Install FlexGet on Ubuntu 14.x

flexgetInstall FlexGet on Ubuntu 14.x for integrating with usenet or torrents. FlexGet is definitely one of the best and most versatile automated RSS download software for your favorite periodic video files (and even feature length video files, audio files, etc, but we will focus on periodic video files now). There are some great alternatives available like Sonarr or Sickbeard (and CouchPotato for feature length videos, Headphones for audio files), but what makes FlexGet stand out is its powerful customization options, thanks to the great number of plugins and excellent community behind it. FlexGet is also very reliable, once configured to your needs, just sit back and forget about it, it will do the job for you and hey, it will do it perfectly.

One thing FlexGet (still) lacks is a GUI/WebUI, although it is a work in progress, and actually not a priority at all. This means you will need to configure FlexGet by editing configuration files manually. If you are a novice user, this might scare you off a bit, but don’t walk away just yet, it’s really not that hard at all, and here we come to help and guide you to get your very own FlexGet configuration up and running in no time. FlexGet can access basically every private torrent tracker. You can customize just about everything to your own taste and needs. I must note here, that thanks to Jackett, more and more private trackers are accessible with Sonarr and CouchPotato, and the community behind Jackett is really doing a great job by adding and optimizing lots of well known and popular trackers. But let’s get back to FlexGet. I need to mention that FlexGet is also very lightweight on resources, this makes it a very good choice for ARM based devices, like your Raspberry Pi 2 or its derivatives.

In this guide we will install Flexget on Ubuntu 14.x. Got a question? Feel free to drop by to our forum section where we are happy to help you. Of course, also check out Flexget’s board, where most likely you will be able to find your answer in no time. Most probably your question is already answered, if not, don't hold your self back.

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Install FlexGet on Ubuntu 14.x

Start with the usual system update:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Check if you have Python 2.6.x – 2.7.x available:

python -V

It should return the installed version of Python. If for some reason Python is not available on your system, you should type:

sudo apt-get install python2.7 -y

Now we have the required Python installed, let’s proceed. The next step is to install pip, enter:

sudo apt-get install python-pip -y

This will install pip, together with all the required packages. Before we proceed with installing FlexGet with pip, we need to upgrade pip and six to never version, as it requires six>=1.9.0.

To do this, type:

sudo pip install --upgrade pip
sudo pip install --upgrade six

Update: Since more and more sites tend to use secure https instead of insecure http for their RSS feed and torrent file link (which is a very good practice), we need to make sure FlexGet can actually access these. All we need to do is to enter the following:

sudo pip install pyopenssl ndg-httpsclient pyasn1

Now we have everything configured to install the latest version of FlexGet, enter the following:

sudo pip install flexget

Once installed, run the following to check the FlexGet version:

flexget -V

If everything went fine, it should return the FlexGet version installed, in my case it is:

1.2.447
You are on the latest release.

Congratulations, FlexGet is now installed!

Now we need to create the upstart script to run Flexget in daemon mode automatically on system start. If you are running Ubuntu 15.x versions, head over to our Install Flexget on Ubuntu 15.x guide with systemd.

FlexGet Upstart Script for Ubuntu 14.x

Create the Flexget upstart script:

sudo nano /etc/init/flexget.conf

Copy and paste the following, and change the user (uid) and group (gid) highlighted in red to match yours:

#!/bin/bash
# FlexGet daemon autostart
description "Flexget daemon"
start on (filesystem and networking) or runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [016]
respawn
respawn limit 5 30
env LANG=en_US.utf8
env uid=htpcguides
env gid=htpcguides
exec start-stop-daemon -S -c $uid:$gid -x /usr/local/bin/flexget -- daemon start

Hit Ctrl+X, Y and enter to save.

You can start and/or stop FlexGet using:

sudo service flexget start
sudo service flexget stop

Since we don't have a configuration file yet, FlexGet process will not start properly without it. You will need to create one. Of course, we will provide you with a guide for configuring FlexGet, just keep on reading!

Now reboot your system and check if FlexGet was installed properly:

flexget -V

If everything went fine, it should return the FlexGet version installed:

1.2.447
You are on the latest release.

Upgrading FlexGet

New version of FlexGet is released quite frequently. These can include small improvements and bugfixes, but as with every update, there are times where critical errors are fixed (hopefully without introducing new ones), and exciting new features are added, improved. You can check the Change Log any time at Flexget's page and decide if you would like to upgrade to the newer version or not. As a general principle, I always say: if it is working, don't touch it. Of course, keep an eye on the above change log site, and you should upgrade if you feel an important change, improvement, new feature had been added.

Before upgrading, stop the FlexGet service:

sudo service flexget stop

To upgrade FlexGet, type:

sudo pip install --upgrade flexget

After the upgrade completed, you can start the service again:

sudo service flexget start

Configuring FlexGet with Transmission or Deluge Bittorent client

Now that you have FlexGet installed, it is time to create the configuration file. We will give you guides for FlexGet with Transmission and FlexGet with Deluge Bittorent clients (guide to follow soon), proceed to the download client of your choice to complete the FlexGet configuration.