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Tdarr

Tdarr is available in the NetActuate Marketplace as a one-click, open-source appliance you can deploy into any NetActuate PoP. Automate your media library: Tdarr server and worker transcode to a target format. It is grouped under the Media & Streaming category.

What It Does​

Tdarr is a self-hosted, distributed media transcode automation system. It keeps a large video library healthy and consistent by scanning every file, checking it against rules you define (codec, container, resolution, audio, subtitles), and then transcoding or remuxing the files that do not conform. A central Tdarr server holds the library state and the web UI, and a fleet of worker nodes does the actual transcoding, so you can scale throughput across CPU and GPU workers.

This appliance boots a Tdarr server and one bundled worker node together, ready to use. Open the web UI on port 8265, point Tdarr at your media, build a library and a flow or classic plugin stack, and let the node process the queue with the included ffmpeg build.

Key features

  • Automated library scanning and health checks against your own conform rules
  • Distributed transcoding across a fleet of CPU and GPU worker nodes
  • Flow (node-graph) and classic plugin systems for fully custom pipelines
  • Space-saving re-encodes (H.264, H.265/HEVC, AV1) with detailed size reporting
  • Web dashboard for queues, workers, statistics and per-file history
  • REST API (seeded API key) for automation and integration

Use cases

  • Normalize a mixed media library to one codec and container
  • Bulk shrink a large collection to reclaim storage
  • Add a scalable transcode tier close to your storage in the PoP you choose

Why run it on the NetActuate edge Running Tdarr in a PoP next to your media storage keeps the read and write path for transcoding short and fast, and lets you add worker nodes on demand where the capacity is.

Upstream project: Tdarr (https://tdarr.io, source at https://github.com/HaveAGitGat/Tdarr), an independent open source project. Tdarr is not affiliated with or endorsed by NetActuate; NetActuate packages the unmodified upstream 2.82.02 Server and Node release bundle on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.

Best for: Media libraries, Bulk transcode, Self-hosted.

Vendor and Project​

Tdarr is an open-source project, offered here under the Open Source listing with best-effort community support.

NetActuate supports the underlying infrastructure. Application-level support follows the listing SLA class (open-source, best effort).

Sizing​

vCPURAMDisk
Minimum22 GB20 GB
Recommended48 GB100 GB

No VPU (hardware acceleration) is required for this appliance. Choose a size at deploy based on your expected load.

Configuration Fields​

When you deploy, you provide these fields. They are written into the appliance at first boot.

FieldRequiredDefaultNotes
API keyNogeneratedGenerated for you and stored in your secret list. Tdarr's REST API key is 'tapi_' followed by this value; send it in the x-api-key header. Stored write-only in your account secret list
Node nameNoTdarrThe display name for the bundled Tdarr worker node.

Using the Appliance​

Deploy in minutes

  1. Open the dashboard. Browse to http://YOUR_VM_IP:8265/. Authentication is on, so the first visitor creates the admin account. Do this immediately after deploy.
  2. Add your media. In Libraries, add a folder that holds your video files and set your transcode target (codec, container, resolution).
  3. Let the node work. The bundled worker node registers as Tdarr and processes the queue with the included ffmpeg.
  4. Automate. The REST API on port 8266 accepts your seeded API key via the x-api-key header (the effective key is tapi_ followed by the api_key value in your secret list).

Exposure posture: ports 8265 (web UI) and 8266 (server API) are served over plain HTTP. Put a TLS-terminating proxy in front, or restrict access to trusted source IPs, before using this on the public internet.

FAQ​

Is there a software license fee? No. Tdarr is open source and free to run. You pay only for the NetActuate infrastructure and bandwidth.

Which port does the appliance serve on? The primary service is published on port 8265 by default; see the configuration fields for any adjustable ports.

Who supports it? NetActuate operates the underlying infrastructure. The application itself is community-supported open source (best-effort SLA class).

Version and Changelog​

VersionStatusReleased
2.82.02Current (default)2026-07-11

Deploy​

Need Help?​

Contact support@netactuate.com or open a support ticket from the portal.