Failed to start Plex Media Server Lubuntu 18.04

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: 1.19.1.2645

Only been messing with Linux for a few months so I’m in way over my head.

Tried moving my library from Ubuntu 18.04 to new hardware with Lubuntu 18.04, installed on the new machine and copied old library files per official migration instructions, but I got stuck trying to get Plex up and running. Found out the service was failing to start. I thought moving my software RAID5 full of my media files would be the headache part of this, but that went surprisingly smoothly.

Read a few forum posts and I didn’t see anything yet that solved my issue. I’ve also uninstalled, reinstalled, purge uninstalled, and reinstalled a few times, no luck. Attaching logs (some may be from the previous server) and output from a few other commands I’ve seen on similar topics:

sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver
[sudo] password for memalpha:
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: failed (Result: core-dump) since Wed 2020-04-15 12:23:44 PDT; 41min ago
Process: 3182 ExecStart=/bin/sh -c export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_VENDOR=“$(grep ^NAME= /etc/os-release | awk -F= “{print $2}” | tr -d " )”; export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_DE
Process: 3180 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d “${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}” || /bin/mkdir -p “${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}” (code=exit
Main PID: 3182 (code=dumped, signal=ABRT)

Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: Stopped Plex Media Server.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘core-dump’.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: Failed to start Plex Media Server.

sudo journalctl -xe | grep plex
Apr 15 11:55:48 MemoryAlpha sudo[2595]: memalpha : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/memalpha ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/apt purge plexmediaserver
Apr 15 12:22:14 MemoryAlpha sudo[2765]: memalpha : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/memalpha ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status plexmediaserver
Apr 15 12:23:00 MemoryAlpha pkexec[2768]: memalpha: Executing command [USER=root] [TTY=unknown] [CWD=/home/memalpha] [COMMAND=/usr/bin/gdebi-gtk --non-interactive /home/memalpha/Downloads/plexmediaserver_1.19.1.2645-ccb6eb67e_amd64.deb]
Apr 15 12:23:27 MemoryAlpha logger[2950]: PlexMediaServer install: Plex User: plex
Apr 15 12:23:27 MemoryAlpha logger[2952]: PlexMediaServer install: Plex Group: plex
Apr 15 12:23:27 MemoryAlpha logger[2956]: PlexMediaServer install: Metadata Dir: /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has begun start-up
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has begun starting up.
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished start-up
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished starting up.
Apr 15 12:23:28 MemoryAlpha Plex Media Server[3128]: ****** PLEX MEDIA SERVER CRASHED, CRASH REPORT WRITTEN: /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Crash Reports/1.19.1.2645-ccb6eb67e/PLEX MEDIA SERVER/226d837d-99aa-288f-429a104e-62ab680a.dmp
Apr 15 12:23:28 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=dumped, status=6/ABRT
Apr 15 12:23:28 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘core-dump’.
Apr 15 12:23:33 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
Apr 15 12:23:33 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
– Automatic restarting of the unit plexmediaserver.service has been scheduled, as the result for
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished shutting down
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished shutting down.
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has begun start-up
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has begun starting up.
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished start-up
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished starting up.
Apr 15 12:23:33 MemoryAlpha Plex Media Server[3163]: ****** PLEX MEDIA SERVER CRASHED, CRASH REPORT WRITTEN: /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Crash Reports/1.19.1.2645-ccb6eb67e/PLEX MEDIA SERVER/07d11031-6104-9eb4-4f7bdf7b-38c5ec2e.dmp
Apr 15 12:23:33 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=dumped, status=6/ABRT
Apr 15 12:23:33 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘core-dump’.
Apr 15 12:23:38 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
Apr 15 12:23:38 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 2.
– Automatic restarting of the unit plexmediaserver.service has been scheduled, as the result for
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished shutting down
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished shutting down.
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has begun start-up
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has begun starting up.
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished start-up
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished starting up.
Apr 15 12:23:38 MemoryAlpha Plex Media Server[3182]: ****** PLEX MEDIA SERVER CRASHED, CRASH REPORT WRITTEN: /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Crash Reports/1.19.1.2645-ccb6eb67e/PLEX MEDIA SERVER/6d48c7ca-3c01-a2d8-1c7b58f9-4ed60f0c.dmp
Apr 15 12:23:39 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=dumped, status=6/ABRT
Apr 15 12:23:39 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘core-dump’.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
– Automatic restarting of the unit plexmediaserver.service has been scheduled, as the result for
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished shutting down
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished shutting down.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Apr 15 12:23:44 MemoryAlpha systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘core-dump’.
– Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has failed
– Unit plexmediaserver.service has failed.
Apr 15 12:24:55 MemoryAlpha sudo[3211]: memalpha : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/home/memalpha ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status plexmediaserver

Any help would be much appreciated!

Logs.tar.gz (4.4 MB)

2

Nothing shows in your logs since 14-Apr.

Please walk through this How-To,

Paying particular attention to assigning new ownership on the new (destination) system.

Linux ownership and permissions are done by number. The names are for our convenience only.

When you move from one to another, the User ID number often changes.
This is the single most common cause of a failed relocation.

3

Hey, thanks for the reply!

I don’t think Plex is starting at all on the new machine, so is the migration the issue? Even before I moved any data over, I’m 99% sure Plex wasn’t launching on the new machine; it did a fail to connect (localhost:32400 etc) when I launch the manager and I ignored it at the time. When it kept doing that after I moved the Application Support folder over, that’s when I realized the problem. The logs are likely all from the old machine if so…

4

As I show in the How-To, open a terminal window and go see what Linux is showing (telling you).

I show you how to inspect & verify everything is set as it should be

Of the procedure I show in the How-To, this is what matters

This sets ownership to user ‘plex’ on the new system (the new User ID numbers)

sh-4.4# cd /var/lib/plexmediaserver
sh-4.4# chown -R plex:plex ./Library
5

That worked! My mistake, I totally misunderstood you. Now for the rest of the migration process.
Thank you!

6

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.