Ability to edit Plex Library path on Synology NAS for Plex Media server

Could we have the ability to edit the plex library path in the server settings area? I know this is possible in the windows version of plex server why is this option missing on the synology nas version?

This would make updating Plex alot easier.

I am currently using an external SSD to store my media library as this makes things easier and faster for me vs keeping everything on the nas

1.Currently I have to manually download the latest package and install it
2. SSH to my NAS and go to var/packages/Plex_media_server/target
3. sudo vi plex_library_path
4. Update the path back to my SSD on the external SSD

I have to do this every time there is an update :frowning: Surely I can not be the only one?

THANKS!

On Synology:

  1. /var is a 250 MB partition. There is no room to put it there due to Synology disk layout architecture.
  2. The Plex share can be moved to any volume when Plex is stopped and it will be found when Plex is started
  3. When installing on Synology systems with multiple active volumes, the user may select which volume to use for the Plex share initially. Per #2 above, the user is free to move the share to any other volume at any time.

The only requirement here is the share is named “Plex”

Right I don’t want to run all of Plex off the SSD, just the media Library.

I was referring to their being an option in the settings menu like there is on windows. Such as the screen shot below
image

Linux is different than Windows.
Synology uses the pathnames /volumeX/Plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server

Because of the differences between Windows and Linux, the easiest method to allow everyone to move where the data is stored was to have Plex find the Plex share at startup automatically for you.

There is no need to specify it. Simply move the share to where you want it and start Plex.

As stated above, I already allow you to select the installation volume at Package installation time.

" The Plex share can be moved to any volume when Plex is stopped and it will be found when Plex is started"

Weird this never works for me Plex acts like a new install Until I manually edit the path in var/packages/Plex_media_server/target

I always stop Plex update it manually since the syno packages are out of date

If I start it again without editing the above mentioned line manually the new install defaults back to using the defualt library path and looses all my settings

I want to do the same i.e. move my Plex share to SSD.

Can someone confirm if this works or not? The previous poster seems to suggest that PMS doesn’t find the share automatically and still looks at the default location used during install.

In that case can I reinstall and mention the new location and then copy over the old library?

I will try to explain again.

  1. The Plex software, and only the software, is always in /var/packages/Plex Media Server .
  2. When I install PMS, I look for a “Plex” named share. (Name is critical here)
  3. If not found, I create it wherever instructed by Package Center. I say it this way because, on multi-volume systems, you can tell Package Center where you want the Plex share. It passes that information to me. I create the share, if not already pre-existing, where you specify. All your metadata will be in this share.
  4. From here, with installation completed, I proceed to normal startup

Normal Startup

  1. Verify user plex exists and obtain its information
  2. Ask Synology where share “Plex” is.
  3. Prepare the runtime variables, specifically PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR (which points to /volume1/Plex/Library/Application Support for most users)
  4. Launch PMS as user plex

This decoupling is what allows you to move the Plex share when it’s not running.

If Synology permits a fully recognized volume to be created on SSD, then you can perform the following general steps:

Moving the Plex share

  1. Create a share on the SSD named Plex-new
  2. Make it owned by user plex
  3. Stop PMS
  4. Copy the entire contents of the existing Plex share to Plex-new. (this is time consuming so beware)
  5. Rename the disk-based Plex share to be Plex-old (Control Panel - Shared folders)
  6. Rename the SSD-based Plex-new share to be Plex (again in Control Panel - Shared Folders)
  7. Start PMS.

To the best of my knowledge, Synology does not permit volumes to be created on SSD but this knowledge may be dated. If you can, great. My last investigation determined Synology only allows SSD cache to be created.

Synology does not allow “migration” like QNAP does. If this request is based on that feature, my procedure above is the best you can hope for.

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To all reading here

I have found a problem. I will fix it and get it for the next release. I don’t know when/how it happened but it will get fixed and the Plex share will again be dynamically relocatable.

This being the case

DON’T move the share yet. I will update the code later today and push it through as fast as I can.

Great! Thank you

Current status of the restoration:

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In-progress development.

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At no extra charge… (can you tell I’m having a good time :smiling_imp: )

Screenshot%20from%202019-04-28%2022-13-51

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After this latest update did as you suggested, renamed the ssd share to Plex and removed the old one, this seems to be working correctly. When Plex updates it automatically sees the media share is in a different location, This is what I was looking for thanks you!

DSM 7 does not allow us the freedoms of DSM 6.

I am finishing Backup & Restore.

With that, you’ll be able to

  1. Backup your existing PMS data
  2. Uninstall & Erase the data
  3. Install PMS on the new, desired, volume
  4. Restore the data to that new volume.

I’m sorry I can’t do better than that as it’s a DSM 7 design restriction.

This thread is now 2 years old and am allowing it to remain closed as it should have been.

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