Plex Server question (core)

Apps and Virtualization
1

Ive been running Core 12 for years now. Plex server app stopped working (of course)

Just to try to troubleshoot i installed TrueNAS13.3 core. It allows me to save my config on install.

Been doing some reading. If I install Scale will it remember my config as well? I guess i can download the Plex server directly (don’t know how but I saw the commands) Not sure which would be A) easier B) less of a headache.

Its old hardware 4 gen Intel 16Gb ram Samsung 840 non eec

2

Have you read the online documentation section on migrating from Core to Scale? It covers a lot of the issue of what can move or be migrated and what needs to be set up again.

3

I will add it to my reading

4

scale wont eat your core jail config the way 13.3 does on reinstall. apps on scale are a different layout, so that “save config on install” trick from core doesnt really carry over 1:1

on 4th gen + 16gb id probably stay on core 13.3 and get plex healthy in a jail again, less moving parts. if you already want scale for other reasons, export the plex db/metadata from the old jail first, then stand plex up as an app and point it at the same media dataset

boring path, but on that hardware the core jail pkg is usually the lower headache

5

I’d like to stay with core, 13.3 if I can get Plex on it. is running fine. I think if I upgrade to scale more issue will arise. But I might be wrong.

I’m a novice at server stuff. I managed to set this up about 9 years ago with FreeNAS and I upgraded it a few times. Its been rock solid. I have 6-6tb drives and an LSI card in HBA

Thank you for the assistance

I can’t figure out how to download Plex on core, working on that

6

The problem is that CORE is dead, and its most recent release is based on a version of FreeBSD that is long since EOL at this point. Availability of binaries that will run under FreeBSD 13 is spotty at best.

Your options at this point are:

  • If you want to stay on FreeBSD, look at moving to FreeCORE (there’s another thread here about it, in the General Discussion category). It’s a fork of TrueNAS CORE rebased to FreeBSD 15, so you’ll be able to create jails and install packages (like Plex) in them. It’s a new project, though, and appears to have just one maintaner, so how well it will be maintained is an open question. But since it’s FreeBSD-based, you’ll be able to keep your existing jails, upgrade them incrementally to a current FreeBSD version, and install new software in them. It also supports direct upgrade from CORE 13, though I don’t know about CORE 12.
  • Move to TrueNAS SCALE and install Plex there, either using the TrueNAS Apps system or as a custom Docker app. iX isn’t likely to go anywhere any time soon, so SCALE is going to be maintained and updated for some time to come. I don’t have much faith in the Apps system, but I don’t expect Docker to go anywhere.
7

Thanks Dan, this is helpful. I’m learning. I’ll probably give scale a try

8

I think there’s also zvault. Not sure which one is better, I haven’t checked either of them yet.

EDIT:
Actually, the site just gave a white blank page, so I guess that settles the question on which is better, haha.

9

Yeah zVault is dead.

There is also bsdnas (bsdnas.com).

It’d be good if these one maintainer projects decided to combine efforts …

10

zVault died after initial release. It’s stuck at FreeBSD 13.3 (EOL) so you can’t install jails.
BSDnas only has a development release today.
FreeCORE is at release 15.0-U1.3, based on FreeSB 15.1. Even if development stopped at this point, you could keep jails running until 2030 when 15.1 reaches EOL.

Pick wisely.

11

Good to know.

I’d imagine the wisest pick is probably just vanilla FreeBSD 15 + Sylve. I feel like Sylve might have better future long term. But even if it doesn’t and fails tomorrow, the fact that it’s just a lightweight port on top of FreeBSD means you can just carry on along with very minimal migration as long as you know your way around FreeBSD.

12

Technically until 15.x reaches EOL. :wink:

Running jails of a newer minor version than the host is supposedly “not supported”, but I had been doing that. My TrueNAS Core 13.3 (FreeBSD 13.3) was running 13.4 and 13.5 jails just fine.

13

I’d imagine while unsupported, probably works mostly fine for point versions since that is probably mostly userland changes. I don’t think it will work on major versions though since that likely requires a new kernel

14

…and it normally works fine, but not always. That’s the reason 13.3 was released in the first place–binary incompatibility from 13.2 to 13.3. But that seems to be the exception, not the rule.

15

Okay here’s where we are. Made sure my backups were good, back up the config. Installed Scale 25.10…wiped everything. Set up my pool, dev, dataset, SMB shares, file folders. Got it where I can now see all my folders across my network. Its working

Installed Plex, set it up (what I know)

Problem:

I can’t get plex to see my file folders, I’m sure it a permission thing. I gave my account and the root account all the permissions. I jsut can’t find my files from within Plex.

Any ideas?

16

I don’t run Plex or any TrueNAS apps really, but if it functions like any Docker app, it usually requires the data to be readable by uid 1000 (first non-built-in user) and you have to set up a docker volume mapping (I think TrueNAS calls it HostPath?).

Someone else more familiar with the system probably can fill in the blanks here.

17

On the right side of the apps catalogue each app has a “run as” context tile. For plex it’s

image
image422×186 3.2 KB

so it runs as uid 0 “root” not uid 1000

18

Oh wow, why the heck does it need to run as root?

19

Probably because the creator of the Plex docker image hard coded it to use root because they were lazy… Happens more then you would think

20

I see, basically the same reason that a lot of legacy Windows apps all run as admin even after Microsoft migrated over to NT kernel with Windows XP.