Plex issue (Not running)

[AltecBX]

Hi folks. So my Plex plugin isn't starting. The status says is "Up" but it isn't running. I can't see it on the webpage nor on a client.
The last thing I did was try updating the plugin but I don't think it updated. The version it says is 11.2-Release-p11 / Type pluginv2.
What can i do?

 

[Jailer]

Open a shell for the jail and type service plexmediaserver restart and see if that works.

 

[AltecBX]

It asks for a login and password. I'm entering my info but it doesn't network.

 

[danb35]

It asks for a login and password.

What is "it", and where is it asking for one? What "info" are you entering?

 

[AltecBX]

When I go to the Jails Tab and click on the right side 3 dots of the jail and click "Shell".
I'm entering my name and pw for the user I created for FreeNAS. Not the root username and pw.

 

[Jailer]

You shouldn't be prompted for a username or password when opening a jail shell from the GUI.

 

[danb35]

I'm entering my name and pw for the user I created for FreeNAS.

There's no reason at all to expect that this user would be present in the jail, so that's to be expected. What's not to be expected is that it'd be asking for a username/password at all. If I install the Plex plugin, go to Jails, find the jail, click the three dots, and select "Shell", this is what I get, without any keyboard entry of anything:

 

[AltecBX]

This is what I get when going to the shell.

 

[Jailer]

I'd blow that jail away and start over, you've got a serious issue there.

Edit: What browser are you using and have you tried a different one? Do you have any security related plugins running on your browser?

 

[AltecBX]

Just tried safari and firefox. Same issue.

I really don't want to blow it. I did that several months ago and my users couldn't get their playlist that they had done for years.
Also, the server lost all the viewing movies I had already watched.

 

[danb35]

What have you done with permissions since the last time you were able to use it?

 

[danb35]

Also, the server lost all the viewing movies I had already watched.

This is why it's a good idea to store the Plex metadata outside of the jail, so it isn't lost if/when you need to rebuild the jail.

 

[AltecBX]

It worked up to 3 days ago. On thursday I tried updating the jail by clicking the 3 dots and "Update". Once that happened, the Plex didn't work. My Tautulli said it had problem communicating with the Server and then I knew something went wrong.

 

[AltecBX]

What can I do to fix this issue?

 

[Jailer]

What can I do to fix this issue?

Find your metadata and copy it over to another location. Then blow the jail away and re install it and restore your metedata back to the new installation.

 

[danb35]

Then blow the jail away and re install it and restore your metedata back to the new installation.

...and when you do, keep the metadata outside the jail so you don't have to go through this routine next time you need to rebuild the jail. That takes a little bit of tweaking, or you can use my script to install it next time rather than the plugin.

@AltecBX, it looks like the metadata is stored in /Plex/ inside the jail. From the FreeNAS shell, you should be able to see the contents of that directory by running cd /mnt/iocage/jails/plex/root/Plex followed by ls.

 

[garm]

You beat me to it, I’ve been bugged by all the Plex threads for so long I wanted to write a script similar to your Nextcloud script, o well now there is a blanket response to all Plex related questions at least

 

[danb35]

The biggest issue (IMO) with Plex remains getting the media storage mounted with appropriate permissions. My script, sadly, doesn't help with that. But it does at least keep the config and the metadata out of the jail, so when it needs to be blown away, you aren't stuck rebuilding all that. And it's pretty unlikely that trying to update the jail will hose it the way we apparently saw here.

 

[AltecBX]

This is what I get when I do it. "No such file or directory"

 

[AltecBX]

Has anyone solved this issue?