Metadata settings ALL look correct, Plex (Ubuntu 22.04.3) still using local disk instead of SSD

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#:1.32.7.7621

Hi All,
Someone can help me, as Im pulling my hair out as to why this isn’t working.
Long story short (I hope), I am running Plex as a VM. It’s all working fine, no issues, though I want to fine tune it. have installed a 500GB SSD and I want to use that for all the metadata rather than the local disk.
I have (what I believe) changed all the correct settings to point Plex to use the SSD, all to no avail.
The SSD for some reason mounts as ‘media’ even though it’s an internal drive (don’t know why - but that’s an issue to resolve for another time), but I have changed how it mounts.
Ive created a mount point /home/Plex_Cache (plex:plex has permissions) and used that to mount my SSD. See below:

Screenshot 1
Screenshot 11130×442 41.7 KB

Using fstab, it will auto mount correctly on reboot. See below:
Screenshot 2

I have changed the override.conf to point the metadata and trancoder to the correct directories. See below:

Screenshot 3
Screenshot 31522×166 114 KB

And I have also told Plex where the new Transcoder directory is (there doesn’t appear to be an issue here, but I thought I would add this information for context since transcoder works, but metadata doesn’t). See below:

Screenshot 4
Screenshot 41578×198 18.9 KB

So, as far as I can see, I believe I have set it up correctly.
Can anyone let me know what I’ve done or am doing wrong?

Thanks everyone!!

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Hi Everyone… just thought I would see if anyone has any ideas on this? Im still stuck :frowning:

3

You forgot the first statement :slight_smile:

[Service]
Environment="----stuff here"

No need to replicate those things you aren’t changing

User=plex
Group=plex

Example:

[chuck@lizum ~.1990]$ cat /etc/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service.d/override.conf 
[Service]
Environment="PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR=/usb/plex"
User=chuck
Group=chuck
[chuck@lizum ~.1991]$
4

Thanks ChuckPa.
I gave myself the biggest facepalm for missing that! :man_facepalming:
I was pulling my hair out and it was staring me in the face!!
After making that change however, it seems to have broken it :slight_smile:

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Plex now wont load. I’ve tried installing it once more. There were no errors during install:

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31063×470 155 KB

Looking at the logs, I receive the following:

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41062×471 134 KB

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51920×346 60.6 KB

Any ideas on what could have caused my new issue?

Thanks everyone!

5

Verify what you put there:

You should have:

/home/Plex_Cache/Plex_Metadata_Cache/Plex Media Server/Preferences.xml

If I may? This isn’t a ‘Cache’ . You’re moving the entire Metadata structure
(the one from /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support) to the new location.
You might want to simplify naming and remove “_Cache” from it so you don’t get confused with the real “Cache” directory under “Plex Media Server”

Given the installer didn’t warn about permissions, they must be OK meaning there’s an issue with the directory structure.

6

Ill also note that you may have issues mounting it in /home too

7

Thanks ChuckPa & dbirch.
It was my silly mistake that caused Plex to stop working. I didn’t apply the permissions of plex:plex correctly on the SSD. I fixed that and it’s currently re-indexing everything.
It’s back up and running, so @ChuckPa, you mentioning the [Service] statement, did in fact fix my issue. Thank you and thanks everyone.

PS On a side note. I assume its ok for me to delete the the old metadata folders?

8

Once fully transitioned to the new location, delete Library and all below it.

/var/lib/plexmediaserver

is Plex’s $HOME. That directory is needed. (every UID needs a $HOME) It can be empty but if you delete it, I’ll just create it again at the next installation/update :stuck_out_tongue: LOL

9

@ChuckPa Thank you for all the help.