Unraid Plex - location of media directory?

[ctaylor]

Hey all,

Whats the ideal location for plex media content to go.

 

I'm using the official plex for unraid plugin.

 

The folders that are attached below, where within the shares does media need to go?

[CHBMB]

There is no official Plex plugin.  There is a limetech docker container, and there are several other versions of Plex fro other authors, like linuxserver and binhex.  There is also a PhaZe plugin. 

 

They all have there own support threads for any questions.  You can find the support thread by searching for Plex in Community Applications and there will be a link to the support thread in there.

 

Without knowing what you're using or how you've got things setup it's impossible to help based on the information we've got.

[ctaylor]

Hi, its this version https://github.com/limetech/dockerapp-plex

[trurl]

There is no ideal location. You just need to tell plex where your media is stored. Do you understand docker volume mapping?

[rsokoloff]

My unraid server has been happily running PLEX since about 2010 but with the recent upgrade of PMS it became necessary to make the transition from rc 5.8 to 6 (6.2.0-rc3). The transition went smoothly but figuring out what to do with PLEX is driving me bonkers. I have spent a fair number of hours pounding away and searching the unraid and plex forums without success. I learned over the past 5+ years that I can read the answer to my question and not recognize it until a competent user breaks it down into "bite-size" pieces for me. So please don't hammer me with "the answer is there, just search for it". I've been trying.

 

Question 1> With v5.8 there was one place for the txz file (/boot/extras) and installing it populated /boot/plugins/. Between that and PLEX Updater (while it was being maintained) life was good. With v6.2 it appears that there are 3 options for PLEX and I am posting to this thread because I feel much like ctaylor. It appears that PLEX is installed directly onto the flash drive but 'extras' is gone. Does the .txz file go directly into /boot/plugins/? Presumably not because the Plugins page should handle the installation but where on the flash drive should the .txz file go? And should I delete it after installation?

 

Question 2> The Docker is pretty cool and I installed lime techs' PLEX container and thought all was great. But not so. With PLEX plugin on v5.8 I specified /mnt/cache/PLEX/ for apps and /mnt/cache/PLEX/tmp for whatever PLEX does there. Then using PLEX I was able to navigate and install media libraries. If, however, I specify those paths in Docker I can't navigate to my libraries so I am using /mnt/user/WillowRun/Media/ which is where all of my media resides. But now PLEX doesn't "know about" the stuff on the cache drive and is rebuilding the libraries metadata and apparently storing all the info on the array instead of the cache. Storing metadata on a SSD cache is a much better option and the idea of editing all the metadata make me ill.

 

Question 3> Is there an advantage of Docker over plugins (other than easy updates) for PLEX?

 

thanks for your time,

ron

 

[Squid]

Question 2> The Docker is pretty cool and I installed lime techs' PLEX container and thought all was great. But not so. With PLEX plugin on v5.8 I specified /mnt/cache/PLEX/ for apps and /mnt/cache/PLEX/tmp for whatever PLEX does there. Then using PLEX I was able to navigate and install media libraries. If, however, I specify those paths in Docker I can't navigate to my libraries so I am using /mnt/user/WillowRun/Media/ which is where all of my media resides. But now PLEX doesn't "know about" the stuff on the cache drive and is rebuilding the libraries metadata and apparently storing all the info on the array instead of the cache. Storing metadata on a SSD cache is a much better option and the idea of editing all the metadata make me ill.

All docker apps run "sandboxed" from the rest of the system.  IE, Any app only has access to the shares on your system that you outright give it access to.  (Does Plex really need access to the share that has your financial information in it or those "special" pictures?)  This is done by volume mapping.

 

You could add a volume mapping (when you edit the template) of something like /mnt/user/Movies mapped to /Movies  Within Plex you would tell it to look for the movies within /Movies and unRaid/Docker automatically translates that to be /mnt/user/Movies

 

For an experience more akin to what you're used to, you could add a mapping of /mnt mapped to /mnt, and the navigation within Plex would be identical to what you're already using.

 

See the Docker FAQ http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=40937.0 for more information on volume mappings

Question 3> Is there an advantage of Docker over plugins (other than easy updates) for PLEX?

The sandboxing is great, as its highly secure and apps which don't need access to folders don't get access to them.  Beyond that, for all intents and purposes, running PhAzE's plex plugin vs a docker will give an identical user experience.  But, the intent of docker and unRaid's implementation of it is to get away from plugins for applications such as plex so that there is no possibility of them affecting the OS in any way.

 

 

[trurl]

And as for the metadata, it may be possible for the docker to use your existing metadata. Where is your old metadata stored? You just need to get the docker to see it with the right volume mappings, or else copy it to where the docker is expecting it to be based on your volume mappings.

 

Typically you will have an appdata cache-only share and each docker will store its data in a subfolder of that share. The plex appdata is exactly the metadata you are talking about.

 

Personally I recommend the LSIO plex docker instead of the limetech version. That is what I use and I even have it running the new plexpass beta that includes DVR functionality.

[rsokoloff]

That worked. Partially. The folder Movies (same library I had been frustrated with in post below) is loading nicely now with correct metadata. I have installed CA and FCP and addressed the issues FCP identified.

 

Problem 1> None of my other media folders which are stored in the same folder as Movies are being recognized by PLEX which is saying "Library has no content".

 

Problem 2> I am not able to get Remote Access to work despite manually specifying a port and having port forwarding set correctly. I tried setting this yesterday via the Add Port part of the Docker Template but had to disable today because for some reason it was blocking PLEX from seeing the server.

[Squid]

Problem 1> None of my other media folders which are stored in the same folder as Movies are being recognized by PLEX which is saying "Library has no content".

You'd have to post screen shots of the library settings within Plex, and the volume mappings you've got on the template

Problem 2> I am not able to get Remote Access to work despite manually specifying a port and having port forwarding set correctly. I tried setting this yesterday via the Add Port part of the Docker Template but had to disable today because for some reason it was blocking PLEX from seeing the server.

Plex should be running as Networking Mode: Host (which means that you never need to add or adjust ports)  Hate Plex with a passion and only use it for my phone, but all you should have to do is forward 32400 to your server's IP within your router.  Being double NATed (ie your modem is not in bridge mode and you have a real router after it) won't work

 

[rsokoloff]

Appreciate the help. Situation resolved.

ron