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It is possible to run multiple instances of Sonarr. This is typically done when one wants a 4K and 1080p copy of a series.
Note that you can configure Sonarr to use a second Sonarr as a list. This is helpful if you wish to keep both in sync.

• Windows Multiple Instances
• Linux Multiple Instances
• Docker Multiple Instances

The following requirements should be noted:

• If non-docker, the same binaries (program files) should be used
• If non-docker, all instances must have a -data= or /data= argument passed
• If non-docker, different ports must be used
  • If docker, different external ports must be used
• Different download client categories must be used
• Different root folders must be used.
• If non-docker, disable automatic updates on all but 1 instance.

This guide will show you how to run multiple instances of Sonarr on Windows using only one base installation. This guide was put together using Windows 10; if you are using a previous version of Windows (7, 8, etc.) you may need to adjust some things. This guide also assumes that you have installed Sonarr to the default directory, and your second instance of Sonarr will be called Sonarr-4K. Feel free to change things to fit your own installations, though.

• You must have Sonarr already installed
• You must have NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager installed. To install, download the latest release (2.24 at the time of writing) and copy either the 32-bit or 64-bit nssm.exe file to C:/windows/system32.
  • If you aren’t sure if you have a 32-bit or 64-bit system, check Settings => System => About => System type.

1. Open a Command Prompt administrator window. (To run as an admin,
   right click on the Command Prompt icon and choose “Run as
   administrator.”)
2. If Sonarr is running, stop the service by running nssm stop Sonarr
   in Command Prompt.
3. Now we have to edit the existing Sonarr instance to explicitly point
   to its data directory. The default command is as follows:
   sc config Sonarr binpath= "C:\ProgramData\Sonarr\bin\Sonarr.exe -data=C:\ProgramData\Sonarr"

This command tells the original instance of Sonarr to explicitly use
C:\ProgramData\Sonarr for its data directory. If you didn't use the
default Sonarr install, or if your data folder is somewhere else, you
may have to change your paths here.

1. Create a new folder where you’d like Sonarr-4K to live. Most use a similar place such as
   C:\ProgramData\Sonarr-4K
2. Back in Command Prompt, create the new Sonarr-4K service using nssm install Sonarr-4K. A popup window will open where you can type your
   parameters for the new instance. For this example, we will use the
   following:
   • Path: C:\ProgramData\Sonarr\bin\Sonarr.exe
   • Startup directory: C:\ProgramData\Sonarr\bin
   • Arguments: -data=C:\ProgramData\Sonarr-4K

Note that Arguments points to the new folder created in step 1.
This is crucial, as it keeps all the data files from both instances in
separate locations.

1. Click Install service. The window should close and the service
   will now be available to run.
2. Continue to Configuring Sonarr-4k

• You must have Sonarr already installed
• Sonarr must be configured with a /data= argument to allow multiple instances
• Navigate to the Startup Folder for the current user %appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup and edit the existing shortcut if needed.

• Right click and Create New Shortcut
• Path: C:\ProgramData\Sonarr\bin\Sonarr.exe /data=C:\ProgramData\Sonarr-4K
• Give the shortcut a unique name such as Sonarr-4K and finish the wizard.
• Double click the new shortcut to run and test.
• Continue to Configuring Sonarr-4k

• Regardless of if you used the Service Method or the Tray App: Stop both services and both Apps
• Start Sonarr-4k (Service or Tray App)
• Open up Sonarr-4k and Navigate within the app to Settings => General => Host
• Change Port Number from 8989 to a different port e.g. 7879 so Sonarr and Sonarr4k do not conflict
• You should now be able to start both apps
• Continue to Dealing with Updates

• Disable automatic updates in one of your instances
• If one Sonarr instance is updated, both instances will shutdown and only the updated one will start again. To fix this, you will have to manually start the other instance, or you may want to look into using the below powershell script to address the problem.

¶ Windows Port Checker and Restarter PowerShell Script

• When you use two Sonarr instances and one of it is updating, it will kill all instances. Only the one which is updating will come back online.
• The below powershell script should be configured as a scheduled task.
• It checks the ports and if one is not online, it will (re-)start the scheduled task to launch Sonarr.

1. Create a new File and name it SonarrInstancesChecker.ps1 with the below code.
2. Edit the script with your actual service names, IP, and ports.
3. Create a scheduled task to run the script on a repeating schedule.

• Security Options: Enable Run with highest privileges
  • Otherwise the script will be unable to manipulate services
• Trigger: On Launch
• Repeat task every: 5 or 10 minutes
• Action: Start a Program
• Program/script: powershell
• Argument: -File D:\SonarrInstancesChecker.ps1
  • Be sure to use the full path to your script's location

• Swizzin Users
• Non-Swizzin Users
  • Ensure your first instance has the -data= argument passed.
  • Temporarily stop your first instance, so you can change the second instance's port systemctl stop sonarr
  • Disable automatic updates on one of your Sonarr Instances`

Below is an example script to create a Sonarr4K instance. The below systemd creation script will use a data directory of /var/lib/sonarr4k/. Ensure the directory exists or modify it as needed.

• Reload systemd:

• Enable the Sonarr4k service:

• Simply spin up a second Docker container with a different name, ensuring the above requirements are met.