SickRage on a Seedbox: Legacy SickBeard Fork

What SickRage Is

SickRage is an automated TV show manager. Add a show, SickRage finds new episodes through your indexers, grabs them, renames the files. It's a SickBeard fork from the early 2010s and was for a while the most active descendant.

Active maintenance has slowed. The current actively-developed forks in this lineage are Medusa and SickGear; outside this lineage, Sonarr is the dominant tool.

Should You Use SickRage?

Direct answer: probably not for new installs.

• Sonarr is the modern default for TV automation.
• Medusa is the most active SickBeard fork.
• SickRage is here for users who set up on it years ago and don't want to migrate.

If you're starting from scratch, install Sonarr.

Why Run It on a Seedbox?

If you've decided SickRage is the right tool, the seedbox case is the same as any *arr-style app:

• 24/7 uptime
• One-click install
• Indexers, download clients, and Plex/Jellyfin/Emby on the same panel
• 10 Gbit so back-fills finish quickly
• EU servers in Luxembourg, France, and Netherlands

Installing SickRage

Open the Bytesized Panel, find SickRage in the app catalog, click install. The panel handles the install, the reverse proxy, the URL.

Click "Open" to land on the dashboard.

First-Run Setup

1. Add indexers. Settings > Search Providers. Newznab and Torznab.
2. Connect a download client. SABnzbd, NZBGet, qBittorrent, Deluge, rTorrent.
3. Set the TV folder. Standard Bytesized layout is ~/files/tv.
4. Add shows. Search and add. SickRage pulls metadata from TVDB.

Same shape as SickBeard or Medusa. If you're familiar with one, the others come naturally.

Migrating to Sonarr or Medusa

If you decide to move:

1. Note your show list and quality settings.
2. Install Sonarr or Medusa from the panel.
3. Re-add shows; the new app picks up existing files in the TV folder and starts tracking from there.
4. Retire SickRage.

There's no automated migration path, but show lists are short enough to redo manually for most people.

Common Gotchas

Newznab schema mismatch. Newer indexers occasionally change schemas in ways older SickRage builds don't track. If a specific indexer keeps failing, that's a sign the indexer is moving on and you may need to too.

Web UI errors. Older codebase. Clear browser cache and retry.

Renaming inconsistencies. SickRage's renamer is less forgiving than Sonarr's; standard formats work, deviations sometimes fail.

Searches slow. Serial indexer searches; many indexers means slow runs. Trim to the most reliable ones.

FAQ

Is SickRage free? Yes. Free and open source.

Should I use SickRage, Sonarr, or Medusa? Sonarr for new installs.

Will it work with Plex / Jellyfin / Emby? Yes. SickRage drops renamed files into a folder; the media server reads the folder.

Why does Bytesized still ship it? Long-tail customer requests; some users have been on it for over a decade.

Will my data move to Sonarr if I migrate? Show list and quality settings have to be redone manually. The files themselves stay where they are; Sonarr picks them up on library scan.

Ready to Set It Up?

Browse Appbox plans, install SickRage from the panel. If you're new to TV automation, install Sonarr instead.