Ok, here’s the situation. I have a family member working in the middle of nowhere, with very, very limited internet access. It’s so remote, all packages take a minimum of a month to be delivered…
With such limited internet access, and since we’re both using MacOS I’d love to set up a fresh PMS. download all that yummy metadata, art, subs etc, then scrape it, and maybe create a script that will move everything into place on their machine. a fresh copy of PMS, and all the downloaded data.
So long story short, do I need anything other then the Plex folders living in ~/Library/Application Support ??
I don’t use MacOS so can’t be a specific help in that department (I’m sure someone will jump in) but on a Windows setup you could install to a large external HDD drive. Then copy media, scrape etc and get ready to use. Then move to different PC which doesn’t have Plex installed. On the new computer you install Plex to the same external drive (mapped as the same drive letter) and upon restart it has the data as setup on the first computer.
I’ve always manually set the Plex Meta-Data directory and Transcode directories myself instead of letting Plex bury these folders.
So it can be done, HOWEVER, Plex doesn’t work to well in environments that have iffy internet. Depending on clients used you can easy be offline even in your own house when you have no internet or Plex can’t “phone home”.
I’ve had systems I’ve installed on private jets, boats and RVs that I’ve switched over to use Emby vs Plex because it works far better without constant internet access.
Emby needs to “phone home” about once a month to validate if you have a premium membership (similar to Plex Pass) but if it’s can’t do this it reverts to non premier mode but you always have access to play your media. Emby can go weeks without an internet connection with full access and different user logins still available.
In Plex if you lose your internet and use different login names other than admin you can’t change users or you will lose access as only the current user is “cached”.
Normally, none of this is an issue BUT as pointed out, Plex isn’t the platform of choice to run in a spotty internet environment.
Thanks for the reply cayars. I’ve been using plex for just about a decade now… well it used to be called osxbmc. I’m hoping to stay within the plex family. that being said… EMBY has all the QOL ease of use features I tried to bring up with the community years ago. They just squashed them so hard I had t make a new user. Now here they are. But before someone goes into a blind rage… The problem was not with the devs. not at all, they are amazing I love those people. just a few trolls, or someone who thinks gui is dumg. lol . this was prior to the new message boards…
Anyway… forgive my ramble, I’m in that newborn, eat, sleep, poop and tummy time 3 hour time bubble.
If anyone has any other suggestions, I look forward to them.
What is the functional goal you’re shooting for? If they’re very remote, have extremely poor internet - how (exactly) will a Plex server be used? Do you even NEED a server or would a disk of media files be completely sufficient to plug into a TV or other device?
Take Plex completely off the table and describe the scenario of use without any product names or particular technologies.
