I am going to be migrating my Plex server from Windows 10 to a flavor of Linux. Is there anything I need to be aware of?
It is a Dell Poweredge t300
I have most of my media on USB drives, and a few on the internal hard drive.
Edit: lost a 0 in model number
I haven’t done such a move, but I would start by reading these guides:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201370363-move-an-install-to-another-system
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200288596-linux-permissions-guide
What beckfield wrote… plus: bookmark the Linux tips and tricks
Having used both servers, I’m curious of the reason for the switch. Hoping to solve a problem? Saving on licensing costs?
From the Linux perspective, I offer:
Avoid the derivatives like Mint, Manjaro, etc.
a. They are not supported. Supported distros are Ubuntu, Debian, Centos, Fedora.
b. Those derivatives differ in some way for a reason. In the case of Mint, its quirks make it the most problematic and troublesome to deal with (in my experience)
Avoid putting PMS in a Linux VM or a Docker container.
a. You gain nothing by having Linux in a VM on Windows. You have made it even slower than native Windows
b. Putting it in a Container, for the sake of putting in a container, which you will likely never move to another installation, is a wasted effort which adds complexity for no net functional gain. The tar.gz of the Library directory (the data) is more portable than the encapsulated OS abstraction is because native PMS exists on all platforms where docker exists.
Most importantly: On Linux: “Keep It Simple. The simpler it is the better it will run.” I have a lot of years experience to back that up.
I’ve been running Plex on Mint for years. My Plex environment is pretty simple, but I’ve had no problems that I can attribute to Minty quirks.
Beckfield,
You are one of the few then. I am willing to bet your Linux skills are well above those of the typical person trying to transition from Windows -> Linux and have chosen Mint because of a) reviews b) recommended or c) something else without the the needed mastery.
The “How To” articles I’ve created are largely because of those trying to use Plex on Linux. Maybe Mint is taking an fair hit here, due to it being a common element, from me to which I will apologize but at the end of the day, I need stand by what’s supported.
When Engineering finally does release my new packaging for Debian based systems, everything will change for the better and I welcome that. For now, my hands are tied and I;m sorry about that.
The server came with Windows 7 and I upgraded it to Windows 10. Some where since that upgrade (i think during one of the windows updates) , it reset to default video drivers and has started to crash. Come to find out, Dell hasn’t released video drivers for that server for Win10. I know I should have Windows Server on it, but I not going to pay for a Server License. EDIT: Don’t get me wrong, I think I would rather stay with Windows as I have more experience with it. But seeing how this is an driver issue that, as far as I can tell, won’t be resolved, I need to look at other options. Buying a new box isn’t one of them.
Also, as I am starting to use Linux at work more, I figure this would also help me get used to it. No better way to learn something than trial by fire. It was how I learned to drive a standard.
I was thinking either Ubuntu, Fedora, or CentOS. I am leaning closer to CentOS as we use RHEL at work.
I am migrating away from Fedora.
It used to be, imho, right in line with what would show up in RHEL and the enterprise packages.
However, since IBM’s acquisition, Fedora isn’t the same anymore.
I have a brand new NBaseT adapter which they dropped in Fedora 30. No reasons given and was made clear it won’t be added.
Honestly I use Windows 10 for PMS instead of Windows Server. It generally works well. That’s a Xeon with Intel graphics, right? You should be able to go directly to Intel for those drivers. I think this is the card in your system:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/88350/Intel-HD-Graphics-P530
Yep, that’s a really good reason to transition over, one of the most popular in fact. It’s a good way to force yourself to learn the system. I strongly agree with Chuck about docker. It’s a very useful tool, but some people want to find a way to use it for everything, even when it’s not the best solution.
The reason I asked: I swapped my main server from Windows to Ubuntu a year ago due to problems with the Quick Sync transcoder on Plex in Windows 10. Linux PMS was incredibly stable, until it suddenly wasn’t. Seems to be a Linux problem. Troubleshooting has been a challenge, especially when the rest of the house would just like to watch TV without downtime. And searching Linux forums, leading to other forums, leading to sarcastic admin replies and no obvious direction, got frustrating. Meanwhile, my backup server (Windows 10) was rock-solid and I can already troubleshoot it in my sleep if needed. Recent updates have fixed the Windows QSV transcoder issues, and I don’t actually admin Linux for work, so I’m actually considering moving back to Windows 10 on it.
Thanks, I’ll check that out.
Curious which version of Ubuntu you are using that is causing the grief. I’m on 18.04 LTS and it’s been rock solid, I tried 19.04 and had nothing but problems.
I had the wrong model. It’s a T300, not the 30
Yow, that really is an old server! Looks like an old Core2 Duo (or Xeon equivalent) on board, yes? And an old ATI RN 50 video card? If it matters, you probably don’t need the video driver to run Plex Server, because hardware acceleration would be quite limited anyway. If your devices can probably direct-play your media (like a recent-model Roku, Fire TV, Apple. Shield, etc), the server would handle multiple streams without breaking a sweat. If the media can’t direct-play? Depending on the CPU on board, it may be able to handle a couple software transcodes as well.
If you want full hardware acceleration, you could consider adding a modern nvidia card. I think. I’m not 100% sure if it’s compatible with the chipset, but I think it is. I haven’t researched those older motherboards recently.
Personal opinion: As it’s currently set up, I think you’d be getting pretty similar performance with either Windows or Linux. Both would use the CPU, and would be fairly equivalent in terms of day to day usage.
I moved from Windows to Linux Mint a couple years ago. My server is an old Dell Inspiron 660 (Core i5-3340) which sits upstairs in a loft, while everything else is downstairs. I got fed up with Windows constantly needing updates and re-booting. I learned just enough about Linux to load Mint 18 on my old Dell, and it has remained stable since I got it running. I’ve rebooted it a handful of times over two years. Usually the only reason I need to attend to the PC is to push the power button after a power outage. (No, I don’t have a battery backup.) I just started over from scratch with my media on a separate hard drive, didn’t really migrate anything unique to Plex, as my library was not that big. Have not changed or updated Linux Mint since. It just keeps working along, not complaining or requiring updates. It does what I want, including support hardware transcoding with my low powered NVidia 750Ti. Only thing that I’ve changed is adding more & larger hard drives.
Sadly, 18.04 LTS. I have an issue where the entire computer is suddenly unreachable, via monitor or ethernet. But hardware testing came back clean, and it never happens under Windows, so if it’s a hardware problem, it’s a very weird one. Both Linux and Plex logs just suddenly… stop. With no signs of problems. It only seems to happen when Plex has very heavy memory usage, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the problem is with Plex, since that’s considered normal behavior.
At some point it unfortunately just becomes an unneeded bit of frustration, without any clear direction to resolution, and I don’t feel versed enough in Linux to keep troubleshooting. It once happened on vacation with no ability to remotely kick the server, which spelled doom for wife acceptance.
Honestly, I probably wouldn’t bring it up, but it felt like useful real-world experience when discussing moving from one OS to another (it’s not Linux-specific!) as a way to gain experience. It can also be a mixed bag sometimes. Until I had a really tough problem, basically a brick wall with no tools to drill through, I was very happy with PMS on Linux.
There’s memtest86 for stress testing your RAM on that computer.
And you could swap out the power supply with one a little larger as a test.
Reseat all the removable cards a couple times. Blow out stray dust.
If the whole system is locking up, it’s likely hardware as you said.
A bunch of people like their Intel NUC. Is that an option?
Yup, all that previously done. Gave memtest a thorough run with multiple cycles. Stress-tested the CPU and redid the thermal paste. Checked the hard drive. Everything worked like a charm, no errors, no crashes. There’s really very little to re-seat because it’s SFF (though I checked the RAM). The power supply is tougher to replace of course. And when it runs Windows 10, I can hammer it and it’s rock-solid for months at a time without reboot (until I reboot for updates).
It’s a surprisingly complicated problem, and (I mean this respectfully) this is part of why it’s frustrating: I’ve done a ton of diligence on the hardware. It runs perfectly on Windows. But when troubleshooting, there’s an automatic leap to “it’s not Linux/Plex, it’s gotta be the hardware”. Could it be the hardware? Sure. I mean it screams “hardware” when the logs just suddenly stop, right? But I’ve tested it repeatedly, there’s no clear sign the hardware is a problem, and a different OS seems to be fine.
The leads me back to my main point for the OP and others who consider this: When learning an OS, these things can come up. I’m not a Linux rook, but I’m also not a full admin. I simply don’t have the tools to troubleshoot any deeper, and online research reached an impasse. So, a person has to decide how mission-critical their server is, and whether the switch is truly worth it when they may not be equipped to resolve a problem without replacing the whole box.
I don’t mean to pick on Linux here, it’s obviously normally stable and I was happy until this problem came up. This concept applies across Linux/Win/Mac if it’s unfamiliar and you plan to try it out.
(If this sounds like I’m frustrated and/or venting, I’m not! Just relaxed and thinking out loud on a Sunday morning.)
Rereading that, I missed how it’s not Linux locking up, it’s the logs stopping. Sorry for thinking it’s hardware when you said the computer was unreachable.
Didn’t mean to hijack the OP’s thread. I’d stick with the most stable Linux OS and test quite a bit, following Chuck’s advice where possible. Debian maybe?
