# Not accessing external USB HD **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussions\ **Tags:** server-linux\ **Created:** [August 6, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747 "2018-08-06T12:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![troystg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@troystg](https://forums.plex.tv/u/troystg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 12:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/1 "2018-08-06T12:16:58Z")
Hi- I am running Lubuntu and Plex on a small SSD drive and I have an external USB drive with movies and music. Lubuntu mounts and I can access all the files on the external drive but Plex doesn’t see them when I try to add them to a library. I created a shortcut in the local lubuntu video and music folder and that didn’t work either. The SSD drive is not big enough to hold the content. How do I get plex to access the External USB hard drive? Thank you in advance, Troy ---
**Author:** ![maiade](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/maiade/32/216160_2.png) [@maiade](https://forums.plex.tv/u/maiade)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/2 "2018-08-06T12:43:18Z")
That is usually a permissions problem. Do you just plug it in and let Lubuntu mount the drive? If you do then the permissions will be set to your user to have access but not the plex user. Linux permissions are covered at [https://support.plex.tv/articles/200288596-linux-permissions-guide/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/200288596-linux-permissions-guide/) Comments here may help as well [Permission for the media folder.](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permission-for-the-media-folder/183121) ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 2:49pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/3 "2018-08-06T14:49:53Z")
> [@Linux Tips](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247): > > Tips & Tricks of the Linux trade. Below, you’ll find a collection of tips, tricks, and how-to’s to help make setting up, administrating, and using Plex Media Server on Linux a little easier. [Reporting problems](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/20)[Using other hard drives (Windows or Linux) with PMS](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/2)[Customizing your Plex configuration on systemd based systems](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/3)[Using other EXT4, NTFS, or other drives (internal or USB)](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/2)[Mounting CIFS + SMB network shares for Plex use](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/4)[Mounting NFS network shares for Plex use](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/5)[Moving…](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/6) The first tip ---
**Author:** ![troystg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@troystg](https://forums.plex.tv/u/troystg)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:21am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/4 "2018-08-07T00:21:03Z")
Thank you both for the replies… Is there not a way to do it from the GUI? I do Cisco IOS, IOS-XE, IOS-XR and NEX-OS, Juniper Junos and Palo Alto CLI but Linux Command line is still foreign for me. Thanks again for the replies but that will take me a week to read and comprehend and I am hoping to use the server tomorrow. Troy ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/5 "2018-08-07T00:38:19Z")
No there is not. Linux has a very strict security model. No one user can see another users’s files without expressly granted permissions. Linux is not a ‘Learn in a day’ OS because it was originally created in the command line-only days and has evolved into a server-rooted OS (enterprise grade) If you are familiar with the Windows command line, I can offer three pointers 1. There are no discrete device letters. Everything is accessed through the file system itself somewhere. Every path begins with `/` 2. Windows uses `\`, Linux uses `/` 3. Both Windows and Linux are sensitive to spaces depending on context so surrounding path & file names with spaces embedded in them should almost always be surrounded with quotes `"` ---
**Author:** ![troystg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@troystg](https://forums.plex.tv/u/troystg)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:05pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/6 "2018-08-07T12:05:03Z")
Here is the permissions for the USB HD. Music\_Stream and Video\_Stream are the only two that are needed. lin-plex@linplex:/media/lin-plex/Seagate\_2\_TB$ ls -al total 1176 drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 4096 Aug 6 07:25 . drwxr-x—+ 3 root root 4096 Aug 7 06:50 … drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 4096 Feb 21 2011 CLM-3\_1.0.01ARS drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 0 Aug 6 07:25 “DON’T PLAY” drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 1134592 Aug 5 20:54 Music\_Stream drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 0 Apr 11 2016 ‘$RECYCLE.BIN’ drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 0 Feb 21 2011 RECYCLER drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 4096 Apr 13 2016 ‘System Volume Information’ drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 0 Aug 4 10:53 .Trash-1000 drwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 53248 Aug 6 00:13 Video\_Stream lin-plex@linplex:/media/lin-plex/Seagate\_2\_TB$ And permissions for a song from in the Music\_Stream folder… -rwxrwxrwx 1 lin-plex lin-plex 6035374 Jan 2 2012 ‘Supertramp - The Logical Song.mp3’ One account on the system “lin-plex” and it is root. Does Plex use a different account even though it is installed under the lin-plex account? ---
**Author:** ![Coxeroni](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/coxeroni/32/21481_2.png) [@Coxeroni](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Coxeroni)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 12:11pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/7 "2018-08-07T12:11:25Z")
Yes, the default user for plex is called plex. ---
**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 3:16pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/8 "2018-08-07T15:16:46Z")
> [@Linux Tips](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247): > > Tips & Tricks of the Linux trade. Below, you’ll find a collection of tips, tricks, and how-to’s to help make setting up, administrating, and using Plex Media Server on Linux a little easier. [Reporting problems](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/20)[Using other hard drives (Windows or Linux) with PMS](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/2)[Customizing your Plex configuration on systemd based systems](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/3)[Using other EXT4, NTFS, or other drives (internal or USB)](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/2)[Mounting CIFS + SMB network shares for Plex use](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/4)[Mounting NFS network shares for Plex use](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/5)[Moving…](https://forums.plex.tv/t/linux-tips/276247/6) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/not-accessing-external-usb-hd/292747/9 "2018-11-05T15:27:18Z")
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