# Launching External Applications **URL:** \ **Category:** Dev/API Corner\ **Tags:** plugin-dev\ **Created:** [January 27, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637 "2014-01-27T20:38:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeefyElbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BeefyElbow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeefyElbow)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 8:38pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/1 "2014-01-27T20:38:08Z")
HI folks,   I'm guessing this has been asked before, but I couldn't seem to find a definitive, up to date answer: Is it possible to launch external applications from Plex plug-ins?    I've tried calls to os.system("start ") and subprocess.call(), but had no joy with either. There's no error message in the logs, but nothing happens.   I must be missing something fundamental, so a detailed explanation would really help.   Is the Caster plug-in really the only current way to do this?   ---
**Author:** ![dane22](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/dane22/32/4389_2.png) [@dane22](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dane22)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/2 "2014-01-27T20:41:25Z")
No idea here, but a small guess though.... Does your info.plist contains this: ``` PlexPluginCodePolicy Elevated ``` /Tommy ---
**Author:** ![BeefyElbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BeefyElbow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeefyElbow)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/3 "2014-01-28T19:31:38Z")
Hi dane, Thanks for the reply. I tried adding that key pair, but had the same result. No errors, but no external app (I'm just trying to launch a cmd prompt for testing purposes). Anybody got any other ideas? ---
**Author:** ![mikedm139](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mikedm139/32/96909_2.png) [@mikedm139](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mikedm139)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/4 "2014-01-28T20:25:48Z")
I would suggest taking a look at how ["Caster"](https://forums.plex.tv/topic/68255-caster-an-application-launcher-inspired-by-apptv/) is implemented. I'm not overly familiar with it but as I understand it, the idea is to act as an application launcher. Also, keep in mind that the code is being executed by Plex Media Server on the computer running it, which in many cases is not the same machine as the client app. ---
**Author:** ![BeefyElbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BeefyElbow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeefyElbow)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/5 "2014-01-28T20:48:22Z")
Thanks Mike, That's exactly what I've just been off and done. I installed caster and used it to create a test application launch, then had a look in the resulting code in the \*.bundle directory it created. I wasn't far off in my attempts. ``` subprocess.Popen() ``` Is the magic implementation there. I've managed to get it to work on the test server I have here (which runs a Plex Media Centre client), but need to test it on my main box (running Plex Home Theatre). I'll report back when I'm done. Good point about the app being on the server - for the purposes of this plugin, I've created a simple menu to browse and launch my steam games (or alternatively launch Steam Big Picture mode). Both Plex client and server are running on the same machine. Thanks for the suggestions! ---
**Author:** ![dane22](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/dane22/32/4389_2.png) [@dane22](https://forums.plex.tv/u/dane22)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 3:32am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/6 "2014-01-29T03:32:00Z")
> Thanks Mike, > > That's exactly what I've just been off and done. I installed caster and used it to create a test application launch, then had a look in the resulting code in the \*.bundle directory it created. I wasn't far off in my attempts. > > ``` > subprocess.Popen() > ``` ROTFL...And I completely forgot this: [https://forums.plex.tv/topic/88457-python-ossystem-not-working/?hl=dane22#entry513839](https://forums.plex.tv/topic/88457-python-ossystem-not-working/?hl=dane22#entry513839) So sorry Tommy ---
**Author:** ![BeefyElbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BeefyElbow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeefyElbow)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:04am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/7 "2014-01-29T07:04:24Z")
Hmm. So, I managed to get this to work when running Plex Media Centre against Plex Media Server running on the same Win 7 machine. However, the exact same plugin did not work when launching from Plex Home Theatre against Plex Media Server on the same Win 8 machine. Oddly enough, the plugin did work as expected when I used it from the Media Browser web interface on the Win 8 Media Server. From the client, nothing happened at all - just forlorn little clicks. Again, nothing really of worth in the log files. ---
**Author:** ![mikedm139](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mikedm139/32/96909_2.png) [@mikedm139](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mikedm139)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/8 "2014-01-29T19:19:49Z")
I'd love to offer more assistance but I don't have any useful advice. The plugin framework and Plex ecosystem aren't really geared towards to this sort of use case. You're in pretty much uncharted waters. ---
**Author:** ![BeefyElbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BeefyElbow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeefyElbow)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2014, 12:04pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/9 "2014-01-30T12:04:38Z")
No worries. Seems odd that this works in one situation, but not another. It's either Win 8 or the Home Theatre client that's different. The client seems more likely at this stage, since since I can launch from the server media manager web interface just fine. I'll keep hacking away and report back. ---
**Author:** ![BeefyElbow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@BeefyElbow](https://forums.plex.tv/u/BeefyElbow)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 11:07am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/10 "2014-07-24T11:07:39Z")
Just in case anyone stumbles across this thread, I managed to get this working with the latest version of the Plex Media Server. Once I've tidied up the mechanism a bit, I'll release version 0.1 for general consumption. ---
**Author:** ![mikedm139](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/mikedm139/32/96909_2.png) [@mikedm139](https://forums.plex.tv/u/mikedm139)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/11 "2014-07-24T17:11:49Z")
> Just in case anyone stumbles across this thread, I managed to get this working with the latest version of the Plex Media Server. Once I've tidied up the mechanism a bit, I'll release version 0.1 for general consumption. Glad to hear you're making progress. ---
**Author:** ![wwwizzarrdry](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/wwwizzarrdry/32/4602_2.png) [@wwwizzarrdry](https://forums.plex.tv/u/wwwizzarrdry)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2014, 1:28am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/12 "2014-08-22T01:28:24Z")
I’m trying to create a caster channel that launches Google Chrome into Netflix.com Although the netflix bundle was created properly in my plugins folder, the launcher itself fails and reports nothing about it in my logs. What steps did you take to get your launcher working so far? Win7, latest pms, Plex HT. I wrote a greasemonkey script that enables xbox controller support on Netflix, but now I need to launch it from within Home theater. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/launching-external-applications/55637/13 "2019-12-21T01:10:01Z")
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