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Local Hosting of *Arr Apps

This guide explains the concepts of how to configure Sonarr, Radarr, and other *Arr applications on your local system to use an Ultra.cc slot for download clients and media storage. Rclone FTPS is used to mount the remote filesystem locally. Optionally, MergerFS can be used to combine remote and local content into one unified path (Linux only).

Please note: This is an advanced and experimental configuration. As Rclone is not officially supported by us, and your local machine is part of the setup, we cannot provide any assistance or troubleshoot issues that may arise when following this guide. Latency or connectivity issues may occur depending on distance or internet stability. Proceed at your own risk.

When adding a download client to an *Arr application that is locally hosted, you would use the same connection details and credentials found in our Radarr and Sonarr guides under the Add Download Clients section. It does not make any difference whether your *Arr is running on your home server or directly from your Ultra.cc service.

Prerequisites

A local Linux or Windows system (Ubuntu preferred)

Sonarr, Radarr, or other *Arr apps installed locally (Docker or native install)
Rclone installed locally (Download Rclone)
MergerFS installed locally (Linux only, optional)

A valid Ultra.cc slot with credentials

Rclone & MergerFS installed (see instructions)
Download client installed (torrent or usenet)

Configure Rclone FTPS Remote

To allow your locally hosted *Arr apps access to your downloaded data on your Ultra.cc slot. You must create a Rclone FTPS remote to securely access your Ultra.cc slot from your local system. This remote acts like a network drive, allowing your local *Arr apps to interact with media files on Ultra.

First, ensure you have installed Rclone (Optional: MergerFS) on your Ultra slot. See instructions here.

Next, it’s time to configure the remote on your local machine. For a full step-by-step guide, follow this link.

Start by launching the terminal.

On Linux, open your terminal emulator (GNOME Terminal, Konsole, etc.)
On Windows, open Command Prompt or PowerShell.

Then, execute the following command:

rclone config

Follow the prompts to set up the Rclone FTPS remote:

Select n for a new remote.
Set the type to ftp
For host, enter servername.usbx.me
Choose to enable FTPS.
Name it something recognizable like ultra

For detailed instructions on how to configure an Rclone FTPS remote, see this guide.

Mount Remote to Local System

Mounting the remote on your local system lets your *Arr apps read/write to the Ultra.cc storage as if it were a local folder. You can use any terminal emulator (e.g. GNOME Terminal, Tilix, etc.) for the below commands.

Linux

On your local system, create a directory for the Rclone FTPS mount.

mkdir -p ~/Ultra

Next, start the Rclone mount.

rclone mount ultra:/ ~/Ultra --allow-other --vfs-cache-mode writes --dir-cache-time 30s --log-file ~/rclone_mount.log &

The--allow-other flag in rclone mount enables access to the mounted filesystem by users other than the one who mounted it
The --dir-cache-time 30s flag helps mitigate FTPS's lack of change polling.
The --log-file option is helpful for troubleshooting.
To make your Rclone mount persistent across reboots, go to this section of the guide.

Windows

Install WinFsp, which enables filesystem drivers like Rclone to mount drives.
Open PowerShell or Command Prompt and run:

rclone mount ultra:/ X: --vfs-cache-mode writes --dir-cache-time 30s --log-file=rclone_mount.log

This command assigns your Ultra.cc storage to a virtual drive (e.g., X:). The --vfs-cache-mode writes flag ensures compatibility with applications needing write access.
To persist the mount across reboots, use a Scheduled Task or startup script.

Make Rclone Mount Persistent (Linux only)

By default, Rclone mounts will disappear on reboot. You can use systemd to automatically re-establish the connection. This is especially helpful if you're running services like Sonarr or Plex that expect consistent folder paths.

User-level Systemd unit

Open the Systemd service file in the Nano editor:

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/rclone-mount.service

Paste the following into the Nano editor:

[Unit]
Description=RClone Mount Service
Wants=network-online.target
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=notify
ExecStart=/bin/rclone mount ultra: /Ultra \
  --config /.config/rclone/rclone.conf \
  --temp-dir /.tmp-rclone \
  --vfs-cache-mode writes \
  --allow-other \
  --dir-cache-time 30s \
  --log-file /rclone_mount.log 
ExecStop=/bin/fusermount -uz /Ultra
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Save and exit the editor by pressing Ctrl+X then Y and ENTER.
Next, enable the Systemd service to automatically start at boot.

systemctl --user enable --now rclone-mount.service

(Optional) Use MergerFS to Combine Local and Remote Media

MergerFS is not available on Windows. Windows users must manage local and remote libraries separately using the mounted drive letter.

If you want to store some media locally but still access it alongside your Ultra-hosted files, MergerFS allows you to present both as a single unified folder.

Start by installing MergerFS.

Refer to your specific Linux distro for exact install instructions.

apt install mergerfs

Next, create directories.

mkdir -p /mnt/localmedia /mnt/media

Finally, start the MergerFS mount to merge the two directories into a single unified directory.

This makes /mnt/media show content from both /mnt/localmedia and /mnt/ultra.

sudo mergerfs /mnt/localmedia:/mnt/ultra /mnt/media -o allow_other,use_ino,category.action=all,category.create=ff

Make MergerFS Persistent

As with the Rclone mount, it will not be persistent across reboots. However, you can use systemd to automatically re-establish the connection. This is especially helpful if you're running services like Sonarr or Plex that expect consistent folder paths.

Open the Systemd service file in the Nano editor:

sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/mergerfs-media.service

Paste the following into the Nano editor:

[Unit]
Description=MergerFS mount for Ultra + Local media
After=network-online.target
Requires=rclone-mount.service

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/bin/mergerfs /mnt/localmedia:/mnt/ultra /mnt/media \\
  -o allow_other,use_ino,category.action=all,category.create=ff
ExecStop=/bin/fusermount -uz /mnt/media
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Save and exit the editor by pressing Ctrl+X then Y and ENTER.
Next, enable the Systemd service to automatically start at boot.

sudo systemctl enable --now mergerfs-media.service

(Optional) Automate Download to Local System

This guide shows how to mount and merge your data downloaded to your Ultra service, and local media via Rclone and MergerFS. However, you might also want to move the downloaded media from your Ultra service to your local system for persistent storage.

You can do this manually with the rclone move command, or you can automate and schedule your media download. For the latter, please see this guide, as it shows how to create a automated Rclone script and how to schedule it as a cron job on your Ultra service. Do note, you will need to make amendments to the script so it aligns with the Rclone remote name you have given your mount.

Radarr/Sonarr

Add Download Client

When adding a download client to an *Arr application that is locally hosted, you would use the same connection details and credentials found in Add Download Client section in our Radarr/Sonarr guides.

Navigate to Settings → Download Clients.
Make sure to enable the Show Advanced setting.
To add your preferred client, click the big + button, then select your preferred client.
Finally, fill out the details of your preferred download client. The details can be found in the Add Download Client section in our Radarr/Sonarr guides.

Add Root Folder

This allows *Arr apps to know where your media will be stored.

Go to Settings → Media Management → Root Folders
Click Add Root Folder
Choose your path:

Linux with mount only: /mnt/ultra/media/Movies
Linux with MergerFS: /mnt/media/Movies
Windows: X:\media\\Movies

Click Save.

Configure Remote Path Mapping

Remote path mappings tell *Arr apps how to translate paths used by your download client (on Ultra) to your local mount paths.

Go to Settings → Download Clients → Remote Path Mapping
Click + to add a new mapping

Host: <username>.<hostname>.usbx.me
Remote Path: e.g. /home/<username>/Downloads
Local Path:

Linux: /mnt/ultra/Downloads or /mnt/media/Downloads
Windows: X:\Downloads

Save the mapping.

Conclusion

Once completed, your local apps will be able to:

Handle and organize media downloads stored on Ultra.cc
Manage and import into your Plex/Jellyfin/Emby library seamlessly.
Optionally combine remote and local content for unified access.

If you require further assistance, you can open a support ticket here!

Feedback and suggestions regarding this article are welcome on our Discord server

Local Hosting of *Arr Apps
Prerequisites
Configure Rclone FTPS Remote
Mount Remote to Local System
Linux
Windows
Make Rclone Mount Persistent (Linux only)
User-level Systemd unit
(Optional) Use MergerFS to Combine Local and Remote Media
Make MergerFS Persistent
(Optional) Automate Download to Local System
Radarr/Sonarr
Add Download Client
Add Root Folder
Configure Remote Path Mapping
Conclusion