream artists work great, niche genres less so. For most music automation needs, Lidarr is the only real option in the self-hosted space.

FAQ

Does Lidarr work with Spotify or streaming services?

No. Lidarr manages downloaded music files (FLAC, MP3, etc.), not streaming. Use Navidrome to stream your downloaded collection.

Can Lidarr download from YouTube?

Not directly. Lidarr uses Usenet and torrent indexers. For YouTube music downloading, look at yt-dlp — but that’s a separate tool, not integrated with Lidarr.

Lidarr vs Headphones?

Lidarr replaced Headphones. Headphones is no longer actively maintained. Lidarr has a modern UI, better *arr stack integration, and active development.