How to Build Your Own Media Server With Linux

This tutorial assumes you have some Basic Linux knowledge on your part, so keep in mind this isn’t an ideal project for non-Linux users. As a Linux user, Have you ever think to manage your media and Build Your Own Media Server With Linux for your growing collection of multimedia files, like movies, Tv Shows, Music or photos, then read on. today In this guide we are covering Plex media server, which is one of the most popular media server when it comes to manage media on Linux.

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Plex is a free and best multimedia streaming server software which comes with Plex apps, available on all your favorite phones, tablets, streaming devices, gaming consoles, and smart TVs, you can stream your video, music, and photo collections anytime, anywhere, to any device. Also it has ability to organize your data using auto scanning feature. It can run as a dedicated media server on Linux, Mac, Windows and even BSD.

So let’s see how to setup Plex as our Linux media server. I will be using Ubuntu Linux distribution in this guide. This is because Ubuntu is the most popular and easy to setup distribution out of all Linux distributions. In case, you don’t know how to install Ubuntu refer to this comprehensive Installation Guide available on Ubuntu official website

Step-1: Download and Install Plex Package

a) Go to Plex download page and select “Linux” from drop down menu and then click on ‘CHOSE DISTRIBUTION” then copy link “Ubuntu 64-bit (10.04 Lucid or newer) / Debian (8+) 64-bit” package for 64 bit or “Ubuntu 32-bit (10.04 Lucid or newer) / Debian (8+) 32-bit” if you are using 32 bit operating system.

Download Plex Media Server
Download Plex Media Server

b) Now open terminal and use wget command to download package via copied link.

wget https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server/1.9.2.4285-9f65b88ae/plexmediaserver_1.9.2.4285-9f65b88ae_amd64.deb

Above link copied at the time of writing this article. Be sure to copy up-to date link from Plex website.

b) Use below command to install downloaded Plex package.

dpkg -I  plexmediaserver_1.9.2.4285-9f65b88ae_amd64.deb

Step-2: Start and Enable Plex Service on Reboot.

Enable Plex Media Server to start on reboot, and then start the service:

sudo systemctl enable plexmediaserver.service
sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver.service

Step-3:Configure Plex Media Server:

a) Plex provides fancy and easy to use web interface for administration. To connect web base interface, you need to get ip address of your Ubuntu server. Follow below screenshot to find out ip address:

Find IP Address on Ubuntu
Find IP Address on Ubuntu

b) Now open web browser on your server or you can access your plex media server from any PC/Laptop, if it reside on same network and then enter ip address this way e.g: http://ip-address:32400/web In my case it will be (http://192.168.1.113:32400/web).

Once you hit enter after providing ip address (http://ip-address:32400/web ), you will see below page showing short intro How Plex Works, now click on “GOT IT!” button at bottom.

How Plex Works
How Plex Works

c) Here you need to create a Plex account by clicking on sign-up button or by directly opening this link. Plex provides some additional features such as DVR capability and offline viewing if you pay for their premium Plex Pass, otherwise it can be used free to stream your own media collection hosted locally on your server. Now enter your Plex account username and password to proceed with the initial setup process:

Log in to Plex Media Server
Log in to Plex Media Server

d) Give your Plex server a name you like as I given “My_Collection”. Leave “Allow me to access my media outside my home box checked”, and click Next:

Give Plex Server  a Name
Give Plex Server a Name

Step-4:Adding Media

a) After you finish initial setup, now the next step is to add some media. To do that, click the “ADD LIBRARY” button. Next, select the type of media library to add. Plex allows users to organize media into Pictures, Music, Movies and TV Shows.

Add Media to Plex Server
Add Media to Plex Server

b) Select media type, in my case I want to stream my Linux video trainings collection, so I will select Other Videos and give title “Linux Trainings” you can chose as per your requirements.

Select Type of Media
Select Type of Media

c) Note:- Make sure to follow the correct naming of your media files to ensure that your files identified correctly by Plex. You can review Plex’s Naming Conventions. Now provide media directory, where your media collection is stored. My media collection directory path is (/home/broexperts/videos)

Provide Media Directory to Scan Media Files
Provide Media Directory to Scan Media Files

Step-5: How to Connect your Plex Media Server?

a) At this point our Plex Media Server is ready to connect and stream our media. To access your collection you can connect server by directly entering the IP address of server into a web browser of your desktop pc or any of your mobile device.

b) Alternatively, you can connect to your server using Plex client application, here are the list of supported platforms:

  • Amazon Alexa
  • Amazon Fire TV
  • Android TV
  • Android
  • Apple TV
  • iOS
  • Windows
  • Windows Phone
  • Roku
  • Windows Phones
  • Nvidia Shield
  • Playstation 3
  • Playstation 4
  • Amazon Fire TV
  • Chromecast
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox 360
  • Various Smart TVs

You can download appropriate media player application from this link. Also you can find Plex client app by searching keyword “Plex” in all major platforms mobile app stores.

c) Once you download and install Plex client application simply, sing in using the same Plex account as your server.

Below is screenshot of my android device, you can see Plex client app is showing media which is available on our Plex Server 🙂

Plex Android App
Plex Android App

If you are facing any difficulty to implement this guide please tell me in comments section. Thanks