How to store the Plex metadata outside of the jail

[AltecBX]

I'm rebuilding my Plex server because it messed up for the 2nd time in 5 years. Anyone that has gone through this, knows the pain. You spend many times updating the proper cover art, users have large playlist, recent movies added so you know what's new, movies are tagged that you've watched, etc..

How do I store the Plex metadata outside of the jail, so it isn't lost if/when you need to rebuild the jail. Is there a simple tutorial from installing the jail, making sure it can be updated automatically (I'm a lifetime Plex Pass user).

 

[Jailer]

Create a dataset to hold the metadata, copy the metedata from the jail over to the dataset and then mount it to the location that the metedata is stored in the jail.

As far as installing Plex it's one of the most simple installs out there. Create your jail the then run:
pkg install plexmediaserver_plexpass
sysrc "plexmediaserver_enable=YES"
service plexmediaserver start

Add your mount points for your media/metedata and that's it.

If that's too difficult @danb35 has a script that will automate most of the process for you.

 

[AltecBX]

Got it. I followed everything in the script. I changed all the data in plex-jail.sh.
Now what? How do I get the edited script from my text editor to FreeNAS?

 

[AltecBX]

I updated the script to my profile. (https://github.com/AltecBX/Plex-Script/blob/master/plex-jail.sh)
How do I run it on the Server?
This didn't work = chmod +x https://github.com/AltecBX/Plex-Script/blob/master/plex-jail.sh

 

[danb35]

I changed all the data in plex-jail.sh.

Why? There's no reason you should need to change anything in there. You should be able to configure anything you need to in the config file.

How do I run it on the Server?

You follow the instructions on that page and download it on the server.

This didn't work

"Didn't work" is a useless problem report, and you've been around here long enough to know better. Posting exactly what happens would be much more helpful. But it's pretty obvious why it wouldn't work--you're trying to change the mode on a HTTPS resource, which simply won't work.

Try actually following the instructions on the Github page. If you don't have a "favorite text editor" on FreeNAS, try nano, so the command would be nano plex-config. If you have trouble, post details on the thread for that script and we'll see what's going on.

 

[AltecBX]

Why? There's no reason you should need to change anything in there. You should be able to configure anything you need to in the config file.

You follow the instructions on that page and download it on the server.

"Didn't work" is a useless problem report, and you've been around here long enough to know better. Posting exactly what happens would be much more helpful. But it's pretty obvious why it wouldn't work--you're trying to change the mode on a HTTPS resource, which simply won't work.

Try actually following the instructions on the Github page. If you don't have a "favorite text editor" on FreeNAS, try nano, so the command would be nano plex-config. If you have trouble, post details on the thread for that script and we'll see what's going on.

Hi Dan, yes I changed the .sh file to match IP, gateway, and path. I also edited 1 for Plexpass.
The problem is getting it to the server. How do I get it there remotely without putting it on a thumb drive?
I know I've been lost for a while so I'm just getting my beak wet again. Anodos was able to help me out with my permission issues which was a lifesaver. I've spent a few days researching most of these things without any luck.

 

[pschatz100]

I don't do anything so fancy like trying to mount metadata outside my jail. I just make a back up copy of my metadata from time to time. If, for some reason, I need to reinstall Plex, then I can make a clean install and restore the metadata.

 

[AltecBX]

I don't do anything so fancy like trying to mount metadata outside my jail. I just make a back up copy of my metadata from time to time. If, for some reason, I need to reinstall Plex, then I make a clean install and restore the metadata.

Explain How? I have an old Plex Plugin (1.14.1.5488) that I have kicking around for a few years. It's the default server that has all the metadata. Unless someone knows how to update it, how can I take the metadata from there and copy it to a new server?

By the way, I've tried manually updating the Plex server through the shell, but it still shows version 1.14.1.5488. These were the steps I used to do.
- fetch -o PMS_Updater.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mstinaff/PMS_Updater/master/PMS_Updater.sh
- chmod 755 PMS_Updater.sh
- ./PMS_Updater.sh -vv -a

 

[pschatz100]

Firstly, please allow me to understand your situation and get some basic information:

I'm rebuilding my Plex server because it messed up for the 2nd time in 5 years.

1) What happened to your Plex server? Why did it mess up twice?
2) Was Plex originally installed from a FreeNAS plugin, or did you create the jail and installation manually? Is the jail a Warden jail or an iocage jail? Do you have a working version of Plex now? Do you have any other jails set up? Please provide some information about your current setup.
3) Are you comfortable running FreeBSD commands from the Shell?

How do I store the Plex metadata outside of the jail, so it isn't lost if/when you need to rebuild the jail. Is there a simple tutorial from installing the jail, making sure it can be updated automatically (I'm a lifetime Plex Pass user).

You will not lose your metadata just because Plex stops working. Just don't start deleting or renaming things from the old installation. You should be able to perform a new install from the FreeNAS GUI, but fixing an older installation that is broken is more difficult.

 

[danb35]

yes I changed the .sh file to match IP, gateway, and path.

Again, why? The instructions don't tell you to do that. They tell you to do something very different, in fact--to create a plex-config file specifying these items.

I also edited 1 for Plexpass.

This also should have been specified in the config file, and is also mentioned in the Github instructions. As far as I could anticipate, anything that you might want to configure, can be configured in the config file--you shouldn't ever need to edit the script itself.

How do I get it there remotely without putting it on a thumb drive?

You do what the instructions on the Github page tell you to do--from the shell on the server (either using the Shell button in the GUI, or (better) through a SSH session), you run git clone https://github.com/danb35/freenas-iocage-plex. That will download everything to your server. Then, from the same shell, use a simple text editor like ee or nano to create, edit, and save the config file.