justifiably/plex repository overview

Dockerized Plex Media Server⁠.

⁠Usage

It is recommended to provide two mount points writable by user 797 (that plex random UID inside the container for safety, alternatively use --user flag):

• /config: To somewhere to hold your Plex configuration (can be a data-only container). This will include all media listing, posters, collections and playlists you've setup...
• /media: To one or more of your media files (videos, audio, images...).

Example:

$ mkdir ~/plex-config
$ chown 797:797 -R ~/plex-config
$ docker run -d --restart=always -v ~/plex-config:/config -v ~/Movies:/media --net=host -p 32400:32400 jiigsaaw/plex-pass-media-server

Once done, wait a few seconds and open http://localhost:32400/web in your browser.

The flag --net=host is only required for the first run, so that your can login locally without password (without SSH proxy) and see the "Server" tab in the web UI (see troubleshooting section below). If you want Avahi broadcast to work then keep --net=host even after being logged in, but this will be somewhat less secure.

The --restart=always is optional, it'll for example allow auto-start on boot.

⁠Features

• Small: Built using official Docker Debian⁠ and official Plex download⁠ (takes 85 MB instead of 180 MB for Ubuntu).
• Simple: One command and you should be ready to go. All documented here.
• Secure:
  • Runs Plex as plex user (not root as Docker's Containers don't contain⁠).
  • Avoids PID 1 / zombie reap problem⁠ (if plex or one of its subprocesses dies) by running directly plex.

⁠Comparison of main Plex Docker containers

Image	Size	Runs As⁠	PID 1 Reap⁠	Slim Container⁠	Plex PASS
jiigsaaw/plex-pass-media-server⁠		user	Safe	Yes	Yes
wernight/plex-media-server⁠		user	Safe	Yes	No
linuxserver/plex⁠		user	Safe	No	No
timhaak/plex⁠		root	Unsafe	No	No
needo/plex⁠		root	Safe	No	No
binhex/arch-plex⁠		root	Unsafe	No	No

Based on current state as of July 2015.

⁠Upgrades and Versions

Plex Media Server does not support auto-upgrade from the UI on Linux. If/once it does, we'd be more than happy to support it.

To upgrade to the latest version do again a docker pull jiigsaaw/plex-pass-media-server and that should be it. Currently Plex auto-upgrade does not seem to be properly supported (probably because this image runs a single plex process and not initd).

You may use a tagged version to use a fixed or older version.

⁠Environment Variables

You can change some settings by setting environement variables:

• PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_STACK_SIZE ulimit stack size (default: 3000).
• ENV PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_PLUGIN_PROCS the number of plugins that can run at the same time (default: 6).

⁠Troubleshooting

• I have to accept EULA each time?!
  • Did you forget to mount /config directory? Check also that it's writable by user 797.
• Cannot see Server tab⁠ from settings!
  • Try running once with --net=host. You may allow more IPs without being logged in by then going to Plex Settings > Server > Network > List of networks that are allowed without auth; or edit your_config_location/Plex Media Server/Preferences.xml and add allowedNetworks="192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0" attribute the <Preferences …> node or what ever your local range is.
• Why do I have a random server name each time?
  • Either set a friendly name undex Plex Settings > Server > General; or start with -h some-name.

⁠Backup

Honestly I wish there was a more official documentation for this. What you really need to back-up (adapt ~/plex-config to your /config mounting point):

• Your media obviously
• ~/plex-config/Plex Media Server/Media/
• ~/plex-config/Plex Media Server/Metadata/
• ~/plex-config/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases/

In practice, you may want to be safer and back-up everything except may be ~/plex-config/Plex Media Server/Cache/ which is pretty large and you can really just skip it. It'll be rebuild with the thumbnails, etc. as you had them. But don't take my word for it, it's really easy for you to check.

⁠Feedbacks

Having more issues? Report a bug on GitHub⁠.