- Published on
Setup Plex Media Server on Raspberry Pi
- Authors
- Name
- Manas Mallick
I have used kodi player for a while before deciding to try my hands on plex media server. The main reason I did not try this server before is due to the setup required. However with time, I realised a media server has bigger benefits than just a media player.
PRE REQUISITES – PREPARING RASPBERRY PI
The next set of steps are prerequisites to start installation. To setup plex media server on raspberry pi, you will have to have the latest raspbian
UPDATE TO LATEST RASPBIAN AND GET ALL PACKAGES
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
UPDATE HTTPS PACKAGE
The next step is to update https package as we would need to download package for plex from official repository using https protocol
sudo apt-get install apt-transport-https
ADD PLEX REPO KEY TO APT MANAGERS KEY LIST
To ensure authenticity and trust on the files downloaded from repository, we add the key from the repo to list in package manager
curl https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key | sudo apt-key add -
ADD PLEX REPO TO SOURCES
Add plex repository to the sources so we could use apt-get to update
echo deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb public main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list
RUN UPDATE COMMAND TO UPDATE LIST OF PACKAGES
Run update command to update the list of packages to download
sudo apt-get update
If you have installed https package properly this should work without an issue
INSTALL PLEX MEDIA SERVER
The next set of steps installs media server and performs necessary setup relates steps required
INSTALL THE SERVER
sudo apt-get install plexmediaserver
On the below prompt select Y
Configuration file '/etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list'
==> File on system created by you or by a script.
==> File also in package provided by package maintainer.
What would you like to do about it ? Your options are:
Y or I : install the package maintainer's version
N or O : keep your currently-installed version
D : show the differences between the versions
Z : start a shell to examine the situation
The default action is to keep your current version.
\*\*\* plexmediaserver.list (Y/I/N/O/D/Z) [default=N] ? Y
The installation would complete with the following details:
Installing new version of config file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list ...
PlexMediaServer install: PlexMediaServer-1.19.2.2737-b69929dab - Installation starting.
PlexMediaServer install:
PlexMediaServer install: Now installing based on:
PlexMediaServer install: Installation Type: New
PlexMediaServer install: Process Control: systemd
PlexMediaServer install: Plex User: plex
PlexMediaServer install: Plex Group: plex
PlexMediaServer install: Video Group: video
PlexMediaServer install: Metadata Dir: /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support
PlexMediaServer install: Temp Directory: /tmp
PlexMediaServer install: Lang Encoding: en_US.UTF-8
PlexMediaServer install: Transcoding HW: Not found
PlexMediaServer install:
PlexMediaServer install: Completing final configuration.
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/plexmediaserver.service → /lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service.
PlexMediaServer install: PlexMediaServer-1.19.2.2737-b69929dab - Installation successful. Errors: 0, Warnings: 0
As you can see from above it creates a new user and group called plex, lists the meta directory /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support which stores application details.
Plex media creates a new service to start on startup
SETTING UP STATIC IP
Since this servers as a media server, you would need to keep its ip address static so all devices can access this server uninterrupted. To do this
CHECK IP ADDRESS
hostname -I
UPDATE IP ADDRESS (STATIC)
To keep pi use the same ip address on login, edit the following text file, add your ip address
sudo nano /boot/cmdline.txt
Add the below line as a last line in the file above. For reference I have added my ip address
CTRL+X and CTRL+S to save
ip=192.168.1.102
Restart pi
sudo reboot
FAQ
LIBRARY EMPTY AFTER SETUP :
After setup of libraries, you would see that your files wouldnt show up still, one of the common reasons is plex media server runs on user plex, where as the default user for raspberry is pi, chances are you have mounted the external drive and pi is its owner.
You will have to change permissions so other users have read access, run the following command
sudo chmod 755 /media/pi