How to Use NZBporn with SABnzbd

What is SABnzbd?

SABnzbd (short for SABnews binary downloader) is a free, open-source application that downloads content from Usenet. You point it at NZB files — small descriptor files that tell it exactly what to fetch — and it handles everything else: connecting to your Usenet provider, downloading the binary data, verifying file integrity with parity files, and unpacking the final archive.

It runs as a lightweight web server on your machine or home server, so you control it through a browser from anywhere on your network. Most people leave it running continuously in the background, the same way you'd run a torrent client.

NZBporn is the indexer — it gives you a searchable, organized catalog of releases with preview images and one-click NZB downloads. SABnzbd is the downloader that does the actual fetching once you find what you want.

What you need

A Usenet provider account — SABnzbd connects to a Usenet news server to download. Providers like Newshosting, Eweka, and UsenetExpress offer free trials. This is separate from prdb.net or NZBporn.
A prdb.net API key — required to use NZBporn. Sign up at prdb.net and copy your API key from account settings.

Installing SABnzbd

Local install (Windows, macOS, Linux)

On a desktop machine the fastest option is the official installer from sabnzbd.org/downloads. Windows and macOS packages include everything you need. On Linux, SABnzbd is available through most distribution package managers:

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt install sabnzbd

# Arch
yay -S sabnzbd

After installing, launch SABnzbd and open http://localhost:8080 in your browser. The setup wizard will walk you through adding your Usenet server credentials.

Docker install (recommended for servers and NAS)

Docker is the cleaner option if you're running SABnzbd on a home server, a NAS, or any Linux box where you want proper process isolation and easy updates. The LinuxServer.io image is the standard choice — well maintained, supports all architectures including ARM.

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

services:
  sabnzbd:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/sabnzbd:latest
    container_name: sabnzbd
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - ./downloads:/downloads
    ports:
      - 8080:8080
    restart: unless-stopped

Set PUID and PGID to the user and group ID of the account that should own the downloaded files (run id in a terminal to find yours). Update TZ to your timezone, e.g. Europe/Amsterdam.

Start the container:

docker compose up -d

SABnzbd is now running at http://localhost:8080. Downloaded files land in the ./downloads folder next to your compose file. The ./config folder holds all settings — back it up if you want to preserve your configuration across reinstalls.

To update SABnzbd later, pull the new image and recreate the container:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Adding NZBporn as an indexer in SABnzbd

With SABnzbd running, open its web interface and go to Config → Indexers. Click Add Indexer and fill in the following:

Name: NZBporn
Host: your personal NZBporn API URL — find this in your account at app.nzbporn.org
API key: your prdb.net API key

Click Test to verify the connection, then Save. NZBporn now appears as an indexer inside SABnzbd's built-in search, and NZBporn will be able to send downloads directly to SABnzbd when you click a release.

Downloading your first release

Head to app.nzbporn.org, browse or search for a release, and click the ↓ NZB button on any card. The NZB file will either download automatically or be pushed directly to SABnzbd depending on your browser settings. If you download the file manually, drag it into the SABnzbd queue or use Add NZB from the main interface.

SABnzbd takes it from there — downloading, verifying, and unpacking the release into your downloads folder automatically.