How to install Plex Media Server on Ubuntu?

Installing Plex Media Server On Ubuntu

Plex Media Server is a software that manages/organizes all of your media (videos, audios, & photos) from a local device (usually a computer or a local hard drive) or over the network and streams it to the player.

In this tutorial, we will learn how to install and set up a Plex Media Server on Ubuntu.

Steps to install Plex Media Server and Set it up on Ubuntu

In this section, we’ll install Plex Media Server and set it up. Follow the steps to install and set up Plex Media Server on Ubuntu.

Add the Plex Media Server Repository

Installing Plex Media Server requires an active internet connection during the entire process.

To add the Plex Media Server Repository on Ubuntu, execute the following two commands:

echo deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb public main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list
curl https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key | sudo apt-key add -

After executing the above commands, now we can simply execute the following apt update command with sudo to enable the Plex Media Server repository.

sudo apt update

Once we have the Plex Media Server Repository on Ubuntu, we can now proceed to install Plex Media Server by executing the following apt command with sudo:

sudo apt install -y plexmediaserver
Installing A Plex Media Server 1
Installing a Plex Media Server

You can verify the status of the Plex Media Server by executing the following command:

sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver
Plex Media Server Status
Plex Media Server Status

Using Plex for the First Time

To use Plex Media Server, launch your Web Browser and go to http://server.ip.address:32400/web (e.g., http://192.168.0.135:32400/web)

You will see the following page. To use Plex Media Server you are required to create a Plex account or, you can sign in using your existing Plex account details.

Create A Plex Account Or Signin With Your Existing Account
Create a Plex account or sign in with your existing Plex account

Once you are done, the following page about “How Plex Works” will appear. Click GOT IT! to proceed further.

Introduction To Plex
Introduction to Plex

Next, you’ll see the following screen appear. Plex offers a Plex Pass which allows you to access its exclusive premium features.

Plex Pass
Plex Pass

Then, on the next page, it will ask you for a name for your Plex Media Server. You can leave the box checked for “Allow me to access my media outside my home” and then click Next.

Choose A Name For Your Plex Media Server
Choose a name for your Plex Media Server

Now, it will ask you to add the Media Library for your Plex Media Server.

Add Media Library To Plex Media Server
Add Media Library to the Plex Media Server

Now, go to your Ubuntu terminal and create a folder to store your media files, execute the following commands to create a /movies folder, and give Plex Media Server permissions to it.

sudo mkdir /movies
sudo chown plex.plex /movies/

Once we have created a media folder successfully, we can keep all the media files that we want to access through our Plex Media Server in that media folder. To add the folder to the Plex Media Library, click ADD LIBRARY and choose the media library type (in here Movies), and then click NEXT.

Add Plex Media Library
Add Plex Media Library

Now, click BROWSE FOR MEDIA FOLDER to add folders to your Plex Media Server library.

Browser To Your Media Folder
Browse for Media Folder

Next, locate and click on your media folder, then click ADD.

Locate And Click On Your Media Folder Then Click ADD
Click ADD to add the media folder to the library.

Then click ADD LIBRARY, and then click NEXT to complete to finish the installation wizard.

Now Click NEXT To Continue
Now Click NEXT to Continue

Now, click DONE.

Click DONE
Click DONE

Then click FINISH SETUP to redirect to your Plex Media Server Home.

Click FINISH SETUP
Click FINISH SETUP

Congratulations! We have successfully learned how to install and set up a Plex Media Server.

Plex Media Server Homepage
Plex Media Server Home

Conclusion

Plex is a popular media software to manage your personal media collection. It is free to use and easy to install.

In the above tutorial, we have learned to install Plex Media Server and, then we have added a Plex Media Library to our Plex Media Server on an Ubuntu machine.

Thank you for reading! 😀