Can't start PMS

Server Version#: plexmediaserver-1.15.1.791-8bec0f76c.x86_64.rpm
Player Version#:

good afternoon.
I have installed the package on a headless machine with a fedora 29 server on it.
I just can’t run pms on it.
I’ve set selinux to permissive and disabled the firewall for tests.

systemctl status plexmediaserver
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
   Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
   Active: failed (Result: core-dump) since Sun 2019-03-17 00:01:33 CET; 18min ago
  Process: 1248 ExecStart=/bin/sh -c  PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_VENDOR="$(grep ^NAME= /etc/os-release | awk -F= "{print \$2}" | tr -d \" )"  PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_DEVICE="PC"  PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_MODE>
  Process: 1246 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mkdir -p "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
 Main PID: 1248 (code=dumped, signal=ABRT)

mars 17 00:01:28 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=dumped, status=6/ABRT
mars 17 00:01:28 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'core-dump'.
mars 17 00:01:33 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service RestartSec=5s expired, scheduling restart.
mars 17 00:01:33 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
mars 17 00:01:33 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Stopped Plex Media Server.
mars 17 00:01:33 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
mars 17 00:01:33 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'core-dump'.
mars 17 00:01:33 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Failed to start Plex Media Server.

What’s going on?
thanks. :slight_smile:

Good question. Let’s find out :slight_smile:

  1. You’ll eventually want to fix the domain issue but that’s the least of the troubles now
  2. sudo journalctl -xe | grep -i plex will tell us if there are any glaring errors in the system log
  3. That failing, do the following, then try manually starting again (systemctl restart plexmediaserver)
sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver

That failing, Download again using a different browser and have dnf remove the package then reinstall the newly downloaded attempt

I am running quite stably on Fedora 28.

Okay, thanks.
Some facts:

sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver
It hasn't changed anything

the result of sudo journalctl -xe | grep -i plex

[code]
mars 17 10:51:00 QNAP.localdomain dbus-daemon[771]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='net.reactivated.Fprint' unit='fprintd.service' requested by ':1.93' (uid=0 pid=1837 comm="sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver " label="unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023")
mars 17 10:51:09 QNAP.localdomain sudo[1837]:      jyl : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/home/jyl ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver
mars 17 10:51:11 QNAP.localdomain sudo[1844]:      jyl : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/home/jyl ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver
mars 17 10:51:28 QNAP.localdomain sudo[1867]:     root : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/home/jyl ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/systemctl stop plexmediaserver
mars 17 10:51:34 QNAP.localdomain sudo[1874]:     root : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/home/jyl ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/systemctl start plexmediaserver
mars 17 10:51:34 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Starting Plex Media Server...
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a commencé à démarrer
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a commencé à démarrer.
mars 17 10:51:34 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:34 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Started Plex Media Server.
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son démarrage
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son démarrage, avec le résultat done.
mars 17 10:51:34 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=failed'
mars 17 10:51:34 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=dumped, status=6/ABRT
mars 17 10:51:34 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'core-dump'.
mars 17 10:51:34 QNAP.localdomain systemd-coredump[1892]: Process 1880 (Plex Media Serv) of user 987 dumped core.
                                                          #11 0x00000000013da77b n/a (Plex Media Server)
                                                          #12 0x0000000001419dbd n/a (Plex Media Server)
                                                          #14 0x000000000048711e n/a (Plex Media Server)
-- Subject: Le processus 1880 (Plex Media Serv) a généré un fichier « core »
-- Le processus 1880 (Plex Media Serv) a planté et généré un fichier « core ».
mars 17 10:51:35 QNAP.localdomain abrt-server[1900]: Package 'plexmediaserver' isn't signed with proper key
mars 17 10:51:39 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service RestartSec=5s expired, scheduling restart.
mars 17 10:51:39 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
-- Le redémarrage automatique de l'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a été planifié, en
mars 17 10:51:39 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:39 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:39 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Stopped Plex Media Server.
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son arrêt
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son arrêt.
mars 17 10:51:39 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Starting Plex Media Server...
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a commencé à démarrer
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a commencé à démarrer.
mars 17 10:51:39 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Started Plex Media Server.
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son démarrage
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son démarrage, avec le résultat done.
mars 17 10:51:39 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:40 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=dumped, status=6/ABRT
mars 17 10:51:40 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'core-dump'.
mars 17 10:51:40 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=failed'
mars 17 10:51:40 QNAP.localdomain systemd-coredump[1917]: Process 1905 (Plex Media Serv) of user 987 dumped core.
                                                          #11 0x00000000013da77b n/a (Plex Media Server)
                                                          #12 0x0000000001419dbd n/a (Plex Media Server)
                                                          #14 0x000000000048711e n/a (Plex Media Server)
-- Subject: Le processus 1905 (Plex Media Serv) a généré un fichier « core »
-- Le processus 1905 (Plex Media Serv) a planté et généré un fichier « core ».
mars 17 10:51:40 QNAP.localdomain abrt-server[1923]: Package 'plexmediaserver' isn't signed with proper key
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service RestartSec=5s expired, scheduling restart.
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 2.
-- Le redémarrage automatique de l'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a été planifié, en
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Stopped Plex Media Server.
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son arrêt
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son arrêt.
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Starting Plex Media Server...
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a commencé à démarrer
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a commencé à démarrer.
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Started Plex Media Server.
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son démarrage
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son démarrage, avec le résultat done.
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=dumped, status=6/ABRT
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'core-dump'.
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=failed'
mars 17 10:51:45 QNAP.localdomain systemd-coredump[1940]: Process 1928 (Plex Media Serv) of user 987 dumped core.
                                                          #11 0x00000000013da77b n/a (Plex Media Server)
                                                          #12 0x0000000001419dbd n/a (Plex Media Server)
                                                          #14 0x000000000048711e n/a (Plex Media Server)
-- Subject: Le processus 1928 (Plex Media Serv) a généré un fichier « core »
-- Le processus 1928 (Plex Media Serv) a planté et généré un fichier « core ».
mars 17 10:51:46 QNAP.localdomain abrt-server[1946]: Package 'plexmediaserver' isn't signed with proper key
mars 17 10:51:50 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service RestartSec=5s expired, scheduling restart.
mars 17 10:51:50 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
-- Le redémarrage automatique de l'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a été planifié, en
mars 17 10:51:50 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Stopped Plex Media Server.
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son arrêt
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a terminé son arrêt.
mars 17 10:51:50 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
mars 17 10:51:50 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:50 QNAP.localdomain audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=plexmediaserver comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
mars 17 10:51:50 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'core-dump'.
mars 17 10:51:50 QNAP.localdomain systemd[1]: Failed to start Plex Media Server.
-- Subject: L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a échoué
-- L'unité (unit) plexmediaserver.service a échoué, avec le résultat failed.
[/code]

Did you customize /lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service ? If you did, it will be overwritten when next updated. Proper customization uses /etc/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service.d/override.conf I have a customization tip to guide in that.

I haven’t customized anything
Everything is as installed by the package.

Plex, on Fedora, “just works”. I know this because my daily driver/development system is Fedora 28. Are you running on the Rawhide branch? If so, that will cause craziness for certain.

As for running Fedora on a QNAP box, while the QNAP is “just a computer”, the only thing we have done is run Ubuntu. Never tried fedora.

Are you up to constructing a manual start shell script?

  1. copy out the Environment= lines from the .service file. Make them export statements in a new script
  2. In that same script, copy out the ExecStart and make that the command invoked by the script after the environment is set.
  3. Save and chmod +x it.
  4. Done correctly, you now have a manual launch and being in your TTY, you see all errors PMS prints.

Please report back what it prints.

Will try that next week. thanks.

I’ve just built a fresh VM with F29 server netinstall and done the same with F28
I just enabled RPM fusion on it, and installed plex.
Also performed sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver

Same problem on both, it won’t start.
My source iso:
http://ftp.free.fr/mirrors/fedora.redhat.com/fedora/linux/releases/29/Server/x86_64/iso/Fedora-Server-netinst-x86_64-29-1.2.iso
http://ftp.free.fr/mirrors/fedora.redhat.com/fedora/linux/releases/28/Server/x86_64/iso/Fedora-Server-netinst-x86_64-28-1.1.iso

Then it is a F29 problem. I will spin a VM myself.

Fedora 28 runs it out of the box.

Thanks for the heads up

I’ve just created a VM with F28 workstation, the service runs well on it.
It doesn’t run on F28 server
I don’t have time to try but my guess is that it will work with F29 workstation.

Having that start script will find out which runtime libs are needed or conflicting.

Standby.

This will get you going. Tweak as necessary.

#!/bin/sh

echo Starting PMS for diagnostics
PLEX_DIR="/usr/lib/plexmediaserver"
PID_FILE="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/plexmediaserver.pid"
PLEX_USER=plex

  # Continue with normal PMS start
  su $PLEX_USER -s /bin/sh -c \
    "export LC_ALL=en_US.utf8; \
     export LANG=en_US.utf8; \
     export LD_LIBRARY_PATH='$PLEX_DIR/lib'; \
     export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_PLUGIN_PROCS=6; \
     export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR='/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support'; \
     export TMPDIR=/var/lib/plexmediaserver/tmp_transcoding; \
     /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex\ Media\ Server"

# kill it  (set trap to execute this if desired) and force a crash dump
sudo kill -11 $(pidof "Plex Media Server")

If this runs perfectly, PLEASE let me know ASAP!

Fedora 29, in VirtualBox, No problems.

  1. Install F29 server iso
  2. Run the updates & reboot
  3. Mount the media from the NAS
  4. Install 1.15.2.793
  5. SSH into the box and away we go

Start - Finish = 10 minutes

Good afternoon
The script is not not working
I’ve edited it to have proper locale

#!/bin/sh

echo Starting PMS for diagnostics
PLEX_DIR="/usr/lib/plexmediaserver"
PID_FILE="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/plexmediaserver.pid"
PLEX_USER=plex

  # Continue with normal PMS start
  su $PLEX_USER -s /bin/sh -c \
    "export LC_ALL=fr_FR.utf8; \
     export LANG=fr_FR.utf8; \
     export LD_LIBRARY_PATH='$PLEX_DIR/lib'; \
     export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_PLUGIN_PROCS=6; \
     export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR='/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support'; \
     export TMPDIR=/var/lib/plexmediaserver/tmp_transcoding; \
     /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex\ Media\ Server"

# kill it  (set trap to execute this if desired) and force a crash dump
sudo kill -11 $(pidof "Plex Media Server")

what I get on the command line:

[root@QNAP jyl]# ./start-pms.sh
Starting PMS for diagnostics
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
  what():  Codecs: Initialize: 'boost::filesystem::temp_directory_path: Not a directory: "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/tmp_transcoding"'
****** PLEX MEDIA SERVER CRASHED, CRASH REPORT WRITTEN: /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Crash Reports/1.15.1.791-8bec0f76c/PLEX MEDIA SERVER/1fbc1a79-e648-e16b-732920cb-30e58399.dmp
Error in command line:the argument for option '--serverUuid' should follow immediately after the equal sign
Crash Uploader options (all are required):
  --directory arg       Directory to scan for crash reports
  --serverUuid arg      UUID of the server that crashed
  --userId arg          User that owns this product
  --platform arg        Platform string
  --platformVersion arg Platform version string
  --vendor arg          Vendor string
  --device arg          Device string
  --model arg           Device model string
  --sentryUrl arg       Sentry URL to upload to
  --sentryKey arg       Sentry Key for the project
  --version arg         Version of the product
sh : ligne 1 :  1170 Abandon                 (core dumped)/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex\ Media\ Server
kill: pas assez d'arguments

Do you see the error?

It printed it out right there.

Well do you mean

```
Error in command line:the argument for option '--serverUuid' should follow immediately after the equal sign
```

?

Starting PMS for diagnostics
terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
  what():  Codecs: Initialize: 'boost::filesystem::temp_directory_path: Not a directory: "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/tmp_transcoding"'

Thanks.
I’ve set the tmp dir to /tmp and it works.
I’ve been able to launch pms, configure a directory and access a movie from a client.
What is the next step to get a fully functional service? :wink:

sudo mkdir /var/lib/plexmediaserver/tmp_transcoding
sudo chown plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver/tmp_transcoding

Well by next step I was wondering how to have a functional service with systemd. :slight_smile:

in /lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service
what’s wrong in it?

Unit]
Description=Plex Media Server
After=network.target network-online.target

[Service]
Environment="PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR=/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support"
Environment=PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_HOME=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver
Environment=PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_PLUGIN_PROCS=6
Environment=PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_TMPDIR=/tmp
Environment=LC_ALL=fr_FR.UTF-8
Environment=LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8
ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c '/usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mkdir -p "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}"'
ExecStart=/bin/sh -c '\
PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_VENDOR="$(grep ^NAME= /etc/os-release | awk -F= "{print \\$2}" | tr -d \\" )" \
PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_DEVICE="PC" \
PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_MODEL="$(uname -m)" \
PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_PLATFORM_VERSION="$(grep ^VERSION= /etc/os-release | awk -F= "{print \\$2}" | tr -d \\" )" \
LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/lib \
"/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Server"'
Type=simple
User=plex
Group=plex
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
StartLimitInterval=60s
StartLimitBurst=3

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

First, you do not alter /lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service. This is controlled by the package manager. You use the proper and supported systemd override mechanism.

I do not recommend changing the server’s core language. I do suggest you change the default language (plex.tv) and display language (Setting - Web).

Should you wish to consider this avenue:

You will want to create the override file as follows using the above procedure.

[Service]
Environment=LC_ALL=fr_FR.UTF-8
Environment=LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8