Easy way for video streaming with SCALE

TrueNAS General
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1

I have set up a file server with the current TrueNAS SCALE version.
I also have an SMB share with videos and films on it.
I was actually planning to mount this share on my TV and then be able to play videos directly from there.
Without a streaming server, just like when I insert a USB stick, only via the network.
Unfortunately, I realised that my LG TV with webOS sadly can’t do this and there is no easy way to retrofit it.
What the LG TV can do is find and integrate media servers.
I have already looked up what is available with Plex & Co.
With Plex it somehow wanted to load a streaming server and with the other programmes my share was not found.
And Plex is actually far too extensive for this.
Isn’t there a small DLNA app?
Or what is the easiest streaming server to install with SCALE?
Or is there a good guide for Plex with SCALE somewhere?

2

What version of truenas scale are you running?
With the upcoming electric eel release all apps will be using docker.

Theres Plex and then there is Jellyfin

You dont have to pay for plex. Just without paying you will not have hardware transcoding or the ability to use there app on devices.

Jellyfin is FREE hardware and apps.
They have instruction on how to run there docker version for servers.

3

I am using Dragonfish 24.04.2.3

I tried Jellyfin, but it won’t find my smb shares.

4

…and also Emby. And maybe others (I think I saw Logitech Media Server in there as well).

…and there’s no reason it should. Mount the relevant paths to the app as storage.

5

The same with Emby, did not find my shares

6

It shouldn’t “find your shares.” You should instead

7

Okay, I tried it again with jellyfin.
This time I included the shares directly when installing the app and jellyfin found them.
But my TV can’t find the jellyfin media server.
I also installed the DLNA plugin and restarted it.
But the DLNA plugin does not say Active but NotSupported.
What am I doing wrong?

8

After many attempts, I managed it with Emby.
Under Windows the media server is not displayed and in TrueNAS the app is constantly displayed with deploying, BUT it works.
My webOS shows the server and also plays from it without any problems.
It also looks like 4K :wink:

9

Totally understand your setup — LG webOS doesn’t play well with SMB shares, but since it supports DLNA, the simplest workaround is to run a lightweight [video streaming server](https://www.vplayed.com/blog/video-streaming-server) on your TrueNAS SCALE box.

Here are a couple of good options:

  1. MiniDLNA (ReadyMedia) – super lightweight, easy to install, and perfect for basic DLNA needs. It acts as a minimal video streaming server, letting your TV access files over the network just like from a USB stick.
  2. Jellyfin – a user-friendly, open-source alternative to Plex. It includes a built-in DLNA server and works well with LG TVs. You can install it directly from the TrueNAS SCALE app catalog.

If you’re okay with a bit more setup, Plex is also available as an app on SCALE and can act as a powerful video streaming server. You can disable the extra features if you just want simple file access.

For your use case, MiniDLNA is probably the easiest and closest to a “plug-and-play” experience.