Plex Tip - Choosing a Plex Docker


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Updated 4/29/2017

 

There are several options for running Plex on unRAID. Here are some details to help you decide which to use.

 

TL;DR If you already have a lot of Linuxserver.io dockers, install the Linuxserver.io Plex docker. If you have a lot of Binhex dockers, install the Binhex docker.  Or if you would rather run the official docker and get your support from the Plex forums, install the official Plex docker.  They all essentially do the same thing :)

 

Linuxserver.io (LSIO)

  • Installs the latest public or Plex Pass version, depending on what your Plex account has access to. Restart the container to get the latest.

  • You can override this behavior by setting the VERSION environment variable to rollback to a previous version or install a beta/forum-only release.

  • Like all Linuxserver.io containers, this is updated with the latest upstream security and package updates every Friday at 23:00 GMT. Note that this requires a container restart, which will automatically update Plex according to your VERSION environment variable.

  • Has great support here on these forums. Also see this very helpful configuration information.

 

Binhex

 

Plex official docker

  • Installs the latest public or Plex Pass version, depending on what your Plex account has access to. Restart the container to get the latest.
  • You can override this behavior by installing a specific tagged version of the docker to rollback to a previous version. It is not possible to install a beta/forum-only release with this docker.
  • Mainly supported in the Plex forums rather than here. Also see this very helpful configuration information.

 

Limetech

 

Needo 

  • Not really supported. Not recommended for new installs, existing users should probably switch to another docker.

 

Any plugin

  • The community generally recommends switching to a docker.
Edited by ljm42
  • Like 1
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Original Post:

-----------------------------

 

Quote

 

There are several great Plex Dockers available for unRAID. Here are a few criteria that will hopefully make it easier to decide which one to use.

 

1. What base image do they use?

 

  • Binhex - Arch Linux
  • Limetech, Linuxserver and Needo - Phusion (based on Ubuntu)

 

The three Dockers that use Phusion have a slight edge as they are able to get Plex directly from the Plex website rather than wait for it to be added to a repository.

 

2. What version of Plex do they install?

There are three options:

 

  • Install the latest public release
  • Install the latest Plex Pass release
  • Install any user-specified version (view the list of available options.) This functionality is important when problems like this arise, so affected individuals can easily roll back to a previous version.

 

Here's how they stack up:

 

 

 

3. When are new versions available, and how do you update?

 

  • Linuxserver - No longer relies on external scripts, restart the docker for the latest version from plex.tv.
  • Needo - All updates rely on a script on the baconopolis.net server (managed by esvinson), which checks for new versions every 10 minutes. Restart the Docker to get the latest version that the script knows about.
  • Limetech - Does not rely on external scripts, restart the docker for the latest version from plex.tv.
  • Binhex - Once the updated package is available in AUR, Binhex will update the Docker.  Because the Docker itself has been updated, you will get a notification from unRAID when the update is ready. Restart the Docker to get it.

 

 

4. What user do they run as?

Currently looking for an explanation of why user 99 seems to be preferred.

 

  • Limetech and Linuxserver - Runs as user 99 and changes ownership of existing appdata files, making it easy to switch from other dockers or plugins.
  • Needo - Runs as user 999.
  • Binhex - Runs as user "nobody".

 

It is easy to switch to Limetech or Linuxserver, because they automatically change the ownership of the existing appdata files.  You can switch to Binhex or Needo too, but you will need to chown the files manually (that is beyond the scope of this document, probably best to ask in their respective support threads.)

 

5. Support and Maintenance

If you need support, ask questions in the support thread for the Docker you are using. The awesome community tends to help out regardless, but it helps to know which Docker you have.

 

The dockers themselves don't need to be modified very often (especially the ones that auto-update), but if changes are needed:

 

  • Limetech (support thread) - is considered a core app by Limetech and will be supported and maintained for the life of the product (see this)
  • Linuxserver (support thread) - is supported and maintained by a group of very active developers from the community (see this for a description)
  • Binhex (support thread) - Binhex is very active in the community and the lack of an auto-update shouldn't be a problem.
  • Needo (support thread) - Needo was one of the original docker developers on unRAID, but hasn't been as active lately.  He does still update the docker when requested on github.

 

 

Hopefully this is helpful!  Let me know if you see anything that needs to be updated, or if there are additional considerations that will help people decide which Docker to install.

 

 

 

Edited by ljm42
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i have to question the value of an app that how often it's updated is a consideration for merit...

 

plex that is , not any of the dockers.

 

Topic 3 isn't really about the frequency of Plex updates, it is about how long you have to wait before a Plex update is available in unRAID.  People start asking this within minutes of a new version of Plex being released. 

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i have to question the value of an app that how often it's updated is a consideration for merit...

 

plex that is , not any of the dockers.

 

Topic 3 isn't really about the frequency of Plex updates, it is about how long you have to wait before a Plex update is available in unRAID.  People start asking this within minutes of a new version of Plex being released.

 

and then when plex issues the next update 15 minutes later........ lol...

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i have to question the value of an app that how often it's updated is a consideration for merit...

 

plex that is , not any of the dockers.

 

Topic 3 isn't really about the frequency of Plex updates, it is about how long you have to wait before a Plex update is available in unRAID.  People start asking this within minutes of a new version of Plex being released.

 

and then when plex issues the next update 15 minutes later........ lol...

 

Oh Sparky, the hate  ;)

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Thanks for the write up. I am running Needo's and must say I have has zero problems with reading files across local network or the internet for external users.

 

Thanks!  I was referring to the files that Plex creates in the appdata folder.  I'm still running needo's too, and I can't put files in the plug-ins directory over the network:

  \\tower\appdata\Plex\Library\Application Support\Plex Media Server\Plug-ins

I expect that once I switch to Linuxserver's that won't be an issue.

 

I've tried to reword that to make it more clear

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It is worth pointing out that only the Limetech option has official support. If the LT version is enough for you thats the one to choose.

 

That is not to take away from the amazing work of the community devs but LT only has a very few containers and its for a reason, they consider it a core app and in theory should be maintained for as long as Plex and unRAID exists.

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ljm42: With regards to the environment variables in the linuxserver docker they should be set by the template, so no configuration needed. 

 

The plex check script on linuxserver.io should be less than 30 mins old (as in it checks then caches the result for 30 mins, if the first check is after a release it would be immediate), I believe the baconopolis.net one is updated every 2 hours.

 

Another thing to bare in mind is that as a collective of docker maintainers all linuxserver dockers are supported and maintained by at least 4 people (IronicBadger, smdion, j0nnymoe, and lonix currently) and growing, meaning issues are resolved quickly and has the benefit of lots of people checking each others work to ensure it's as high quality as possible.

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So how would I install the 64 bit Ubuntu package directly from the Plex downloads page?

 

You can't install an ubuntu package directly in unRAID, you would install one of the Dockers mentioned here and it would install the package. 

 

The point of that first paragraph is to show that Phusion-based Dockers are able to download Plex directly from the Plex website, there are no delays waiting for it to be added to an external repository.

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It is worth pointing out that only the Limetech option has official support. If the LT version is enough for you thats the one to choose.

 

That is not to take away from the amazing work of the community devs but LT only has a very few containers and its for a reason, they consider it a core app and in theory should be maintained for as long as Plex and unRAID exists.

 

I know the reasons behind it right now, but to be fair the LT version is feature incomplete. Not having the plex-pass version means not having plex-pass only features which is one of the perks of membership. there have been cases where feature have been plex-pass only for months.

 

Which is also the reason for wanting the "auto updating feature" because Plex is in active feature development. So yes getting the updates is not a negative sign. Especially "today" with constant bug squashing and security patches. And before anyone gets too snarky, any GOOD software is regularly kept up to date for those reasons ... even the linux kernal.

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having an opinion = snarky...

 

got it, thanks for clarifying.

 

woah there sparky, I said "before" and "too" ... so you know, moderate snarkiness is of course to be expected  8)

 

And well, if your opinion is that we shouldn't be worried about the ability to keep software up to date ... well ... that is an opinion alright. And while you don't need plex-pass to get plex security and bug fixes (at least I think they make those available quickly in the public release), that doesn't change the general principle that concern for keeping up to date is a reasonable concern as opposed to being something to be derided.

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