Raspberry Pi 2 Media Server Image 2015 Released

raspberry-pi-media-serverSomebody on reddit requested a Raspberry Pi 2 Media Server image. I have put together a ready to go image so you can test drive a Raspberry Pi 2 NAS media server. It is packed with programs and features made entirely from guides on this site. It is for those of you who are too pressed for time or just too lazy to install the software yourself. I used a minimal Raspbian base Minibian as the foundation for the media server. There are no WiFi drivers included  because WiFi is unreliable and lowers throughput, however if you must use WiFi, you will need a keyboard or ethernet connection to install the drivers.

If you haven't heard of usenet read this and consider a UsenetServer account. If you are comfortable with torrents use Private Internet Access or PureVPN for safety and then make sure you can access Transmission outside your home network.

Image updated to version 10 May 18, 2015 now with HTPC Manager and nginx

You can now customize your own media server image on Minibian with the HTPC Guides Installer and ready made image

If you are trying to figure out which hardware would work best for you, consider reading the Pi benchmarks.

Pi Unit
Processor
RAM
RAM Bus
Network
WiFi
USB
SATA
Cost
Raspberry Pi 3
1.2 GHz ARMv8
Quad Core
1 GB DDR2
450 MHz
100 Mbit
Yes
4
No
$35
Raspberry Pi 2
900 MHz ARMv7
Quad Core
1 GB DDR2
450 MHz
100 Mbit
No
4
No
$35.00
Raspberry Pi
700 MHz ARMv6
Single Core
512 MB SDRAM
400 MHz
100 Mbit
No
4
No
$25
Banana Pi
1 GHz ARMv7
Dual Core
1 GB DDR3
432 MHz
Gigabit
No
2
Yes
$36.99
Banana Pi Pro
1 GHz ARMv7
Dual Core
1 GB DDR3
432 MHz
Gigabit
Yes
2
Yes
$45.00

Raspberry Pi 2 Media Server Image

Here is a list of features, each link redirects you to a guide to configure each service

I recommend dynamic DNS for extra remote access ease and reverse proxies for security.

NTFS-3G is already installed as is the current tweak so you can power a 2.5″ external hard drive and mount it properly.

All software is running as the pi user to avoid permission conflicts except for Plex which has its own user that generally causes no issues. Plex is accessed at http://ip.address:32400/web where ip.address is the Pi 2's IP address.

Software
Purpose
Credentials
Login/Password
Port
Plex Media Server
Streaming your media collection
none
32400
NZBGet
Usenet Downloader
nzbget:tegbzn6789
6789
Sabnzbd
Usenet Downloader
none
8080
Transmission
BitTorrent Client
transmission:transmission
9091
SickRage
Periodic Show Assistant
none
8081
CouchPotato
Feature Length Video Assistant
none
5050
Mylar
Comic finder
none
8090
Headphones
Audo file finder
none
8181
Sonarr
Periodic Show Assistant
none
8989
Jackett
Add custom torrents
none
9117
HTPC Manager
Managing Services
none
8085
vsftpd
FTP Server
pi/htpcguides
21
SAMBA
Sharing files over network
pi/htpcguides
none
NFS
Sharing files
pi/htpcguides
none
Webmin
Administer server
pi/htpcguides
10000
nginx
Reverse Proxy
none
80

The image is currently in testing phase, in order to get the download link share this post using the unlocker below.

Turn off Adblock if you can't see the unlocker.

Expand the sd card with raspi-config after you log in, the image will fit on a 2 GB sd card. Follow the initial setup after the locker. The HTPC NAS Combo Image includes Kodi as well.

Note: SickRage has been updated so the /etc/default/ file needs to be changed, see the updated guide to make the changes.

Initial Raspberry Pi 2 Media Server Setup

The default password for the root login and pi login is htpcguides. Use PuTTY or an SSH client to log in to avoid getting wrong password errors because you use a non-US keyboard.

Expand your SD card first by choosing expand file system

sudo raspi-config

Change your password while logged in as the root and pi user

sudo passwd

Regenerate your SSH keys

rm /etc/ssh/ssh_host*
dpkg-reconfigure openssh-server

Regenerate all the API keys in SickRage, CouchPotato and Sonarr
If you don't want to use both SickRage and Sonarr you can disable either service with these commands

The same logic appiles to NZBGet and transmission-daemon

sudo update-rc.d nzbdrone disable
sudo update-rc.d sickbeard disable
sudo update-rc.d nzbget disable
sudo update-rc.d transmission-daemon disable
sudo update-rc.d htpcmanager disable

If you regret disabling any of the services you can re-enable them so they start on boot again

sudo update-rc.d nzbdrone defaults
sudo update-rc.d sickbeard defaults
sudo update-rc.d nzbget defaults
sudo update-rc.d transmission-daemon defaults
sudo update-rc.d htpcmanager defaults

If you unlucky enough to need wifi tools then install these packages

sudo apt-get install wireless-tools wpasupplicant -y

I would like hear if the image works for you and suggestions to improve the image.

If you are installing extra software you may need to use this syntax if you get dependency errors

sudo apt-get install -t jessie packagename -y