Plex Tip - Choosing a Plex Docker


Recommended Posts

On 7/16/2015 at 9:14 PM, ljm42 said:

Updated 4/28/2017

 

There are several options for running Plex on unRAID. In the past I had a more detailed writeup, but at this point there is a clear winner so I'm just going to make the recommendation:

 

   Install the Plex docker by Linuxserver.io

 

Although other options come close, only the Linuxserver docker does ALL of the following:

  • Allows you to stay current on either the public or plexpass versions. Simply restart the docker to get the latest.
  • Allows you to install a specific version of Plex, either to rollback from a problematic release or to install a beta or other forum-only release.
  • Installs plexpass files only if your Plex account has access to them, so no legal issues with Plex.
  • Has great community support here on these forums.

 

At the risk of being spanked / whipped / killed by the good guys at lsio / @CHBMB (whom I count as friends), there can be some challenges with the lsio version of Plex which you may or may not choose to accept.

 

Every Friday at 23:00 GMT, lsio automatically pumps out an update to their containers including Plex which will update your app to the latest stable release (if you have NOT specified a specific version).  As we all know (unfortunately all too well) sometimes the latest stables are in fact worse than the previous stable.

 

Both @binhex and @limetech's versions of Plex (and all of their containers BTW) are static images that do not have the "autoupdate" feature enabled.  IE: Their versions update if / when they determine that they are "safe" for public consumption.  (When they make that determination and/or get around to updating their apps is entirely up to them).  Unfortunately, there is multiple apps available on the apps tab for Plex (and other apps) which makes this whole thing very confusing.  Which is why this particular thread was a very good idea as it did enumerate the differences between them (which thus far I have been unable to get the template authors to really put into the app descriptions).  And now its a hair more confusing with the Plex guys themselves having an official app template for unRaid (support handled on the plex.tv forums)

 

As the guy who is defacto in charge of the app-eco system in unRaid, my opinion is that both lsio and binhex offer unparalleled support here in the forums, and it is entirely up to the user as to which repository they choose to utilize the apps from.  I do not however recommend any one running an app in plugin form for which there is a docker container available.

 

In the interests of full disclosure, I run across the board all lsio applications when available.  I do however remain neutral on the binhex vs lsio debate and I for one miss the original OP as it served a very useful purpose.

 

 

 

Link to comment
54 minutes ago, Squid said:

I for one miss the original OP as it served a very useful purpose.

 

Thanks for the feedback @Squid! BTW, the previous version of the first post is now in the second post, so the information isn't lost. I just felt it out was out of date and focused on the wrong things.

 

I was thinking of numbering the four bullet points in the first post and then making a grid showing which ones each docker supported. Are there other things worth comparing?

 

44 minutes ago, Squid said:

Every Friday at 23:00 GMT, lsio automatically pumps out an update to their containers including Plex which will update your app to the latest stable release (if you have NOT specified a specific version).  As we all know (unfortunately all too well) sometimes the latest stables are in fact worse than the previous stable.

 

Hmm, I wrote "Simply restart the docker to get the latest", is that incorrect then? Do people need to wait for the Friday bump to get the latest?

 

If you can't tell, I use the specified version feature, which rules out all of the other options for me - even the official Plex docker!

I have a lot of respect for @binhex, but what is unique about his Plex docker is that it uses Arch. If that matters to you then you should use his, but then you have less flexibility on what version to run.

 

45 minutes ago, Squid said:

Both @binhex and @limetech's versions of Plex (and all of their containers BTW) are static images that do not have the "autoupdate" feature enabled.  IE: Their versions update if / when they determine that they are "safe" for public consumption.  (When they make that determination and/or get around to updating their apps is entirely up to them).

 

I have a hard time believing they run through any meaningful "certification" process that makes them any safer than LSIO's. Am I wrong? 

Link to comment
6 minutes ago, ljm42 said:

but what is unique about his Plex docker is that it uses Arch

True, but ultimately its the same binary as lsio / lt / plex.  Ultimately the base doesn't particularly matter.  Sure, base A takes up less space than base B, and if you already have x containers utilizing base B, then your docker image will be smaller if you only install images with base B.  But IMHO storage is cheap, and when you've got BD rips of media that you're never going to wind up watching taking up space in your array but you're worried about the size of your docker image, then your priorities don't jive.

 

10 minutes ago, ljm42 said:

Hmm, I wrote "Simply restart the docker to get the latest", is that incorrect then? Do people need to wait for the Friday bump to get the latest?

LSIO got rid of the autoupdate on all of their containers a while ago because of the nightmare it caused on support.  They *may* have made an exception for Plex though.  Not quite sure.  I'm sure our buddy will chime in here shortly.

 

11 minutes ago, ljm42 said:

I have a hard time believing they run through any meaningful "certification" process that makes them any safer than LSIO's. Am I wrong? 

Oh, probably not beyond the "does it even work" testing.  But, IIRC there just was an issue with one of the Plex releases where lsio recommended to downgrade the version being installed until Plex fixed it...

Link to comment
35 minutes ago, ljm42 said:

Hmm, I wrote "Simply restart the docker to get the latest", is that incorrect then? Do people need to wait for the Friday bump to get the latest?

Restarting the Plex docker will pull the latest binary people are entitled to.  It's one of the few docker containers we have that still does that.  In addition we rebuild the image each Friday so it gets upstream security and package updates from the Xenial repo.

Link to comment

 

20 hours ago, CHBMB said:

Restarting the Plex docker will pull the latest binary people are entitled to.  It's one of the few docker containers we have that still does that.  In addition we rebuild the image each Friday so it gets upstream security and package updates from the Xenial repo.

Perfect detail, thanks!

 

21 hours ago, Squid said:
21 hours ago, ljm42 said:

I have a hard time believing they run through any meaningful "certification" process that makes them any safer than LSIO's. Am I wrong? 

Oh, probably not beyond the "does it even work" testing.  But, IIRC there just was an issue with one of the Plex releases where lsio recommended to downgrade the version being installed until Plex fixed it...

This is exactly where the LSIO docker shines, as it is the only one that lets you roll back if there is a problem. Although it would be nice if documentation for that was easier to find :)   EDIT - I was wrong! It is possible to rollback with both the Binhex and official Plex dockers!

 

21 hours ago, ljm42 said:

I was thinking of numbering the four bullet points in the first post and then making a grid showing which ones each docker supported. Are there other things worth comparing?

Hmm, looks like there isn't a way to do tables in this forum.

 

OK, I rewrote the first post again. Less opinionated this time. Anyone disagree with anything I wrote or want to add more details?

Edited by ljm42
Link to comment

With the lsio one, you can always set the version tag to a specific build and it will stay on that until you change it.

If it is set to latest, and you are logged into the plex account, it will pull either the latest public or the latest plexpass depending on whether you have plexpass or not during each start of the container

Link to comment
12 hours ago, aptalca said:

With the lsio one, you can always set the version tag to a specific build and it will stay on that until you change it.

If it is set to latest, and you are logged into the plex account, it will pull either the latest public or the latest plexpass depending on whether you have plexpass or not during each start of the container

Right, you can set an environment variable (not really a tag) to control this. I mentioned it but didn't go into detail because I don't really want people coming to this thread for support :)

 

 

12 hours ago, binhex said:

Also true of the binhex version

Oh wow, you are referring to the Github tag. I completely missed that rollbacks were possible with your docker, sorry about that! I have updated the text to link to your FAQ on it. Let me know if I got anything else wrong :)

Link to comment

OK so let me explain how i decide to trigger a build, it might help out on your posting perhaps, if not then ignore my ramblings :-)

 

Until recently i was simply using a Chrome addon to monitor all the releases (uses regex and html selection), this helped me track Arch Linux Repo, Arch User Repo, and GitHub, once a release was out i normally just had to add the version to the tag and click the build button on Docker Hub to trigger a build, whilst this is a bit rudimentary it worked quite well, with only a short delay.

 

However i soon got bored of this and decided to automate this process, so i wrote a Python script to do something similar, apart from it also emailed me and auto set the tag name based on version, so yeah fully automated, happy days :-). My next step will be to automate testing of the image prior to release, not there yet :-). 

Link to comment

Thanks @binhex ! So I've come to the conclusion that the top three dockers are all basically the same :)

 

The only real difference I see is that LSIO is the only one that can install beta/forum-only releases (unless I'm wrong?) But these don't happen all that often. The best example is the early DVR functionality, which is now part of Plex Pass.

 

Anyway, we now have a place to point people when they ask which one to install.

Link to comment

 
The only real difference I see is that LSIO is the only one that can install beta/forum-only releases (unless I'm wrong?) But these don't happen all that often. The best example is the early DVR functionality, which is now part of Plex Pass.

Yes I shy away from pre releases due to the support burden this brings with it.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.