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 -p 32400:32400 wernight/plex-media-server
The --restart=always is optional, it'll for example allow auto-start on boot.
If you want Avahi broadcast to work, add --net=host but this will be more insecure. Without it you may also not see the Server tab unless the server is logged in, see troubleshooting section below.
Once done, wait about a minute and open http://localhost:32400/web in your browser.
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
plexuser (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.
- Runs Plex as
Comparison of main Plex Docker containers (view on GitHub)
| Image | Base | Runs As | PID 1 Reap | Slim Container | Upgrade from UI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| wernight/plex-media-server | Debian | user | Safe | Yes | No |
| linuxserver/plex | Ubuntu | user? | Safe | No | Yes |
| timhaak/plex | Ubuntu | root | Unsafe | No | Yes |
| needo/plex | Ubuntu | root | Safe | No | Yes? |
| binhex/arch-plex | Arch | root | Unsafe | No | ? |
Based on current state as of July 2015.
Upgrades and Versions
To upgrade to the latest version do again a docker pull wernight/plex-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_SIZEulimit stack size (default: 3000).ENV PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_PLUGIN_PROCSthe 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
/configdirectory? Check also that it's writable by user797.
- Did you forget to mount
- 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 edityour_config_location/Plex Media Server/Preferences.xmland addallowedNetworks="192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0"attribute the<Preferences …>node or what ever your local range is.
- Try running once with
- 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.
- Either set a friendly name undex Plex Settings > Server > General; or start with
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.