Server Version#: 1.19.4.2935-79e214ead
Player Version#: N/A
I’m attempting to use the Photos section in plex. Specifically for my MacOS Photos library. The library itself is encapsulated as a package file, meaning all the data files are inside a os specific file link a folder but opens as file however you can navigated within the file and see its contents.
Attempt1: navigating to the library itself. Result: Can not see contents beyond the package.
Attempt2: created a symlink to the folder inside the package. I am able to see the content of the symlink by clicking it on the OS. But when I go to the plex interface to add the symlink folder directory it shows as blank.
Question: How do I access the folder through a symlink in plex?
the command I used is: ln -s <source folder> <destination-folder path with name>
Is there another attribute that I need to enable in plex or through the command to allow plex to see the folder contents?
I’m confused. What steps are you taking, in what app?
In Plex Media Server, when you add a folder to a library, it doesn’t use the normal macOS Open/Save dialog. From the Plex dialog you can navigate into the “Photos Library.photoslibrary” bundle.
In Finder, you can right-click a bundle and Show Package Contents to see inside it.
In Finder, or in an Open/Save dialog, you can use Command-Shift-G to bring up the “Go to Location” dialog. You can use this to navigate into a bundle. For instance ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/originals.
But a caveat: Adding the Photos Library to Plex doesn’t sound like a good idea to me. The Photos library is a combination of things from “originals” and other folders in the bundle. I think it will be a mess.
These really are just normal directories; macOS recognizes a few extensions as “bundles” to be friendly - and so you don’t break things by sticking your fingers in them.
Firstly, thanks for the response. Secondly, let me walk through the steps i ended up doing and some comments…
Yes you an navigate to the bundle but when you select it plex can not see inside of the bundle. It shows nothing. I can use show packages to see the contents from the finder. or use the terminal to view inside.
I think if you only select the originals folder it should work just fine as i took the folder out to test that and it parsed everything properly.
Agreed but i think plex only reads folders and files and doesn’t actually modify the folder this way i thought instead of multiple libraries i can leverage one library.
question
when i add the folder and navigate to the bundle why am I not able to see inside by using plex. Is there a way to see inside the bundle using plex?
even when i symlink why aren’t I’m able to see inside the symlink with plex web browser?
There may also be an issue with permissions preventing you from browsing into the bundle.
I’m not in a place I can look - I will at my computer later - but recent versions of macOS require additional permissions to be given before apps can access all Photos or all files on the drive.
That would be in the Security and Privacy settings/control panel.
Edit: This is for a different app, but it gives a nice overview of the process for granting app access to the Photos library.
Edit2: I’m not sure that those permissions are needed for Plex to get to the Photos library. Looking at my system I don’t think I’ve granted Plex any of that, but I am able to browse into my Library/Originals just fine.
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I agree that Originals would be the safest bet. I think you won’t get any changes/modifications/edits that way, but you may avoid other duplication and garbage.
Thanks! for the direction. Looks like you have to give plex full disk access. Once you do that then you’re able to navigated within the bundle and select the masters folder.
After that you are able to load the photos library content.
