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Plex’s metadata on a network share. (Advanced users only)

  1. This is NOT supported. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK
  2. Linux and NFS do work reliably but the degree of reliability is at your own risk subject to every involved software and hardware element involved.
  3. Proper operation is dependent on all layers between PMS and the actual data.
  4. PMS performance will decrease. The latency of the LAN is noticeable.
  5. ONLY use this if you cannot relocate the Library (metadata) to another location on your local machine (see “Moving PMS’s Library” tip) as a LAST RESORT

The above having been stated and understood:

  1. With PMS stopped, use tar to perfectly copy all the files and permissions (retaining UID/GID, and all other inode flags) to the NAS
  2. Add vers=3,local_lock=posix to the mount options if your server does not support NFSv4. This forces TCP and POSIX file locking. PMS uses POSIX locking. Most NFS servers include POSIX locking in NFSv4. Remember to adjust according to your server’s capabilities.
  3. Rename Library locally to save that copy
  4. Create a new Library directory, owned by plex:plex to mount on.
  5. Test the mount
  6. Verify locking are active mount | grep Library by visual inspection of the mount options. Some NFSv4 implementations do not include POSIX file locking by default. Caution is advised.
  7. Verify you have enabled posix file locking in any and all layers / abstractions between PMS and the actual data.
As examples, the completed entry would look something like:

  • syno:/volume1/plexdb /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library nfs sec=sys,intr,local_lock=posix,rw,vers=3,auto,nofail 0 0

  • syno:/volume1/plexdb /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library nfs sec=sys,intr,vers=4,rw,auto,nofail 0 0

This is an advanced tip and not for novice users. Corruption and complete loss of your PMS library metadata will result if done incorrectly.

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