How to Install Sonarr on Raspbian

Why the Old Methods Fail

If you search for “install Sonarr on Linux,” you’ll find plenty of guides telling you to add a repo, install Mono, and call it a day. On Raspbian, that advice is outdated and mostly broken.

I hit this wall myself. The traditional Sonarr install steps that work on Ubuntu or Debian-based servers either fail outright or leave you with a non-functional service on Raspberry Pi. This article documents what actually works on Raspbian today.

If Linux still feels unfamiliar, I strongly recommend reading A Beginner’s Guide to Linux first. It explains distributions, package managers, and basic commands used throughout this guide.

What This Post Is About

This post covers:

Why native Sonarr installs fail on Raspbian
Why Docker is the correct solution
A working, repeatable Docker-based Sonarr install

Why the Traditional Sonarr Install Does Not Work on Raspbian

The usual instructions rely on one of these assumptions:

Mono packages are available and maintained
Sonarr’s APT repository supports your architecture
You’re running Ubuntu or full Debian

On Raspbian (especially 32-bit):

Mono support is inconsistent or deprecated
Sonarr v4 is .NET-based, not Mono-based
Official repos do not reliably support ARMhf

The result is broken dependencies, services that won’t start, or Sonarr crashing on launch. You can sometimes brute-force it, but it’s fragile and not worth maintaining.

The Correct Approach: Run Sonarr in Docker

Docker avoids all of these problems:

No dependency hell
Architecture-compatible images
Easy updates
Consistent behavior across systems

This is how I run Sonarr on my Raspberry Pi 4, and it’s been stable.

Prerequisites

Raspberry Pi running Raspbian
SSH access
Docker installed
Docker Compose installed

If Docker is not installed yet:

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh
sudo usermod -aG docker pi
sudo reboot

Install Docker Compose:

sudo apt install docker-compose -y

Create the Sonarr Docker Configuration

Create a directory for your media stack:

mkdir -p ~/docker/sonarr
cd ~/docker/sonarr

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

version: "3.8"
services:
  sonarr:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sonarr:latest
    container_name: sonarr
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/Winnipeg
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - /mnt/media/TV:/tv
      - /mnt/downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - 8989:8989
    restart: unless-stopped

Adjust paths to match your system. The container does not care where the files live — only that the paths are consistent.

Start Sonarr

docker-compose up -d

After a minute or two, open your browser and go to:

http://<raspberry-pi-ip>:8989

What Worked

Docker image pulled cleanly on ARM
Sonarr started without errors
Updates are one command
No dependency breakage

What Didn’t

Native APT installs
Old Mono-based instructions
Trying to “make it work” manually

Lessons Learned

Raspbian is not Ubuntu — treat it differently
Docker is not optional anymore for ARM apps
If a guide mentions Mono, it’s outdated

Wrap-Up

If you’re running Sonarr on Raspbian, stop fighting the OS. Docker is the clean, stable solution, and once it’s running, you’ll never want to install it any other way.

Summary

Traditional Sonarr installs fail on Raspbian
Docker avoids architecture and dependency issues
The LinuxServer.io image works reliably on Raspberry Pi

Question for the Reader

Are you running Sonarr directly on bare metal, or have you moved everything into Docker? What broke first?