From Plex

Contents 1 Uninstalling 1.1 Plex Media Center (client) 1.1.1 Mac OS X 1.1.2 Windows 1.2 Plex Media Server 1.2.1 Mac OS X 1.2.2 Windows 1.2.3 Linux 2 Plex Media Center (client) Tips 2.1 Playing iTunes or other DRM protected media 2.2 Optimizing file access from a NAS 2.3 Accessing your Library Remotely Over the Internet 2.4 Stop the Dock from appearing on top of Plex 2.5 Running a pre-0.9.5 Plex Media Center client with a current Plex Media Server 3 Plex Media Server Tips 3.1 Re-Start Plex Media Server Set-Up from Scratch 3.1.1 Mac OS X 3.1.2 Windows 3.1.3 Linux 3.2 Relocating your files to a different location 3.2.1 Upgrading your Hard Drive 3.2.2 Move the media files to a new location 3.3 Repairing a corrupt database 3.3.1 Mac OS X 3.3.2 Windows and Linux 3.4 Moving over view progress/ratings from one database to another 3.5 Moving a Database from one Server to another 3.5.1 Alternative Method 3.6 Plex Database Files 4 Other Tips 4.1 Enabling Developer Mode and why you shouldn't do it! 4.2 Recovering broken System/Framework.bundle files 4.2.1 Mac OS X 4.2.2 Windows 4.2.3 Linux 5 Plex Log Files 5.1 Types of Logs 5.2 Log File Locations 5.2.1 Mac OS X 5.2.1.1 Crash Logs 5.2.2 Windows 5.2.3 Linux 5.2.3.1 Debian, Fedora, CentOS, Ubuntu 5.2.3.2 ReadyNAS 5.2.3.3 Synology, Asustor 5.2.3.4 QNAP 5.3 Sharing Log Files 6 Preparing Media Samples 6.1 Preparing a Sample 6.1.1 Using MKVToolnix

Uninstalling

If you wish to remove the Plex Media Center or Plex Media Server app completely, you can do so:

Plex Media Center (client)

Mac OS X

To completely remove the Plex Media Center client from your Mac OS X computer, first make sure the Plex Media Center client is not running. Then delete the following files and folders:

• /Applications/Plex.app
• ~/Library/Application Support/Plex
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.plexsquared.Plex.plist

~ is your Home directory.

Windows

To completely remove the Plex Media Center client from your Windows computer, first make sure the Plex Media Center client is not running. Then simply uninstall the program as normal from your Control Panel. If you wish to remove all traces of the program, choose the "Delete Profile Folder" checkbox during the uninstallation.

Plex Media Server

Mac OS X

To completely remove the Plex Media Server from your Mac OS X computer, first make sure the Plex Media Server is not running. Then delete the following files and folders:

• /Applications/Plex Media Server.app
• ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server
• ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.plexapp.mediaserver.plist
• ~/Library/Caches/PlexMediaServer
• ~/Library/Preferences/com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist

~ is your Home directory.

Note that not all .plist files may be present; they will vary depending on which version of the server you're running.

Windows

To completely remove the Plex Media Server from your Windows computer, first make sure the Plex Media Server is not running. Then simply uninstall the program as normal from your Control Panel. If you wish to remove all traces of the program:

Windows XP/Server 2003 or Home Server:

• Delete the "C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex Media Server" directory
• Delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc." registry key.

Windows Vista, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, and Windows 7:

• Delete the "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server" directory
• Delete the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc." registry key.

Linux

Debian, Ubuntu

To completely remove the Plex Media Server from the computer, first make sure the Plex Media Server is not running. Then do the following:

• Run the command dpkg -r plexmediaserver
• Remove the directory "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/"

Fedora, CentOS

To completely remove the Plex Media Server from the computer, first make sure the Plex Media Server is not running. Then do the following:

• Run the command rpm -e plexmediaserver
• Remove the directory "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/"
• Run the command "userdel plex"

ReadyNAS, QNAP, Synology

Use the graphical interface to remove the package.

Plex Media Center (client) Tips

Playing iTunes or other DRM protected media

It is not possible to play Movies, TV Shows or Music files that are protected by DRM like Apple's FairPlay. This means that if you have purchased video content or older music content (music from the iTunes store for the last several years is DRM-free) from iTunes, Plex will not be able to play it back. This affects other Plex Clients like the AppleTV, Roku, iPad or iPhone Plex clients.

If you do try to playback DRM protected media, you will see abysmal framerates (i.e. 1-2 frames per second) or media may not playback at all on a Client like iPad, Android, AppleTV, Roku etc.

Optimizing file access from a NAS

If you have your media stored on a NAS or other network server, you can optimize the Plex client's access to those files. To do this:

• On the Plex Media Server computer, mount the share and add it to the login items
• On the Mac Plex Client, mount the same share and add it to the login items
• Setup and configure the Plex Media Server, adding the media folders from the mounted share

In this configuration, the Mac Plex Client will read the media files directly from the NAS or server, bypassing the Plex Media Server.

• Note: This will only work when both the Plex Media Center client and Plex Media Server are running on the same operating system (i.e. both on Mac OS X or both on Windows).

Accessing your Library Remotely Over the Internet

Many people wish to be able to access their library from over the internet using another desktop Mac client. The myPlex Service together with the 0.9.5 or newer Plex Media Center client allow remote access.

Stop the Dock from appearing on top of Plex

If you launch Plex automatically by adding it to your Log-in Items, and notice the the Mac OS X dock appears in front of the Plex window, do the following:

• Make sure that Plex is the last item in the Login Items list or
• Don't add Plex to the Login items and use the Apple or other Remote control to launch it when you need to use it

Running a pre-0.9.5 Plex Media Center client with a current Plex Media Server

Due to differences in how the pre-0.9.5 Plex Media Center clients interacted with the bundled Plex Media Server application, you can run into situations where the old version of the Plex Media Server can get launched even if you've otherwise installed a newer standalone version of the Plex Media Server.

We would recommend simply upgrading your client to the current standalone Plex Media Center version, but if you still want to use an old pre0.9.5 version for some reason then you can help alleviate some of the problems by doing the following:

1. In your Applications folder in Finder, right-click/CTRL-click your "Plex Media Server" app and choose 'Make Alias'. That will make an alias file for you that points to the app. We'll use this alias file later.

2. In Finder, go to "~/Library/Application Support/Plex".

3. In the above directory, rename the "Plex Media Server" app that's there to something like "Plex Media Server_0.9.3.4".

4. Move the alias file from step 1 into the folder from step 2.

5. Rename the alias file to "Plex Media Server".

Now, even when the old client tries to incorrectly start the old Plex Media Server, it will instead just start up your current/new one.

Plex Media Server Tips

Re-Start Plex Media Server Set-Up from Scratch

In some cases, you may decide that you wish to restart your setup on your Plex Media Server from scratch. To do so, you basically just remove the support files associated with the install and then restart the server. Please follow these steps:

• Quit/exit/stop the Plex Media Server to ensure that it is not running
• Delete the support file folder for your operating system as noted below
• Re-start the Plex Media Server

The Plex Media Server will restart as a fresh install and you can proceed to set things up as you desire.

Mac OS X

~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

Windows

Windows XP/Server 2003 or Home Server:

C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex Media Server\

Windows Vista, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, and Windows 7:

C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\

Linux

$PLEX_HOME/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

Relocating your files to a different location

As your media collection grows, you might upgrade to a larger hard drive, or install a NAS. You can move your media files to their new location with a couple of steps.

• Note: We always recommend backing up your Plex Media Server library using Time Machine or other backup software before making major changes to your library.

Upgrading your Hard Drive

The easiest way to move your Library to a new home is to name the new location exactly the same as the source. That means simply making sure the new Hard Drive is named exactly the same as the old one, and that the media files are in the same location:

• The old location is on a hard drive named MyMediaFiles in a folder, \Media
• Re-name the old drive to a different name
• Name the new drive to the exact same name as the old drive - ie MyMediaFiles
• Copy the media files from the old drive to the new, making sure they are in the same location
• Start the Plex Media Server

Move the media files to a new location

You might have installed a NAS or want to re-name or move the media files for some special reason. To do this:

• If you're installing a NAS, create and mount the Shares on the Plex Media Server computer
• Ensure that the "Empty trash automatically after every scan" option is not enabled in your Plex Media Server Preferences
• Move the media files to their new location
• Open the Media Manager, select the Section for which you moved content, then choose Edit Section
• Add the new content location as a source, while also keeping the old (but now empty of content) location
• Choose Update Section and Plex should scan, find the content at the new location, and update its information
• (Some users may need to do a Deep Scan. If you see the /!\ indicators over the media posters, Option/Alt-click the Refresh button in the Media Manager window)
• Verify that content works from the new location
• Select the section in your Media Manager again, Edit Section, and remove the old source location

Repairing a corrupt database

Mac OS X

The following commands are run in the Terminal application.

To see how badly corrupted the database might be:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Plug-in\ Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db "PRAGMA integrity_check"

In order to try and "repair" the database, you can perform a dump followed by a restore to get it back to normal:

echo .dump | sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Plug-in\ Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db > dump.sql
mv ~/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Plug-in\ Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db ~/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Plug-in\ Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db.original
sqlite3 -init dump.sql ~/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Plug-in\ Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db

Otherwise, simply deleting that "com.plexapp.plugins.library.db" database file and restarting the Plex Media Server will restore your server to a fresh install state. (i.e. You will lose your existing sections and need to recreate them, but you won't be affecting your content itself.)

Windows and Linux

Unlike Mac OS X, most Windows and Linux installs don't come with SQLite3 tools installed by default. However, you can install them yourself if you like from the SQLite.org download page.

Once the SQLite3 tools are installed, you would run commands similar to the ones above for Mac OS X, but substitute the appropriate path used in your OS and Plex Media Server install.

Moving over view progress/ratings from one database to another

The watched/unwatched, view progress, and ratings are stored in a database-independent fashion that makes them easy to move between databases. First, export from the old database:

$ echo ".dump metadata_item_settings" | sqlite3 com.plexapp.plugins.library.db | grep -v TABLE | grep -v INDEX > settings.sql

Now add them to the new database.

$ cat settings.sql | sqlite3 com.plexapp.plugins.library.db

Moving a Database from one Server to another

Moving the Plex Media Server database from one Server to another is fairly simple. There is a trick to set the new path to the media, and restoring Plug-in bundles. The idea is to copy the entire contents of the database to the new location, reset the Section source and then 'show' the new Plex Media Server the media.

Step 1 - Copy the Source database to the Destination

On both Source and Destination computer, make sure PMS is not running. On a PC, enable Show Hidden Files and Folders to see the \AppData folder.

• From a Mac, copy the contents of ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server EXCEPT the Plug-ins folder
• From a PC, copy the contents of ~\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server EXCEPT the Plug-ins folder (for Windows XP and Server 2003, copy from ~\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex Media Server)
• From a Linux box, copy the contents of /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/ EXCEPT the Plug-ins folder
• To a Mac, copy the files to ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server
• To a PC, copy the files to ~\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server (for Windows XP and Server 2003, copy to ~\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex Media Server)
• To a Linux box, copy the files to /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/ and ensure they are all owned by plex:plex

'~' is your Home directory. For large libraries, this will take quite some time.

Step 2 - Start the new Plex Media Server

• Start the Plex Media Server on the new computer
• Watch the empty Plug-ins and notice that new Plug-in bundles are created

Step 3 - Check the new Library

• Launch the Media Manager. If the Plex Media Server is still busy re-creating things it may take a little longer than usual to launch
• Once launched, you should see your previous library however all the paths will be broken

Step 4 - Add the new path to the Section

• Choose the Section you want to update
• Click Edit Section - a sheet will slide down
• Click the + button and add the new media path
• Select the old path then click the - button to remove the old media path
• Click Update Section

Note - if you can't click Update Section, make sure you didn't copy the Plug-ins folder from source computer. If you did, quit Plex Media Server, delete the 'Plug-ins' folder and re-start PMS again.

Step 5 - Deep-scan the Section

• Launch the Media Manager, Option-click the Refresh button at the bottom right of the window
• Using the Web UI, Option/Alt-click the Refresh button at the bottom right of the window
• Let the refresh complete

Alternative Method

You can also do this by editing a file:

• Follow Step 1 as above
• Before you start the Plex Media Server, edit the following file as described:
  • There is one change required when transferring libraries over to a new machine.
  • File to edit: ~/Library/Application Support/Plex/userdata/profiles.xml
  • Line to Edit: <directory>/Users/OldComputerName/Library/Application Support/Plex/userdata</directory>
  • Edit Required: <directory>/Users/NewComputerName/Library/Application Support/Plex/userdata</directory>
• Follow Step 2
• Check your new library works correctly by playing a show

Plex Database Files

The main Plex Media Server database file is stored:

Mac OS X:

~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db

Windows XP, Server 2003, or Home Server:

C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex Media Server\Plug-in Support\Databases\com.plexapp.plugins.library.db

Windows Vista, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, or Windows 7:

C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Plug-in Support\Databases\com.plexapp.plugins.library.db

QNAP NAS, on my system it is located here:

/share/MD0_DATA/.qpkg/PlexMediaServer/Library/Plex\ Media\ Server/Plug-in\ Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db

Other Tips

Plex has a modular design with plug-ins controlling many core aspects of the system. Installation of Plug-ins is handled via a Plex Client. Several of the plug-ins are core system plug-ins and are automatically updated by the Plex Media Server.

Enabling Developer Mode and why you shouldn't do it!

If you are a Plug-in Developer and need to enable Developer Mode, please post a message to the Developer Forum for instructions on how to do so.

Recovering broken System/Framework.bundle files

In certain circumstances, it is possible two 2 critical files to break. A symptom of this is:

• When the Plex Media Server starts, it never comes to Ready. (On Mac OS, the PMS icon stays stuck on Starting)
• The Plex Media Server crashes on startup

Mac OS X

Start by ensuring that the Plex Media Server is not running. Then do the following:

• Delete "~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/System.bundle"
• Delete "~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/Framework.bundle"
• Start the Plex Media Server (let it fully finish loading)
• Start the Plex Media Center client then choose Channel Directory > More > Check for Updates and download any available updates

~ is your Home directory.

Windows

Start by ensuring that the Plex Media Server is not running. Then do the following:

Windows XP, Server 2003, or Home Server

• Delete "C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex Media Server\Plug-ins\System.bundle"
• Delete "C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex Media Server\Plug-ins\Framework.bundle"
• Start the Plex Media Server (let it fully finish loading)
• Start the Plex Media Center client then choose Channel Directory > More > Check for Updates and download any available updates

Windows Vista, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, or Windows 7

• Delete "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Plug-ins\System.bundle"
• Delete "C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Plug-ins\Framework.bundle"
• Start the Plex Media Server (let it fully finish loading)
• Start the Plex Media Center client then choose Channel Directory > More > Check for Updates and download any available updates

Linux

Start by ensuring that the Plex Media Server is not running. Then do the following:

• Delete "$PLEX_HOME/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/System.bundle"
• Delete "$PLEX_HOME/LibraryApplication Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/Framework.bundle"
• Start the Plex Media Server (let it fully finish loading)

CentOS/Fedora Start by ensuring that the Plex Media Server is not running. Then do the following:

If you didn't change the default install options then $PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR=/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support

• Delete "$PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/System.bundle"
• Delete "$PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/Framework.bundle"
• Start the Plex Media Server

Plex Log Files

Types of Logs

Plex keeps multiple log files that may be useful in diagnosing problems. You'll find the logs in the locations listed below, but here is brief information about the different logs:

• Plex DLNA Server.log - log related to DLNA access of the Plex Media Server
• Plex Media Server.log - log for the Plex Media Server
• Plex Media Scanner.log - logged results of media scans
• Plex.log - log for the Plex Media Center desktop client
• /PMS Plugin Logs/ - directory containing additional log files for various plugins, agents, or other components of Plex

Log File Locations

While similar log files are available for all of the platforms, the log files will not always be found in the same locations on the computer. The following are where the log files may be found for each operating system.

Mac OS X

~/Library/Logs/

Crash Logs

In cases where one of the apps is actually crashing, then the crash logs can be useful. Such logs can be found in a couple of locations in Mac OS X:

~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/

~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/

The crash file will have a filename such as "Plex Media Server_2012-01-25-230247_MyMac.crash" where you see both the app that crashed (Plex Media Server) as well as the date (2012-01-25) and time (2302247) in the filename. With that information, you should be able to easily locate the crash log related to the incident you experienced.

If you're sharing the log in order to get assistance, be sure to look at the file icon: if you see a small arrow on the lower-left, then the file is an alias. In such a case, right-click/CTRL-click the file and choose "Show Original" in order to get the real file. Furthermore, if you're sharing a crash log, please also include the "normal" Plex log to go along with it. (If the Plex Media Server crashed include "Plex Media Server.log", if the Plex Media Center crashed include "Plex.log", etc.)

Windows

On Windows installs, the logs for the client are separate from the other logs, so there are two potential locations, depending on which log you're trying to find.

On Windows XP, Server 2003 and Home Server:

C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex Media Server\Logs\
C:\Documents and Settings\yourusername\Local Settings\Application Data\Plex\

On Windows Vista, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, and Windows 7:

C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Logs\
C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\Plex\

Linux

In general, logs in the various Linux versions of Plex Media Server are found under:

$PLEX_HOME/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Logs/

Debian, Fedora, CentOS, Ubuntu

/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Logs/

ReadyNAS

/c/.plex/Library/Logs

New location (If you running 0.9.7.7 or newer):

/c/.plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Logs

Synology, Asustor

/Volume1/Plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Logs/

QNAP

/share/MD0_DATA/.qpkg/PlexMediaServer/Library/Plex Media Server/Logs

Sharing Log Files

Sometimes, you may wish to share one or more logs to help diagnose a problem. It's typically best to start with fresh logs before you reproduce a problem so that there isn't extraneous information in the logs.

1. Close your Plex Media Center client and stop/quit your Plex Media Server (PMS).
2. Restart the client and the PMS. This will give you fresh logs.
3. Reproduce your issue as simply as possible.
4. Zip up the relevant log file(s)

You can then either attach the zipped file to a relevant support forum thread or upload it to a hosting service such as Dropbox before sharing.

Preparing Media Samples

You might have a movie that plays back badly. Often, we'll be able to work out what's going on with particular files without needing to see them. Other times, we may need to see a sample of a show in order to work out what's going on. You can help us with this.

• If you have a problem file, search the Forums, make a post and see if there are any solutions that way
• If you still have problems with playback, PM a 'Castle Keeper' and ask if you can submit a file
• The Castle Keeper may ask you to do some other testing before submitting a sample

Preparing a Sample

We normally don't need a full show to diagnose playback issues. Also, movie files can be very large. You can prepare 'slices' of movies and submit them instead.

Using MKVToolnix

MKVToolnix is a program that lets you create MKV files from various media streams. It also lets you create chunks from an existing MKV file. To do this:

• Get the latest version of MKVMerge (Mac OS X and other versions)
• Launch the program and add the MKV file by clicking add on the input tab
• Switch to the Global tab
• Check Enable Splitting
• Select ...after this size: and enter a file size. Choose the smallest file size you need to show the problem
• Set an output path and file name
• Click Start muxing
• You can cancel the process after a number of files have been created

After you've created a chunk, pick one and check that the problem you're seeing in the original file still exists in that chunk. When you're ready, ask a Castle Keeper/Ninja for instructions on how to submit the file for testing.