How to Install Upload Assistant on Unraid (CLI)

[MustHaveCoffee]

I found this easier then the current unraid tutorial.

Prerequisites

• Unraid with Docker enabled
• A torrent client already running (qBittorrent, rTorrent, Deluge, or Transmission)
• A TMDb API key (free from https://www.themoviedb.org/settings/api)
• API keys for your target trackers

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Step 1: Create Appdata Directories

mkdir -p /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/data
mkdir -p /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/tmp
mkdir -p /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/webui-auth

---

Step 2: Pull the Image

docker pull ghcr.io/audionut/upload-assistant:latest

Multi-arch image — works on both amd64 and arm64.

---

Step 3: Create a Docker Network (if needed)

Upload Assistant must be on the same Docker network as your torrent client so it can communicate via container name.

# Check what network your torrent client uses
docker inspect qbittorrent --format '{{range $k, $v := .NetworkSettings.Networks}}{{$k}}{{end}}'

# Or create a new shared network
docker network create torrents

If you create a new network, reconnect your torrent client to it:

docker network connect torrents qbittorrent

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Step 4: Run the Container (WebUI Mode)

docker run -d \
  --name upload-assistant \
  --network=torrents \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --stop-timeout 15 \
  -p 5000:5000 \
  -e PUID=99 \
  -e PGID=100 \
  -e "UA_BROWSE_ROOTS=/data/torrents,/Upload-Assistant/tmp" \
  -v /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/data:/Upload-Assistant/data:rw \
  -v /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/tmp:/Upload-Assistant/tmp:rw \
  -v /mnt/user/Data/torrents:/data/torrents:rw \
  -v /mnt/user/appdata/qBittorrent/data/BT_backup:/torrent_storage_dir:rw \
  -v /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/webui-auth:/root/.config/upload-assistant:rw \
  ghcr.io/audionut/upload-assistant:latest \
  --webui 0.0.0.0:5000

Adjust These Paths

Volume	What to change
/mnt/user/Data/torrents	Your actual torrent download directory on the host
/data/torrents	Must match the container-side path your torrent client uses. If qBittorrent sees files at /data/torrents/, use the same here.
/mnt/user/appdata/qBittorrent/data/BT_backup	Your torrent client's BT_backup path. Enables torrent reuse (skip re-hashing). Remove this line if not using qBittorrent.

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
PUID	99	User ID. 99 = Unraid's nobody user.
PGID	100	Group ID. 100 = Unraid's users group.
UA_BROWSE_ROOTS	—	Comma-separated container-side paths the WebUI file browser can access. Must match the right-hand side of your -v mounts.
SESSION_SECRET	(auto-generated)	32+ byte secret for persistent WebUI sessions across restarts. Optional.

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Step 5: Initial Configuration

Option A: WebUI Config Editor (Recommended)

1. Open http://<unraid-ip>:5000 in your browser
2. Create a local user (username + password) on first visit
3. Go to /config to edit settings
4. Set at minimum:
   • TMDb API key (tmdb_api)
   • Image host + API key (imgbb, ptpimg, etc.)
   • Tracker API keys for each tracker you use
   • Torrent client connection (host, port, username, password)

Option B: Manual Config File

# Copy the example config
docker exec upload-assistant cp /Upload-Assistant/data/example-config.py /Upload-Assistant/data/config.py

# Edit it
docker exec -it upload-assistant nano /Upload-Assistant/data/config.py

Or edit directly on the host at /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/data/config.py.

Torrent Client Connection

In config.py under TORRENT_CLIENTS, configure your client. If both containers share a network, use the container name as the host:

"TORRENT_CLIENTS": {
    "qbit": {
        "qbit_url": "http://qbittorrent",
        "qbit_port": "8080",
        "qbit_user": "admin",
        "qbit_pass": "your-password",
        "torrent_storage_dir": "/torrent_storage_dir",
    }
}

---

Step 6: Verify It Works

# Check container is running
docker ps --filter name=upload-assistant

# Check health
docker inspect upload-assistant --format '{{.State.Health.Status}}'

# View logs
docker logs upload-assistant

# Test the WebUI
curl -s http://localhost:5000/api/health

---

CLI Mode (Alternative)

If you prefer CLI over WebUI, run a persistent container you exec into:

docker run -d \
  --name upload-assistant \
  --network=torrents \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --entrypoint tail \
  -e PUID=99 \
  -e PGID=100 \
  -v /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/data:/Upload-Assistant/data:rw \
  -v /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/tmp:/Upload-Assistant/tmp:rw \
  -v /mnt/user/Data/torrents:/data/torrents:rw \
  -v /mnt/user/appdata/qBittorrent/data/BT_backup:/torrent_storage_dir:rw \
  ghcr.io/audionut/upload-assistant:latest \
  -f /dev/null

Then exec in to run uploads:

docker exec -it upload-assistant /bin/sh
python3 upload.py "/data/torrents/Movie.2024.1080p.BluRay.mkv" --trackers BLU

---

Updating

docker pull ghcr.io/audionut/upload-assistant:latest
docker stop upload-assistant
docker rm upload-assistant
# Re-run the docker run command from Step 4

Config persists in /mnt/user/appdata/Upload-Assistant/data/ — it survives container recreation.

---

Gotchas

Issue	Fix
Permission errors on mounted volumes	Use PUID=99 / PGID=100. Do NOT use --user flag — the entrypoint needs root first to fix permissions, then drops privileges.
Torrent client unreachable	Both containers must be on the same Docker network. Use container name as host, not localhost.
Path mismatch errors	The torrent download path inside UA must match the container-side path of your torrent client. If qBit mounts to /data/torrents, UA must too.
Config file not found	Mount the entire data/ directory, not a single file. Mounting a non-existent file creates an empty directory instead.
WebUI session lost on restart	Set SESSION_SECRET env var (32+ random bytes) or mount the webui-auth volume.
Container won't start	Check logs: docker logs upload-assistant. Common cause: missing or malformed config.py.