Has anyone created an AppleScript/Application to launch PlexConnect at startup?

rcork · October 18, 2013, 3:06pm

Hi, didn't followed really last pages and want to catch up, so a few things:

i am using the script from post #97 i think, and PlexConnect app created with this script open on login and it's all good. Except of the fact that PMS will open without a password in the login screen with your guide, Will there be anything else different?

Thanks :)

Not sure i follow what you mean by "Except of the fact that PMS will open without a password in the login screen with your guide". The applescript still requires an entry in Keychain so that it has access to the user and password to run the script with administrator privileges. The only changes i made to the script were to not use the "screen" command since it appears broken in 10.9 Mavericks and instead rely on the daemon bash script that is now in the latest release of the PlexConnect code.

tomer1749 · October 18, 2013, 3:49pm

Not sure i follow what you mean by "Except of the fact that PMS will open without a password in the login screen with your guide". The applescript still requires an entry in Keychain so that it has access to the user and password to run the script with administrator privileges. The only changes i made to the script were to not use the "screen" command since it appears broken in 10.9 Mavericks and instead rely on the daemon bash script that is now in the latest release of the PlexConnect code.

Of course he down, but his guide contains a .plist or something that make PMS open in the login screen, before putting the password in-To make the opening time of all login items shorter.

Just a sec, is there a new code for the applescript since post #97

What post is it? I want to update to be Mavericks-ready :)

rcork · October 18, 2013, 3:59pm

Of course he down, but his guide contains a .plist or something that make PMS open in the login screen, before putting the password in-To make the opening time of all login items shorter.

Just a sec, is there a new code for the applescript since post #97

What post is it? I want to update to be Mavericks-ready :)

The changes you need to make to the applescript to work with Mavericks is in post 233. You need to have the latest code for PlexConnect from Github to make it work since it relies on the daemon bash script.

tomer1749 · October 18, 2013, 7:45pm

The changes you need to make to the applescript to work with Mavericks is in post 233. You need to have the latest code for PlexConnect from Github to make it work since it relies on the daemon bash script.

Sorry, didn't catch it all up yet. What is the deamon bash script and what does it do?

tomer1749 · October 18, 2013, 8:35pm

Ok i figured out how to fix this to work on Mavericks. By using the daemon script that has been added to the most recent version of PlexConnect, you can modify the applescript to use it instead of using the "screen" command. Here's the changes you need to make.

1. In PlexConnect_daemon.bash script, change the INSTALL_DIR variable to the fully path of your PlexConnect directory
INSTALL_DIR="/Users/rob/Development/PlexConnect"
2. In the applescript, change the "py" variable to point to the daemon script
set py to "/Users/rob/Development/PlexConnect/PlexConnect_daemon.bash"
3. In the applescript, change the "do shell" and "on quit" sections to pass the start and stop parameters to the daemon script. Take notice that there is a space before "start" and "stop"
do shell script py & " start" user name un password thePassword with administrator privileges
on quit

do shell script py & " stop" user name un password thePassword with administrator privileges

continue quit

end quit

Will this work on ML too? I'm not on Mavericks yet. And the deamon file will change sometimes in the future, so i'll have to do this every time?

And about the last step with the do shell stuff-should i just Rewrite your do shell and on quit or add it? here's my do shell and on quit, what should i do with them?

do shell script "screen -A -m -d -S PlexConnect " & py user name un password thePassword with administrator privileges

on quit

do shell script "kill `ps -u root | grep [P]lexConnect | grep [Pp]ython | awk '{print $2}'`" user name un password thePassword with administrator privileges

continue quit

end quit

tomer1749 · October 18, 2013, 8:49pm

Will this work on ML too? I'm not on Mavericks yet. And the deamon file will change sometimes in the future, so i'll have to do this every time?

And about the last step with the do shell stuff-should i just Rewrite your do shell and on quit or add it? here's my do shell and on quit, what should i do with them?

do shell script "screen -A -m -d -S PlexConnect " & py user name un password thePassword with administrator privileges

on quit

do shell script "kill `ps -u root | grep [P]lexConnect | grep [Pp]ython | awk '{print $2}'`" user name un password thePassword with administrator privileges

continue quit

end quit

Ok, answered a few of my own questions:

It works with ML.

I replaced the do shell and on quit with the new lines .. And it works

Last question:

The deamon file will change in the future, with more lines, fixes & stuff, so i'll have to edit it every time?

rcork · October 18, 2013, 8:51pm

Ok, answered a few of my own questions:

It works with ML.

I replaced the do shell and on quit with the new lines .. And it works

Last question:

The deamon file will change in the future, with more lines, fixes & stuff, so i'll have to edit it every time?

If the daemon file changes in the github repository, you'll need to just change the INSTALL_DIR variable in the daemon script. No changes would be required to the applescript.

tomer1749 · October 19, 2013, 6:58am

If the daemon file changes in the github repository, you'll need to just change the INSTALL_DIR variable in the daemon script. No changes would be required to the applescript.

Understood that :)

But why can't we develop an app in Xcode based on this applescript that'll check for updates and PlexConnect folder will be installed in it's files, so the install_dir will be the same at all devices? It'll be on the bar like PMS and download the newest zip automatically without telling you, and when the code itself will update, there will be a check for updates button.

sbradley7777 · October 20, 2013, 2:59pm

They are working on a launcher it seems upstream. There is a comment that describes how to create the launcher:

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/70149-has-anyone-created-an-applescriptapplication-to-launch-plexconnect-at-startup/page-5#entry424256

For the time being, I created an Application to make launching PlexConnect.py easier with automator. Here is location of the one I created with included icon. In directions below there is link to a tarball link if you do not want to clone the repo.

https://github.com/sbradley7777/dot.config/tree/master/osx/automator/automator.apps/Launch-PlexConnect.app

How to install and run:

1) You will need to create a keychain for PlexConnect.py to use that has admin rights so that sudo can be ran:

login -> password -> application called PlexConnect

2) Create a symlink for PlexConnect.py

$ mkdir ~/bin
$ ln -s ~/github/PlexConnect/PlexConnect.py ~/bin/PlexConnect.py

3) Clone the repo or download the tarball that contains Launch-PlexConnect.app.

Launch-PlexConnect.app.tar.bz2: https://github.com/sbradley7777/dot.config/raw/master/osx/automator/automator.apps/Launch-PlexConnect.app.tar.bz2
Git Repo that could be cloned: https://github.com/sbradley7777/dot.config/tree/master/

If you download the tarball then just extract the tarball if OSX does not do automatically.

$ cd ~/Downloads
$ tar jxvf Launch-PlexConnect.app.tar.bz2

4) To launch the app Launch-PlexConnect.app then just double click on the app or add to startup login.

Miscellaneous Items

If you need to stop or list processes of the apps then just add the following alias to your ~/.bashrc file.

alias kill_plexconnect="sudo pkill -9 -f PlexConnect.py";
alias ps_plexconnect="pgrep -l -f PlexConnect.py";

The run the following command to source the new alias in. If PlexConnect.py it will list any running processes, kill any running processes, and then will list any running processes that contain the string PlexConnect.py.

$ source ~/.bashrc
$ ps_plexconnect
$ kill_plexconnect
$ ps_plexconnect

I agree that we need a better solution that does not involve sudo/root to open sockets. I am not sure if possible in OSX.

UPDATE:

I updated the automater app so that a generic path is used: ~/bin/PlexConnect.py. This means that there is no need to modify the automater application.

If you have questions or problems just reply to thread.

UPDATE:

I removed automator from my git repo master, but here is commit before I removed it: https://github.com/sbradley7777/dot.config/blob/73892d56b226d6eadbf0f21579d65bdfe7de02be/osx/automator/automator.apps/Launch-PlexConnect.app.tar.bz2

tomer1749 · October 20, 2013, 4:48pm

They are working on a launcher it seems upstream. There is a comment that describes how to create the launcher:

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/70149-has-anyone-created-an-applescriptapplication-to-launch-plexconnect-at-startup/page-5#entry424256

For now, I wanted to create a launcher and here is location of the one I created with included icon

https://github.com/sbradley7777/dot.config/tree/master/osx/automator/automator.apps/Launch-PlexConnect.app

You will need to create a keychain for PlexConnect to use that has admin rights so that sudo can be ran:

login -> password -> application called PlexConnect

To launch the app Launch-PlexConnect.app then just double click on the app or add to startup login.

If you need to stop or list processes of the apps then just add the following alias to your ~/.bashrc file.
alias kill_plexconnect="sudo pkill -9 -f PlexConnect.py";
alias ps_plexconnect="pgrep -l -f PlexConnect.py";
The run the following command if PlexConnect is running. If you want to source it in the current terminal or you will need to logout to run in terminal:
$ source ~/.bashrc
$ ps_plexconnect
$ kill_plexconnect
$ ps_plexconnect
I agree that we need a better solution that does not involve sudo/root to open sockets. I am not sure if possible in OSX.

UPDATE:

Just forgot that install path is different, so you will need to change that in workflow file. Might fix that later.

https://github.com/sbradley7777/dot.config/blob/master/osx/automator/automator.apps/Launch-PlexConnect.app/Contents/document.wflow#L58

But is there a problem to create a normal app based on the apple script with all the features i talked about?

wahlman.j · October 25, 2013, 10:13am

Mavericks launchctl and applescript complete guide moved to here:

http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php/topic/84307-launchctl-and-applescript-methods-for-plexconnect-on-mavericks-osx/

tomer1749 · October 25, 2013, 11:45am

I created a easy way to autostart plexconnect using applescript on mavericks if anyone is interested. Its based on the old plexconnect.py but works well for my situation. I have been told this may be a security issue on this forum so use at your own risk. Im sure you could change it to work with the newer versions of plexconnect and there is launchctl options as well but I prefer applescript so to each their own. Until a sure fire way is created with applescript if it ever is I personally will be using this instead of launchctl. Thanks to chrisbcole for his OP on this. Enjoy :)

Fastuser.app info is in my signature if needed. Here are the icons as well if needed.

That's actually just like applescript so don't need it :) And added icon long time ago.

What is needed is a real applications based on the apple script with all the features i already talked about ..

Segran · October 25, 2013, 11:30pm

Ok i figured out how to fix this to work on Mavericks. By using the daemon script that has been added to the most recent version of PlexConnect, you can modify the applescript to use it instead of using the "screen" command. Here's the changes you need to make.

1. In PlexConnect_daemon.bash script, change the INSTALL_DIR variable to the fully path of your PlexConnect directory
INSTALL_DIR="/Users/rob/Development/PlexConnect"
2. In the applescript, change the "py" variable to point to the daemon script
set py to "/Users/rob/Development/PlexConnect/PlexConnect_daemon.bash"
3. In the applescript, change the "do shell" and "on quit" sections to pass the start and stop parameters to the daemon script. Take notice that there is a space before "start" and "stop"
do shell script py & " start" user name un password thePassword with administrator privileges
on quit

do shell script py & " stop" user name un password thePassword with administrator privileges

continue quit

end quit

I was stupid enough to update to Maverick, lots of things are not working anymore.. Seems there is no way back either.

One of the programs that dont work is PlexConnect, have very limited knowledge and even less experience in banging about in .py and such like...

I can't figure out what you mean by: 2. In the applescript, change the "py" variable to point to the daemon script

I have looked in all he files in the PlexConnect directory and can not figure out which file you mean, if I did i don't know here to change/paste what you are suggesting.

I made the change to PlexConnect_daemon.bash.

Please help!

rcork · October 26, 2013, 12:19am

That’s the change required to the AppleScript in post 97.

deurich · October 26, 2013, 10:43pm

Ok, I made the above changes and viola it works until I reboot. Currently, I have my plex media server and the PlexConnect Apple Script to "Open on Login"

Prior to Maveriks, I just turn on the computer, both would load, and trailer would work perfectly.

Now when I reboot, both load as per previously, however going to trailers on ATV gives me an error..."no plex Library Sections Available".

All I have to do is stop the Plex Script and restart it and I can get trailers to work.

I know this is not a big deal but I have little kids that have figured out the ATV button pushes to get their shows on trailers but the computer (stopping and restarting the Plex Script" is a little beyond them yet.

I believe it likely relates to the boot login order but I cannot get it figured out.

Here is the ;log after I reboot, shut down Plex script and restart pled script.

10/26/2013 4:32:00.922 PM shutdown[421]: SHUTDOWN_TIME: 1382826720 921807

10/26/2013 4:32:00.944 PM Plex Media Server[244]: XPC error messaging com.apple.IconServicesAgent: Connection interrupted

10/26/2013 4:32:00.944 PM Plex Media Server[244]: XPC error messaging com.apple.IconServicesAgent: Connection invalid

10/26/2013 4:32:00.947 PM Dock[176]: XPC error messaging com.apple.IconServicesAgent: Connection interrupted

10/26/2013 4:32:00.949 PM Dock[176]: XPC error messaging com.apple.IconServicesAgent: Connection invalid

10/26/2013 4:32:00.950 PM quicklookd[198]: XPC error messaging com.apple.IconServicesAgent: Connection interrupted

10/26/2013 4:32:13.000 PM bootlog[0]: BOOT_TIME 1382826733 0