Skip to content

Latest commit

 

History

History
114 lines (79 loc) · 3.46 KB

plex.md

File metadata and controls

114 lines (79 loc) · 3.46 KB

Plex

Plex is the media server — it organizes and streams your library to any device.

Compose Configuration

plex:
  image: lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest
  container_name: plex
  network_mode: host
  environment:
    - PUID=${PUID}
    - PGID=${PGID}
    - TZ=${TZ}
    - VERSION=docker
    - PLEX_CLAIM=${PLEX_CLAIM}
  volumes:
    - ${CONFIG_DIR}/plex:/config
    - ${DATA_DIR}/media:/data/media
  devices:
    - /dev/dri:/dev/dri
  restart: unless-stopped

Key points:

  • network_mode: host — required for Plex to be discoverable on your local network (DLNA, GDM). Port 32400 is exposed directly.
  • PLEX_CLAIM — ties the server to your Plex account on first run. Get a token at plex.tv/claim (valid for 4 minutes).
  • /dev/dri — passes the GPU for hardware transcoding. Remove this line if you don't have Intel/AMD integrated graphics.

First-Run Setup

  1. Start Plex: docker compose up -d plex
  2. Open http://your-server-ip:32400/web
  3. Sign in with your Plex account (the claim token links it automatically)
  4. Give your server a name

Adding Libraries

Add three libraries pointing to the container paths:

Library Type Folder
Movies /data/media/movies
TV Shows /data/media/tv
Music /data/media/music

Settings per library:

  • Scanner: Plex Movie / Plex TV Series / Plex Music
  • Agent: Plex Movie / Plex TV Series / Plex Music
  • Enable Generate video preview thumbnails if you have the CPU/storage for it

Remote Access

Go to Settings → Remote Access:

  • Manually specify public port: 32400 (or your forwarded port)
  • Your router needs to forward TCP 32400 to your server's LAN IP

If you're behind CGNAT or can't port forward, see docs/networking.md for reverse proxy and Cloudflare tunnel options.

Hardware Transcoding

Requires Plex Pass.

  1. Verify your GPU is visible in the container:

    docker exec plex ls -la /dev/dri

  2. In Plex: Settings → Transcoder:

    • Enable Use hardware acceleration when available
    • Enable Use hardware-accelerated video encoding

  3. Test by playing something and forcing transcoding (set quality to a lower resolution in the Plex client).

No GPU?

Remove the devices section from the compose file. Plex will fall back to software transcoding (CPU-heavy).

Recommended Settings

  • Settings → Library: Enable "Scan my library automatically" and "Run a partial scan when changes are detected"
  • Settings → Scheduled Tasks: Set automatic scan to run daily
  • Settings → Network: Set "Secure connections" to "Preferred"

Connecting to Other Services

  • Tautulli connects to Plex for monitoring — see tautulli.md
  • Overseerr / Ombi (not included in this stack) can connect for media requests

Troubleshooting

Plex not found on network: Make sure network_mode: host is set. Bridge mode breaks local discovery.

Claim token expired: Remove the Plex config directory and restart with a fresh token:

docker compose down plex
rm -rf ${CONFIG_DIR}/plex
# Get new claim token, update .env
docker compose up -d plex

Transcoding errors: Check /config/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Logs/ inside the container for details.

Next Steps