Is it possible to "downgrade" fom plexmediaserver-plexpass?

Toydoll

Dabbler
Joined
Sep 17, 2015
Messages
33
Hi

Like several others I didn't realize that when installing plexmediaserver-plexpass I actually decided to install the beta version of plex.

I am however not the adventurous kind so bea updates isn't really my thing.

Is there a way to "downgrade" my jail without having to redo everything?

I know that one way would be to simply create a new jail, install plex and then move necessary files from the old beta-install to the new one. I have however done that twice for other reasons before and both times it has meant hours of trouble shooting and fixing problem, even though I followed so called fool proof guides.

I'm on 11.3-U4.1

(I did a search on google and the forum for existing threads but couldn't find anything, which is usually the case when one doesn't know what they're talking about :P )
 

Yorick

Wizard
Joined
Nov 4, 2018
Messages
1,912
Are you in a custom jail, or a plugin?

if the former: easy-peasy. Use pkg to switch.

if the latter: Yup redo. danb35's script makes this reasonably easy and I have a walkthrough up on YT about how to use it.
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
521
Are you in a custom jail, or a plugin?
if the former: easy-peasy.
if the latter: redo

The only difference between the plugin and the jail, is that for the plugin jail you'll also need to switch the plugin reference, so that later updates and upgrades will point to the plexmediaserver versus the original plexmediaserver-plexpass plugin.

The following commands worked for me to switch the plugin from plexmediaserver_plexpass to plexmediaserver on FreeNAS-11.3-U4.1. If you have a regular jail, the first two lines can be skipped. In this case the jail was called plex-jail, change if needed.

Code:
iocage stop plex-jail
iocage set plugin_name=plexmediaserver plex-jail

iocage start plex-jail
iocage exec plex-jail service plexmediaserver_plexpass stop
iocage exec plex-jail pkg remove -y plexmediaserver-plexpass
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc -x plexmediaserver_plexpass_enable
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc -x plexmediaserver_plexpass_support_path
iocage exec plex-jail pkg install -y plexmediaserver
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc plexmediaserver_enable="YES"
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc plexmediaserver_support_path="/"
iocage restart plex-jail
 

Toydoll

Dabbler
Joined
Sep 17, 2015
Messages
33
Thanks guys. I have plex in a regular jail, so unless someone says otherwise I’ll try Jurgens method when I find the time.

Thanka again!
 

Toydoll

Dabbler
Joined
Sep 17, 2015
Messages
33
Me and freenas is like tooth paste and orange juice; a match made in hell. Yet again something has been messed up.

First I just want to say that it's not the end of the world if my plex jail got destroyed. I tested this method on, let's say... my backup Plex. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't appreciate some help getting it to work again, or at least an explanation what I did wrong so I can fix my "real" plex jail.

First question: Did I do something wrong and can I fix it?
I have plex in a regular jail so I followed Jurgens commands (excluding the first two lines). And now I can't access plex. According to "pkg info" I have the latest version of regular Plex (no visible reference to plexpass) running, but I can't access it anymore. both plex.tv/web and ipadress:32400/web says my server is unavailable. ipadress:32400/web is says (among other things) "PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR".

I don't blame anyone but me however, because when I looked through my commands more closely I noticed that when I wrote
Code:
 iocage exec Plex sysrc -x plexmediaserver_plexpass_support_path

I got
Code:
sysrc: unknown variable 'plexmediaserver_plexpass_support_path'
And yet I continued, don't ask me why I didn't react and don't ask me why I continued with the next step. I can't even blame it on whiskey or something like that this time.

Does anyone know what I did wrong?

Second question:
I did a manual snapshot of the entire plex jail dataset just before doing this. And for the first time ever I then tried to roll back to that snapshot in hope of getting Plex to work again.

It didn't work. I still can't access plex and looking at "pkg info" it's still the latest plex version istalled with no reference to plexpass. I then tried to roll back to an automated snapshot that was taken just a few hours earlier and still no luck. I though that rolling back to a snapshot would restore every change that was made after that point. Have I severely misunderstood something? Why doesn't plex work after a roll back?

Like I said; it's not the end of the world if you can't help me with this but if you can then I will save a couple of hours work so I would appreciate it a lot!
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
521
The sysrc: unknown variable 'plexmediaserver_plexpass_support_path' is ok, it means that this particular sysrc wasn't set in the first place (like the plugin does), and it used the default location. In this case, I would point to the old plexpass support path instead of "/" and restart your jail afterwards.

Code:
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc plexmediaserver_support_path="/usr/local/plexdata-plexpass"

The "PR_END_OF_FILE_ERROR" error seems to indicate an issue with the certificate or PlexPass account/password. Try connecting with http or logout of plex as per the links.

I don't have enough information to guess why the snapshot/rollback didn't work.
 

SweetAndLow

Sweet'NASty
Joined
Nov 6, 2013
Messages
6,421
just copy your plexdata directory to your new install and then everything should be working as before. it's located at /usr/local/plexdata-plexpass or just /usr/local/plexdata if you don't have the plex pass version.
 

Toydoll

Dabbler
Joined
Sep 17, 2015
Messages
33
Thanks for the reply guys but sadly I couldn't get it to work. I gave up and created a new jail with Plex and then tried to move the necessary metadata from the old jail which didn't work. I spent a few hours searching for a fix with no happy ending.

I then created a new jail and followed a guide. It did not work so I spent way to long searching for solutions and trying them out.
I then created a new jail and followed a guide. It did not work so I spent way to long searching for solutions...
I then created a new jail and followed a guide. It did not work so I spent wa...
I then created a new jail and followed a guide. It di...
I then created a new jail and foll...
I then crea...

The guides are not complicated to follow and the general idea behind them is so easy that even I have no trouble understanding what it is I do. But I'm always met with some resistance.

I then tried to (again) rollback to a point where everything worked as it should. and just like last time it did not work. I did a post about it here to get some clarity if it's a user error (which I'm willing to bet it is) or not.

I am very grateful for all users on this forum, you have helped me countless times but I'm starting to think about biting the bullet and get rid of freenas for a more idiot proof os. Ever.single.time. when I upgrade Freenas or try to change something with (mainly) Plex stuff gets broken. Sure, sometimes I am partly or completely to blame but more often than not it's some underlying changes that freenas does that breaks it. Some people like spending hours trying to fix stuff, not me.
 

Toydoll

Dabbler
Joined
Sep 17, 2015
Messages
33
Are you in a custom jail, or a plugin?

if the former: easy-peasy. Use pkg to switch.

if the latter: Yup redo. danb35's script makes this reasonably easy and I have a walkthrough up on YT about how to use it.
That script is about the only thing I haven't tried. I guess it's to late now though but might be worth a shot. Where can I find this youtube video?
 

Ruff.Hi

Patron
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
271
Can I jump in here ... because this is exactly what I want to do.

I have plex set up in a iocage jail called plex. I have three (3) mount points ...

lp7UJgK.png


One for my movies, TV shows and the like.
One for my movie, TV show meta data - this is outside of the jail and, in theory, I can trash the jail and re-create
One for recorded TV shows

I piped the output from sysrc -a to a text file and searched for 'plex' - nothing.
That doesn't feel right ... I have definitely set the enabled one to YES before. Maybe run sysrc -a in the jail?

There you go ...
Code:
root@FreeNAS1[/mnt/DuffleBag/FreeNAS]# iocage exec plex sysrc -a | more
cron_flags:  -J 15
hostname: plex
ipv6_activate_all_interfaces: YES
plexmediaserver_plexpass_enable: YES
sendmail_enable: NO
sendmail_msp_queue_enable: NO
sendmail_outbound_enable: NO
sendmail_submit_enable: NO
syslogd_flags: -c -ss
root@FreeNAS1[/mnt/DuffleBag/FreeNAS]#


So ... plex pass enabled variable is there.

But I guess I am using the default path ...

eiMcPG2.png


Is it as easy as ...

quoting from Jurgen Segaert above ...
Code:
iocage stop plex-jail
iocage set plugin_name=plexmediaserver plex-jail

iocage start plex-jail
iocage exec plex-jail service plexmediaserver_plexpass stop
iocage exec plex-jail pkg remove -y plexmediaserver-plexpass
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc -x plexmediaserver_plexpass_enable
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc -x plexmediaserver_plexpass_support_path
iocage exec plex-jail pkg install -y plexmediaserver
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc plexmediaserver_enable="YES"
iocage exec plex-jail sysrc plexmediaserver_support_path="/"
iocage restart plex-jail


Questions ...
  1. what does setting the plug in name variable go for me?
  2. do I need the support path variable? I don't have it now

I also think that I will need to change the mount point for the metadata.

Can I set a flag or something that I can revert to if it goes belly up?
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jul 10, 2016
Messages
521
Note that as indicated, these steps were to do in in place switch from the official plex plugin, from the plexpass/beta version to the normal version.

The
  1. what does setting the plug in name variable go for me?
  2. do I need the support path variable? I don't have it now
1. This is only relevant to the plugin. If you installed plex in a standard jail, you don't need this
2. The "support path" is the path where the meta data is stored. This contains any playlists you created, the watch history, etc...

The plugin stores these in the root "/" of your jail, the default location for plexpass/beta jail is "/usr/local/plexdata-plexpass" and the regular version uses "/usr/local/plexdata". If you do an inplace swicth you would have to rename this folder accordingly, or use the plexmediaserver_support_path sysrc to point to the correct folder.

The safest way is just stop your existing jail and leave it alone; instead copy the metadata folder to your main pool, create a new plex jail and mount your media and metadata folders in the new jail. That way you'll always have your original working jail to fall back to.
 

Ruff.Hi

Patron
Joined
Apr 21, 2015
Messages
271
Thanks Jurgen, for the information. I have started my own thread to layout my situation.
 
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