How to Install & Configure CouchPotato

This tutorial shows step-by-step how to install and configure CouchPotato Movie Downloader on an Ubuntu / Debian based system, and link it to SABnzbd+ in order to download the latest movies from Usenet.

Use this tutorial in conjunction with my Youtube video: How to Install & Configure CouchPotato

Installing CouchPotato

Download Python Source from GitHub: https://github.com/RuudBurger/CouchPotatoServer/archive/master.zip

Unzip the Source Code and copy into your home folder, e.g: /home/user/CouchPotato
If you‘re installing CouchPotato into a remote system then SSH in via the File Manager or WinSCP

Create CouchPotato Init Script

cd ~
wget quidsup.net/sh/init-couchpotato.sh
nano init-couchpotato.sh
#Make the changes detailed in CouchPotato Init Script or alternatively use "sed" command
sed -i "s/you/$(whoami)/" init-couchpotato.sh
sudo cp ~/init-couchpotato.sh /etc/init.d/
cd /etc/init.d
sudo mv init-couchpotato.sh couchpotato
sudo chmod 755 couchpotato
sudo update-rc.d couchpotato defaults
sudo service couchpotato start

The Init script opens CouchPotato on system bootup, its written for Ubuntu / Debian based systems.

You will need to change the three Username variables to match your system. For simplicity you can use the sed command as shown below to automatically set the username to the current user.
Note: Don‘t run CouchPotato as the Root user, as it will cause a severe security risk to your system.

CouchPotato Setup Wizard

If you are setting up CouchPotato on the same computer that you‘re currently using, then open your web browser and type in the following address: localhost:5050, or 127.0.0.1:8081

Or if CouchPotato is on a different computer, then open your web browser and type in Host name or IP address of the computer followed by :5050. E.g. nas.local:5050, or 192.168.0.10:5050

Set a Downloader

For this tutorial I am showing how to configure CouchPotato with SABnzbd+, go ahead and Select SABnzbd from the list

1. Host: Enter the IP address and Port number of the System where SABnzbd+ is running, e.g. localhost:8080
2. SABnzbd API Key
   Copy and Paste API key from SABnzbd > Config > General > API Key
3. Category
   Type in "movies", we will add the Movie category to SABnzbd later in the tutorial.

NZB Searcher

You will need to subscribe to a Usenet NZB Searcher site that supports use of RSS feeds, and gives you an API key. There are a few suggestions provided in CouchPotato.

Once you have found a site enter the host name and API key in this section

Configure SABnzbd

Now to add a Movie category into SABnzbd.

Go to Config > Categories

Add new Category called “movies” and set the folder path to where you store your movie collection.

Script and Processing can be left as Default."

Test run

You can now take CouchPotato for a test run...

There is one last Optional job to do with creating a Cronjob, which will have CouchPotato search automatically for new movies every x number of hours. This is certainly a feature worth using if your system is powered on continuously 24/7.

However, if you only leave your system on for short periods then its not necessary because CouchPotato will automatically check for new releases when it starts up.

Creating a Cronjob

Go into CouchPotato > Config > Searcher, and tick the Show advanced settings box.

I have my system searching every day once every six hours, in order to try grab a movie before DMCA takedowns are actioned.

Enter the following figures

1. Day: *
2. Hour: */6
   
3. Minute: Any random minute between 1-59

The Cronjob will action every 6 hours on minute 12 of every day of the week.