Server Version#: Version 1.14.1.5488
Am running a few Plex installations as VM’s on ESXi 6.7.0 (Build 8169922) with the back end storage being provided with FreeNAS. This is fine for normal media playback however I now want to add live TV and looking to do this via a device that all Plex VM’s can share.
I was therefore thinking of a USB device on the main ESXi host which then can be shared to each server installation.
Plex OS is Ubuntu 18.04.1 LTS
Any help is appreciated
Note : When connecting a tuner device to your Plex Media Server, the server expects that it will have exclusive access to the tuner. That means that if you use other programs or devices to access the tuner, you may experience unexpected behavior such as tuning problems or failed recordings.
Choose a supported tuner from the link below, the HD Homeruns are network based, USB would be locked to a specific VM.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/225877427-supported-dvr-tuners-and-antennas/
definitely you cannot use the same USB tv tunner at two virtual machines at the same time.
If you plane to virtual move the device from one to another, plex will loose connection to the tuner and provably you will have problems when connecting it back to the same vm.
Definitely not a good idea to share the tuner with multiple machines
Apologies deftoner, didnt explain that very well.
My Plex servers are all VM’s, some are internal usage and others are available remotely and are for the likes of the missus’s parents (they have their own content but they sit on my server cause they wouldnt have a clue, they are just grateful they have something to watch).
The tuner would primarily be on my Plex server but the recorded content would be across all Plex servers - pretty much a catch up service for specific programmes.
I may watch certain live TV programmes but that would again be on my Plex server either internally or remotely.
I am really looking for a Linux / Ubunto compatible USB tuner.
If you had shared storage for tv shows, then one of the plex servers could do all the recording to the directory. It follows the Plex naming convention for TV SHOWS and you would let the DVR manage it.
Avoiding the whole pcie,USB driver conundrum is why I went with the HD homerun. It does require a network connection but gives a little more flexibility in Antenna placement.
yes, if you are running the plex in a VM the only option is the USB, since you cannot map a pci board. There is external options too (that connects thru ethernet) like Consumer - SiliconDust (all models are supported by plex) but take a look at this when finding an usb: https://support.plex.tv/articles/225877427-supported-dvr-tuners-and-antennas/
I have a similar setup, 3x Ubuntu 18.04 VM’s on ESXi 6.7. I had a lot of trouble trying to get consistent performance out of a USB tuner on pass-thru to a VM and in the end bought a pci-e card to do the job. The problem is that ESXi USB support is limited - and doesn’t really support the realtime nature required for the streaming. For me, despite months of troubleshooting and re-configuring, it would either fail or timeout on start or work for a while then fail.
You can most definitely pass-through a PCI-E card on the host to any ESXi VM, but just like USB, exclusively to one VM.
One way to get around the sharing of a tuner is to use another VM running TVheadend. It’s not a simple solution, but you can attach the tuner to TVH then using tvhproxy, it can be shared to multiple Plex servers (provided that the tuner requested is not already busy).
I think I may go down the HomeRun tuner as a long term solution as suggested in the earlier posts. Out of interest, what card are you using cause if economical then I may buy one in the meantime.
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