Containr/templates/plex.md

Plex Media Server Template

Overview

Plex is a media server software that lets you organize and stream your media library.

Quick Start

# Create docker-compose.yml with the content below
docker-compose up -d

Docker Compose

version: '3.8'

services:
  plex:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest
    container_name: plex
    restart: unless-stopped
    network_mode: host
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=America/New_York
      - PLEX_CLAIM=your-claim-token
      - PLEX_ADVERTISE_IP=http://your-local-ip
      - ALLOWED_NETWORKS=192.168.1.0/24
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - /path/to/movies:/data/movies
      - /path/to/tv:/data/tvshows
      - /path/to/music:/data/music
      - /path/to/photos:/data/photos
      - /path/to/transcode:/transcode

volumes:
  config:

Environment Variables

• PUID: User ID for file permissions
• PGID: Group ID for file permissions
• TZ: Timezone (find yours: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones)
• PLEX_CLAIM: Claim token from https://plex.tv/claim
• PLEX_ADVERTISE_IP: Your server's local IP
• ALLOWED_NETWORKS: Networks allowed to access Plex

Setup Guide

1. Get Claim Token:

   • Visit https://plex.tv/claim
   • Copy the token (valids for 4 minutes)

2. Prepare Media Directories:

   mkdir -p /path/to/movies
   mkdir -p /path/to/tvshows
   mkdir -p /path/to/music
   mkdir -p /path/to/photos
   mkdir -p /path/to/transcode
   

3. Deploy:

   docker-compose up -d
   

4. Access: Open http://your-local-ip:32400/web

5. Complete Setup:

   • Sign in/create Plex account
   • Add media libraries
   • Configure remote access

Directory Structure

/path/to/media/
├── movies/
│   ├── Movie Name (Year)/
│   │   ├── Movie Name (Year).mp4
│   │   └── subtitles/
├── tvshows/
│   ├── Show Name/
│   │   ├── Season 01/
│   │   │   ├── S01E01.mkv
│   │   │   └── S01E02.mkv
│   │   └── Season 02/
├── music/
│   └── Artist Name/
│       └── Album Name/
│           ├── song1.mp3
│           └── song2.mp3
└── photos/
    └── 2024/
        ├── vacation/
        └── family/

Hardware Requirements

• CPU: Intel Core i3 or better (for transcoding)
• RAM: 4GB minimum, 8GB recommended
• Storage: SSD for OS/apps, HDD for media
• Network: Gigabit recommended for 4K streaming

Performance Optimization

# For systems with limited resources
environment:
  - PLEX_TRANSCODER_CACHE_SIZE=200000000
  - PLEX_RAMDISK_SIZE=300000000

# For NVIDIA GPU transcoding
deploy:
  resources:
    reservations:
      devices:
        - driver: nvidia
          count: 1
          capabilities: [gpu]

Reverse Proxy (Traefik)

# Note: Plex works best with host networking, but if using bridge mode:
ports:
  - "32400:32400"
labels:
  - "traefik.enable=true"
  - "traefik.http.routers.plex.rule=Host(`plex.yourdomain.com`)"
  - "traefik.http.routers.plex.tls=true"
  - "traefik.http.routers.plex.tls.certresolver=letsencrypt"
  - "traefik.http.services.plex.loadbalancer.server.port=32400"

Backup

# Backup Plex config
docker run --rm -v plex_config:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/plex-config.tar.gz -C /data .

# Restore Plex config
docker run --rm -v plex_config:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar xzf /backup/plex-config.tar.gz -C /data

Monitoring

• Logs: docker-compose logs -f plex
• Status: Check web dashboard
• Performance: Monitor CPU/RAM usage during transcoding

Security

• Use strong passwords
• Enable secure connections
• Regular updates
• Network segmentation if possible

Troubleshooting

• Port conflicts: Use host networking or change ports
• Permission issues: Check PUID/PGID match host user
• Transcoding: Ensure sufficient CPU/RAM
• Remote access: Configure router port forwarding