When the PMS owner has disabled auto updates of PMS, running such a service routine is not acceptable.
It should be permitted to run only when that option is enabled.
For the time being I have disabled that service through the Windows management console, but I shouldn’t have had to do that.
And I will of course have to do it again the next time I update PMS…
There is no auto update option. There is a “Automatically download updates” option., which you can turn on or off. The updater will always run to check for updates but it won’t do anything unless you have the other option to download it enabled. Then, you still need to manually hit update for it to then actually perform the update.
You are just describing the same behaviour I complained about, though in different words.
As you say " the updater will always run", which is exactly what I dislike even when it doesn’t update PMS.
Agreed, not desired:
Yes, there is an update service program which runs when PMS is on. It basically allows PMS to perform an unattended update when the user chooses. Other times, it doesn’t do anything. Without this program, the unattended update cannot be done so when you do choose to update from within Plex Web, you have to deal with the confirmation messages that Windows normally requires. There isn’t a way to turn this off, but you can kill this if you don’t need or want the unattended update and willing to press the ok in the confirmation messages. This updater is not what checks if updates are available. That check, which is basically just a http call to plex.tv, is done by PMS automatically on a routine basis, or manually if you hit check for updated from within Plex Web. This is the part you cannot turn off.
I’m perfectly OK with having the main PMS program do an occasional check for the existence of an optional update.
What I’m NOT OK with is having an unwanted updater service running when it’s not needed.
It would be just as easy for PMS to install and activate this service only if/when the user starts an internal update, and then disable and uninstall the service when its work is completed. There’s no reason to have it constantly running.
Lazy programming that leaves unnecessary service routines constantly running in background is one of the things that bogs down computers, making then unnecessarily slow and unresponsive. Each service may not consume very much of the system resources, but their combined effect can still be annoying.
@dlanor The lazy programing in this case is by Microsoft, under Windows it’s impossible for a program to replace itself without a prompt or a reboot; unless there’s a stub program already running with the appropriate permissions to do the replacement. That program cannot be started by the program it’s going to replace, it has to be run on it’s own when the machine starts.
Given the large number of people running headless servers and the negligible resources it takes up, just starting it for everyone seems like a reasonable solution.
@jfconde
I’m not sure how ‘replacing itself’ relates to simple starting or stopping a service.
What you said does not mean that a running service can’t stop itself when it’s work is done or unwanted.
Isn’t that pretty much normal for one-shot service tasks ?
And as for having PMS start the service when the user starts an internal update, or when user settings allow auto-updates, that should be equally simple to do. (Obviously the PMS server should have any permissions needed.)
Note that I’m now not talking about ‘replacing’ or removing anything from the system.
The service routine can stay installed all the time, though not actively running all the time.
Same issue here, I would like to deactivate this “Plex Update Service” instance - as well as “Plex Tuner Service” since I don’t use DVR - but it does not seem to be doable a clean way. Could you please address this issue? It would be a pity to see Plex multiplying useless instances with each update like so many other programs.
It’s to allow update without your consent. j/k
This service updates the libraries on your server without you having to manually update them after you add content to library folders. This does not update the server software application.
I understand that this comment does not address your complaint that it is still running after disabled. I just believe you should be aware of what its purpose is, whether you want to disable it or not.
