[How To] Install Plex Plugin for FreeNAS 11.3 (or newer) - Plex Support Article

getontoit99

Cadet
Joined
Feb 24, 2020
Messages
3
Hi @Randall_64.

The method you outlined resulted in the manually set IP address (.36) and the IP address from DHCP (.113) both being present on the Plex jail.

root@plex:~ #
epair0b: flags=8843<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,SIMPLEX,MULTICAST> metric 0 mtu 1500
options=8<VLAN_MTU>
ether e0:3f:49:14:fa:0a
hwaddr 02:2d:d0:00:05:0b
inet 192.168.1.36 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
inet 192.168.1.113 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 192.168.1.255
nd6 options=1<PERFORMNUD>
media: Ethernet 10Gbase-T (10Gbase-T <full-duplex>)
status: active
groups: epair
root@plex:~ #
root@

Even if I shut down the DHCP server and restart the jail, the jail takes a long time to start but still comes up with both IP addresses.

Any ideas on this. I'm trying to find out more on iocage to work it out.

Thanks.
 

alexisr73

Explorer
Joined
Oct 21, 2019
Messages
51
Hi,

I'm running out of patience trying to understand why the Plex plugin can't be downloaded by my Freenas 11.3. It was previously installed on a 11.2 U8 without any problems but I screwed up my configuration, trying to make some clean on my dataset and permissions related to (overwritting permissions from root dataset of my pool).

Plex wasn't working at all after that. I finally decided to erase iocage dataset, upgrade to 11.3 and rebuild my configuration from scratch. I was able to import my pool, reinstall Qbittorrent plugins but still unable to install Plex ... I have the error below.

Please suggest me as I'm working on it for several hours now and I don't even see any resolution leads ...

Error: plexmediaserver had a failure Exception: RuntimeError Message: pkg error: - Certificate verification failed for /C=US/O=DigiCert Inc/OU=www.digicert.com/CN=DigiCert Global Root CA 12933140:error:14090086:SSL routines:ssl3_get_server_certificate:certificate verify failed:/freenas-releng/freenas/_BE/os/crypto/openssl/ssl/s3_clnt.c:1269: Certificate verification failed for /C=US/O=DigiCert Inc/OU=www.digicert.com/CN=DigiCert Global Root CA 12933140:error:14090086:SSL routines:ssl3_get_server_certificate:certificate verify failed:/freenas-releng/freenas/_BE/os/crypto/openssl/ssl/s3_clnt.c:1269: Certificate verification failed for /C=US/O=DigiCert Inc/OU=www.digicert.com/CN=DigiCert Global Root CA 12933140:error:14090086:SSL routines:ssl3_get_server_certificate:certificate verify failed:/freenas-releng/freenas/_BE/os/crypto/openssl/ssl/s3_clnt.c:1269: pkg-static: http://pkg.cdn.trueos.org/iocage/11.3-RELEASE/meta.txz: Authentication error Certificate verification failed for /C=US/O=DigiCert Inc/OU=www.digicert.com/CN=DigiCert Global Root CA 12933140:error:14090086:SSL routines:ssl3_get_server_certificate:certificate verify failed:/freenas-releng/freenas/_BE/os/crypto/openssl/ssl/s3_clnt.c:1269: Certificate verification failed for /C=US/O=DigiCert Inc/OU=www.digicert.com/CN=DigiCert Global Root CA 12933140:error:14090086:SSL routines:ssl3_get_server_certificate:certificate verify failed:/freenas-releng/freenas/_BE/os/crypto/openssl/ssl/s3_clnt.c:1269: Certificate verification failed for /C=US/O=DigiCert Inc/OU=www.digicert.com/CN=DigiCert Global Root CA 12933140:error:14090086:SSL routines:ssl3_get_server_certificate:certificate verify failed:/freenas-releng/freenas/_BE/os/crypto/openssl/ssl/s3_clnt.c:1269: pkg-static: http://pkg.cdn.trueos.org/iocage/11.3-RELEASE/packagesite.txz: Authentication error Please check your network Partial plugin destroyed
 

marty_86

Cadet
Joined
Mar 21, 2020
Messages
2
I'm trying to setup Plex on my new 11.3 box, keep getting this error when trying to download the plugin

1584825911090.png
 

florinstef

Cadet
Joined
Apr 26, 2020
Messages
1
Hello everybody,

I have the same issue after installing the plex plugin: “no soup for you”. I access it from the same ip class, wired, no vpn, firewall disabled. Telnet to <ip> 32400 works.
I’m struggling with this for more than a week now. I’m new with freenas but not a newbie in computer/programming … it never took me so long to fix something :(.
Any help would be great.

I’ve started with FreeNAS 11.3-U2 then install from scratch 11.3-U2.1. I tried installing the plugin and also from command line in a newly created jail. No result, same error every time. I followed the recommendations from this thread except the one to increase the memory; I don’t consider it might help with my issue. But I can try it, if anybody will consider it would.

Anyway, is anybody who fixed it in the current versions of freenas and plex?

What I have:
FX8320, 8gb, 425gb free space on iocage
Freenas 11.3-U2.1 fresh installed, no upgrade=FreeBSD 11.3-RELEASE-p7 (FreeNAS.amd64) #0 r325575+ca0f1a6ba25(HEAD)
Plex plugin – plexmediaserver-1.19.1.2645

best regards
 

geoffwhere

Contributor
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
105
I'm likewise having similar problems. I'd successfully installed Plex on FreeNAS and both were running smoothly. Then, being a bit of a stickler for keeping up to date, when Plex told me there's a new version I tried to update - the beginning of my troubles. So many different ways to go about it on these forums, but I chose one path which didn't work. Then another, deeper doo doo.
After much disappointment and frustration, I followed other advice which said to remove the Plugin and delete the Jail to begin over. So I deleted both. Then researched for a viable method to reinstall and chose the Plex Server support forum, after previous attempts told me that Plex could not gather a DHCP address (my LAN is configured to issue DHCP), so I attempted (several times) to install with a static IP address.
Plex Plugin install progressed to 50% (-ffmpeg) then failed with this error message:
Testing Host DNS response . . . Error DNS Exception Timed Out pkg.FreeBSD.org could not be reached (my LAN/WAN is online and I can ping 8.8.8.8).
Help, please!
Further attempt just now to install Plex Plugin with DHCP option checked produced this result:
Error: plexmediaserver had a failure Exception: RuntimeError Message: + Acquiring DHCP address: FAILED, address received: 0.0.0.0/8 Stopped plexmediaserver due to DHCP failure Partial plugin destroyed
 
Last edited:

Yorick

Wizard
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Messages
1,912
@geoffwhere First things that come to mind are:
This would be best discussed in its own thread rather than a resource discussion
You are looking at a basic networking issue: Inability to resolve a name from within the jail, and inability to get a DHCP address
Troubleshooting that is best done with a custom jail, and there will be several steps, hence the suggestion to take this discussion into its own thread
If you care about Plex version, danb35’s script is a better choice than a plugin
 

geoffwhere

Contributor
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
105
@geoffwhere First things that come to mind are:
This would be best discussed in its own thread rather than a resource discussion
You are looking at a basic networking issue: Inability to resolve a name from within the jail, and inability to get a DHCP address
Troubleshooting that is best done with a custom jail, and there will be several steps, hence the suggestion to take this discussion into its own thread
If you care about Plex version, danb35’s script is a better choice than a plugin
Thank you Yorick for your considered response and offered advice. it's very much appreciated.
As a newbie here, I'm not sure how to go about discussing my query "in its own thread rather than a resource discussion". I don't mean to seem unqualified, but I probably am. I thought that , by posting here along with others who seem to be having a similar Plex Plugin update problem, I might get an answer that I could imediately put into effect.
If you're able to post a link to your suggested thread rather than me trying to find answers in a resource discussion, I'd be grateful. I did search on my problem topic and this is where I landed. There's so many threads on this forum one can spend a day or seven trying to find the right channel.
My predicament is simply that everything was working fine until I tried to update the Plex version. Now I'm in a total mess that doesn't seem to have an easy exit.
Also, what did you mean about danb35's script? I'm sorry, but i have no Linux experience or knowledge and find the Linux user interface well beyond my simple GUI type expectation. I've become used to being spoon fed, perhaps in a false sense of comfort, with off the shelf Windows based solutions (wash my mouth!).
So, to get to the point where i'm currently at: my system was working until I tried to implement a Plex version update. Now I'm in a dead end alley.
Where should I go from here? (I got here because I needed to replace my legacy WD consumer NAS appliance which had serious limitations and little to no effective support from WD).
I'll be the first to admit that I'm way out of my depth, but I'll be front and centre in stating that my initial (successfully working) experience with FreeNAS and Plex has given me an appetite for getting over the current hurdles. I just need a little bit of elementary guidance to get over those hurdles.
Probably a good start would be to assume that I need simple, step by step guidance.
 

Yorick

Wizard
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Messages
1,912
simple GUI type expectation

And that's reasonable. You'd need to choose: Stay with GUI and plugins, and stay weeks or months behind whatever version Plex deems "current". That's a reasonable choice. Or venture a little outside your comfort zone, and create a bespoke jail, which will be as up-to-date as the FreeBSD pkg is.

If you'd like to dip your toes into creating your own Plex jail, there's a walkthrough that doesn't assume you already have CLI experience here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvM32lWc_r4
 

geoffwhere

Contributor
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
105
Dear Yorick, Thanks again for your consideration and recommended approach to fixing my problem. I've started watching your YouTube video and only 4 minutes in I have what may be a burning question: In my previous attempts to update the Plex Plugin, one helper on this Forum suggested deleting both the Plugin and the associated iocage jail. I did that and, given your comments about renaming the old jail and later transferring metadata to the new jail, does that present a problem for me? I don't have any metadata to transfer, only music and video files that reside in a Windows SMB dataset (see screenshot below -Public is my main folder for those data).
1588474252281.png
 

Yorick

Wizard
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Nov 4, 2018
Messages
1,912
Nope, no problem, just skip the entire rsync bit. You'll have Plex recreate the metadata from scratch. How to use rsync is just in there for those people who want to preserve metadata, it's by no means a requirement.

Setting up hardware transcode is easier than what I'm showing in the video, by the way - all that's required is the script and the group membership. If you're going that way.
 

geoffwhere

Contributor
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
105
Nope, no problem, just skip the entire rsync bit. You'll have Plex recreate the metadata from scratch. How to use rsync is just in there for those people who want to preserve metadata, it's by no means a requirement.

Setting up hardware transcode is easier than what I'm showing in the video, by the way - all that's required is the script and the group membership. If you're going that way.
Wow, that's assuming I'd understand what a hardware transcode even looks like and recognising one if it was in front of me!
Going which way?
Sorry if that seems pedantic, but you may be assuming that my comprehension makes these terms familiar to me. I got through watching your video and was agog at your depth of knowledge and mortified at my total failure to understand what you were doing! So much so that I'm fearful of causing more havoc if I venture in so deep.
Is there a written step by step set of instructions that I can follow? The video format doesn't allow me to cut and paste commands or even know which datasets and directories I'm in at a given point.
 

Yorick

Wizard
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Messages
1,912
The written instructions are linked in the description of the video. Danb35’s script comes with great instructions. The video is just there to give a visual aid to people who learn better that way.

I prefer written instructions myself.
 

geoffwhere

Contributor
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
105
The written instructions are linked in the description of the video. Danb35’s script comes with great instructions. The video is just there to give a visual aid to people who learn better that way.

I prefer written instructions myself.
Again, my heart felt thanks for your calm and reassuring approach to helping me try to get through this.
Unfortunately, my Sunday afternoon has been wasted by a Google Chrome crash, which had the effect of crippling my system and requiring a system restore. So now here I am, back to the 'written instructions' you mentioned.
First off, the instruction's opening step says: "On your FreeNAS server, change to a convenient directory, and download this script using git clone." Immediately I'm crippled. I have no idea how to "change to a convenient directory", let alone download a "script using git clone". I don't even know what 'git clone' is.
The instructions go on to say "POOL_PATH is the path for your main data pool's root directory". Huh? main data? Pool's root directory?
I'm totally lost and getting to the point where I'm wondering whether setting up FreeNAS as my DLNA media server platform was the right decision.
As inadequate as my (now dead) WD My Book Live NAS appliance was, at least it provided an idiot (me) proof way to store and share my media files -(10,000+ images and 5,500+ audio files).
My audio delivery platform is Media Monkey, which took over from the hated Apple iTunes and simple (but now inadequate) iPod Classic. Media Monkey provides a graceful connection synced to my Android phone, which is constantly in my pocket, delivering my grandson's latest photos and in my car playing my favourite music while I battle horrific traffic snarls.
Speaking of horrific traffic snarls, perhaps there's a more straight forward way for a Linux luddite to set up this Plex thing?
I'll defer again to your sound and calm advice.
 

Yorick

Wizard
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Messages
1,912
I have no idea how to "change to a convenient directory", let alone download a "script using git clone".

And that's where you take a look at the video to see how that's done :). The video is meant to guide people through the written instructions.

perhaps there's a more straight forward way for a Linux luddite to set up this Plex thing

Of course. Install the plugin and be done. The plugin lags in version by a few months. It's just a choice of preference - use the plugin with an easy click install, and have an older Plex version; or go out of your comfort zone to learn new things and use a script to create a bespoke Plex jail, and have an always up-to-date Plex version.


Huh? main data? Pool's root directory?

This is where the video might come in handy again. If your pool is called, say, "tank", then the pool's root directory is "/mnt/tank". The video was created with users like you in mind, who read the instructions and would like to see someone step through them, to "connect the dots" as it were.


where I'm wondering whether setting up FreeNAS as my DLNA media server platform was the right decision

That is indeed a good question. In a nutshell, here's what you are weighing:

- FreeNAS has a steeper learning curve than many other NAS solutions. It does have a good GUI, and, the learning curve is still substantial.
- FreeNAS uses ZFS and is thus more inflexible than other NAS solutions when it comes to pool layout.

- FreeNAS uses ZFS and can thus effortlessly protect against ransomware with a feature called "snapshot"
- FreeNAS uses ZFS and can thus effortlessly protect against "bit rot" - if a single file goes bad, you will know. A classic RAID solution only protects against a drive failing entirely, but not against errors inside a single file.
- FreeNAS offers great flexibility for running all kinds of services in jails, and can run VMs reasonably well.

My personal point of view is: Choose FreeNAS if either a) you actually enjoy learning new things or b) the data protection advantages of FreeNAS outweigh its learning curve or c) the power of FreeNAS to run diverse services outweighs its learning curve.
 

geoffwhere

Contributor
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
105
Of course. Install the plugin and be done
Yes, except it was the inability to (re)install the Plugin that got me here in the first place. I'd be very happy (and was before attempting to update the Plex version) to go down that path, but, after following the (apparently) misguided (or misunderstood by me) advice from more than one contributor to this forum, I got to the point where the plugin won't install because of some mysterious DHCP error - where DHCP is offered by my gateway and is not part of the FreeNAS configuration parameters.
Perhaps, if I can sort out that bug I can get back to where I was before trying to update Plex to the advertised latest release. The release I was on was working fine and I'd be more than happy to be a release or several behind, if it would work as it was before the update misadventure.
 

Yorick

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Nov 4, 2018
Messages
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of some mysterious DHCP error

Yeah that does sound mysterious. It's usually as simple as just checking DHCP, giving the plugin a name, and choosing install. I think we've seen issue with some not well supported Ethernet chipsets, or maybe tunables created by autotune, but beyond that, I don't know what would cause that, provided FreeNAS is on the same subnet as the DHCP server and DHCP works in general.
 

geoffwhere

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Apr 23, 2020
Messages
105
FreeNAS is on the same subnet as the DHCP server and DHCP works in general
DHCP certainly is on the same subnet and does work in general. But for some unapparent reason I've been unable to reinstall Plex plugin after having deleted both the Plugin and the Jail (that is, after a failed attempt to download and install the Plex update).
 

geoffwhere

Contributor
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Messages
105
I just now tried again to install the Plex plugin from the FreeNAS plugin page - after 3 retries this was the result:
My LAN/WAN is online:
1588513006439.png
 

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Yorick

Wizard
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Nov 4, 2018
Messages
1,912
Which means your FreeNAS box has issues that the rest of your equipment doesn't have.

What's the hardware you are using? Motherboard, Ethernet chip?
Any tunables in System->Tunables?
Have you replaced the Ethernet cable for FreeNAS, to check the very basics?
 
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