# Permissions issue with transcoder **URL:** \ **Category:** Plex Media Server\ **Tags:** server-linux\ **Created:** [April 19, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111 "2022-04-19T21:32:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cemilbrowne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@cemilbrowne](https://forums.plex.tv/u/cemilbrowne)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2022, 9:32pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/1 "2022-04-19T21:32:54Z")
Server Version#: 1.26.0.5715 Player Version#: Many I appear to be having some odd permissions issues with transcoding. I’ve set transcoding to run here: /tmp/transcode-tmp Plex runs as user plex, group nas - correctly. When subfolders get created under transcode-tmp, they usually get created owned by plex/nas. However, every now and then, they are created with the owner being a user. For the life of me, I can’t figure this out, but I think it’s somewhat tied to EAE transcoding. A couple of days ago I saw this line: ```auto Plex Media Server.log:Apr 19, 2022 08:21:02.077 [0x7fee72b9cb38] INFO - [Transcode/B27C4F64-2F69-48AF-B36A-54B261F8B6C7] CodecManager: starting EAE at "/tmp/pms-abd7f433-3818-4f00-85f7-43cdabcdc7a5/EasyAudioEncoder" ``` in my logs. First of all - that folder isn’t under /tmp/transcode-tmp, but secondly, that folder was created with the wrong user owning it. Therefore, a couple of days later, I got this error: ```auto Plex Media Server.log:Apr 20, 2022 07:21:50.073 [0x7fee71021b38] ERROR - [Transcoder] [truehd_eae @ 0x7fad0181c6c0] EAE watchfolder is not writable: /tmp/pms-abd7f433-3818-4f00-85f7-43cdabcdc7a5/EasyAudioEncoder/Convert to WAV (to 8ch or less)/7D450ECA-41DF-4FB3-A15F-978256484120_362055-0-test.tmp ``` It looks to me like there are some scenarios where the transcoder runs as the wrong user - and I can’t, for the life of me, figure out why. Any ideas? ---
**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:** [April 19, 2022, 11:23pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/2 "2022-04-19T23:23:07Z")
Linux does not allow a non-privileged process such as Plex to violate its username and switch to another user to run as. The only way I know of is when SETUID/SETGID is asserted on a directory where user `plex:plex` is writing. Given you’re using `plex:nas` as the UID/GID, may I see your `override.conf` ? ---
**Author:** ![cemilbrowne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@cemilbrowne](https://forums.plex.tv/u/cemilbrowne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 6:06am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/3 "2022-04-20T06:06:48Z")
I agree - that’s why I’m struggling so much with this. It _appears_ like everything is fine, and plex is running as plex:nas : ```auto [Service] User=plex Group=nas ``` ```auto plex 4118334 1.6 0.5 207692 86824 ? Ssl Apr19 32:09 /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Server plex 4118370 0.0 0.0 64448 12720 ? SNl Apr19 0:57 Plex Plug-in [com.plexapp.system] /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Plug-ins-8cf78dab3/Framework.bundle/Contents/Resources/Versions/2/Python/bootstrap.py --server-version 1.26.0.5715-8cf78dab3 /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Plug-ins-8cf78dab3/System.bundle plex 4118410 0.1 0.0 41256 244 ? Sl Apr19 2:03 /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Tuner Service /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Tuner/Private /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Tuner/Shared 1.26.0.5715-8cf78dab3 32600 plex 4118449 0.1 0.3 109296 64104 ? Sl Apr19 2:16 Plex Plug-in [com.plexapp.agents.subzero] /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Plug-ins-8cf78dab3/Framework.bundle/Contents/Resources/Versions/2/Python/bootstrap.py --server-version 1.26.0.5715-8cf78dab3 /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-ins/Sub-Zero.bundle plex 4118535 0.0 0.0 4312 212 ? S Apr19 0:05 /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Relay -p 443 -N -R 0:127.0.0.1:32401 -o StrictHostKeyChecking=yes -o UserKnownHostsFile=/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/relayHostKey.txt -o LogLevel=VERBOSE -o PreferredAuthentications=password -o PubkeyAuthentication=no -l XXXXX -F /dev/null YYYYY plex 4118777 0.3 0.0 2592 84 ? S Apr19 6:55 Plex EAE Service ``` ---
**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:** [April 20, 2022, 7:36am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/4 "2022-04-20T07:36:12Z")
That `top` (or is it `ps`) output looks fine. > [@cemilbrowne](#): > > Plex runs as user plex, group nas - correctly. When subfolders get created under transcode-tmp, they usually get created owned by plex/nas. However, every now and then, they are created with the owner being a user. For the life of me, I can’t figure this out, but I think it’s somewhat tied to EAE transcoding. When this happens again, 1. Pause playback. Don’t terminate it. 2. Open the terminal session 3. `ls -laR` of your transcoder temp directory and redirect to a file. 4. Zip and attach the file here. (forum allows ZIP / GZ attachments) ---
**Author:** ![cemilbrowne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@cemilbrowne](https://forums.plex.tv/u/cemilbrowne)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2022, 10:44pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/5 "2022-04-20T22:44:54Z")
I will try - the symptom I get is an error in the playback straight away, I’ll try to capture. Could take a week or two. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2022, 11:14pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/6 "2022-04-20T23:14:32Z")
Alternative… Please let me see this: (if it’s a permissions problem) All you need to do is: 1. Verify DEBUG logging is on. 2. Recreate the EAE failure. 3. Download the Logs ZIP file 4. Attach it here. I’ll do the rest ---
**Author:** ![cemilbrowne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@cemilbrowne](https://forums.plex.tv/u/cemilbrowne)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 7:45am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/7 "2022-04-22T07:45:27Z")
OK, didn’t have debug logging on, but just replicated! ```auto ./Transcode: total 24 drwxr-xr-x 3 plex nas 4096 Apr 22 17:38 . drwxrwxrwt 18 cemil nas 16384 Apr 22 17:40 .. drwxr-xr-x 2 plex nas 4096 Apr 22 17:38 Sessions ./Transcode/Sessions: total 8 drwxr-xr-x 2 plex nas 4096 Apr 22 17:38 . drwxr-xr-x 3 plex nas 4096 Apr 22 17:38 .. ./transcode-tmp: total 24 drwxr-xr-x 3 cemil nas 4096 Apr 22 02:01 . drwxrwxrwt 18 cemil nas 16384 Apr 22 17:40 .. drwxr-xr-x 4 cemil nas 4096 Apr 20 15:03 Transcode ./transcode-tmp/Transcode: total 16 drwxr-xr-x 4 cemil nas 4096 Apr 20 15:03 . drwxr-xr-x 3 cemil nas 4096 Apr 22 02:01 .. drwxr-xr-x 2 cemil nas 4096 Apr 22 02:01 Detection drwxr-xr-x 2 cemil nas 4096 Apr 22 02:01 Sessions ./transcode-tmp/Transcode/Detection: total 8 drwxr-xr-x 2 cemil nas 4096 Apr 22 02:01 . drwxr-xr-x 4 cemil nas 4096 Apr 20 15:03 .. ./transcode-tmp/Transcode/Sessions: total 8 drwxr-xr-x 2 cemil nas 4096 Apr 22 02:01 . drwxr-xr-x 4 cemil nas 4096 Apr 20 15:03 .. ``` That new folder - /tmp/Transcode is outside my designated temp folder - as just confirmed in my server settings. /tmp/transcode-tmp Playback was started roughly Apr 22 17:38. Error in log: ```auto Apr 22, 2022 17:38:46.672 [0x7fee6b48ab38] ERROR - [Transcode/3C6466EB-B26A-40A0-9EDF-3FDD38989080] IsFileWritable: failed to create file '"/tmp/transcode-tmp/816120f8-5e25-4b9f-9d6d-516946e7435b"' Apr 22, 2022 17:38:46.672 [0x7fee6b48ab38] WARN - [Transcode/3C6466EB-B26A-40A0-9EDF-3FDD38989080] IsDirWritable: directory '"/tmp/transcode-tmp"' is not writable Apr 22, 2022 17:38:46.673 [0x7fee6b48ab38] ERROR - [Transcode/3C6466EB-B26A-40A0-9EDF-3FDD38989080] IsFileWritable: failed to create file '"/tmp/transcode-tmp/900df092-462e-4877-b3cd-c785154c0c04"' Apr 22, 2022 17:38:46.673 [0x7fee6b48ab38] WARN - [Transcode/3C6466EB-B26A-40A0-9EDF-3FDD38989080] IsDirWritable: directory '"/tmp/transcode-tmp"' is not writable Apr 22, 2022 17:38:48.846 [0x7fee69fd0b38] ERROR - [Transcoder] [truehd_eae @ 0x7f5f7b537b40] EAE watchfolder is not writable: /tmp/pms-abd7f433-3818-4f00-85f7-43cdabcdc7a5/EasyAudioEncoder/Convert to WAV (to 8ch or less)/3C6466EB-B26A-40A0-9EDF-3FDD38989080_1559568-0-test.tmp Apr 22, 2022 17:38:48.846 [0x7fee6b739b38] ERROR - [Transcoder] Error while opening decoder for input stream #0:1 : Generic error in an external library Apr 22, 2022 17:38:48.854 [0x7fee6b1ceb38] ERROR - IsFileWritable: failed to create file '"/tmp/transcode-tmp/a2defde1-0488-4d29-b7fe-cd4652997096"' Apr 22, 2022 17:38:48.854 [0x7fee6b1ceb38] WARN - IsDirWritable: directory '"/tmp/transcode-tmp"' is not writable ``` ---
**Author:** ![cemilbrowne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3ec8ea/32.png) [@cemilbrowne](https://forums.plex.tv/u/cemilbrowne)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2022, 7:49am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/8 "2022-04-22T07:49:31Z")
Follow-on: chown plex:nas that entire folder structure, hit play again, get this error: ```auto Apr 22, 2022 17:46:38.054 [0x7fee6b835b38] ERROR - [Transcoder] [truehd_eae @ 0x7f426e6bfb40] EAE watchfolder is not writable: /tmp/pms-abd7f433-3818-4f00-85f7-43cdabcdc7a5/EasyAudioEncoder/Convert to WAV (to 8ch or less)/25866771-107A-49E4-8E45-EC287D13A686_1562897-0-test.tmp Apr 22, 2022 17:46:38.055 [0x7fee6b0aeb38] ERROR - [Transcoder] Error while opening decoder for input stream #0:1 : Generic error in an external library Apr 22, 2022 17:46:38.134 [0x7fee6b835b38] WARN - [Transcode] Got a request to stop a transcode session without a valid session GUID. Apr 22, 2022 17:46:38.321 [0x7fee6b63eb38] ERROR - Unknown metadata type: folder Apr 22, 2022 17:46:40.058 [0x7fee6b661b38] ERROR - Unknown metadata type: folder Apr 22, 2022 17:46:42.511 [0x7fee6b835b38] ERROR - Unknown metadata type: folder Apr 22, 2022 17:46:48.547 [0x7fee6b5b9b38] INFO - AutoUpdate: no updates available ``` That folder (/tmp/pms-abd7f433-3818-4f00-85f7-43cdabcdc7a5) did not exist 2 minutes ago. A full restart of PMS appears to have fixed (for now), but something weird is definitely going on. I believe this all started when I changed the location of my transcode folder. I wonder if the /tmp/transcode-tmp/ is screwing with it (the trailing tmp/)? ---
**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:** [April 22, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/9 "2022-04-22T15:02:51Z")
I replicated what you’re seeing except that I do not have a subdirectory specification. (I use /dev/shm as my transcoder temp because it’s always there after reboots) I see: 1. All video transcoding files go to the Transcoder temp directory as expected. 2. Dolby conversion temp files (Plex EAE) service are written to /tmp 3. Directories in /tmp persist after PMS stops but , due to tmpfs rules of /tmp, are removed when the host restarts. I’ve asked Engineering for clarification. Query: Did you change the Plex user & group but not reboot the host? I ask this because, if `/tmp` is hardwired into the Dolby EAE (which is very likely given that it’s Dolby code) then we have an explanation as to what’s happening and that this occurred only because the UID/GID changed without `/tmp` being cleared (which is really weird) Query 2: PMS makes TMPDIR available to you to customize. The default TMPDIR is /tmp. Care to experiment and place (in the service file) `Environment="TMPDIR=/path/to/your/transcoder/temp"` I am concerned about how does `/tmp/transcode-tmp` get created in the case when /tmp is a traditional memory-based tmpfs filesystem. PMS does expect the transcoder temp directory to exist ---
**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:** [April 23, 2022, 1:29am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/10 "2022-04-23T01:29:46Z")
@cemilbrowne There was another variable to set 🙂 `TranscoderTempDirectory` It will use the directory named here or the cache directory if unset, or TMPDIR if that’s not writable. Priority order: 1. The directory named by this preference if set 2. Cache directory (under PMS) unless there is a problem. 3. TMPDIR if all else fails. This means you should check `Cache` and all below it for ownership. TMPDIR is the last resort. This does mean you can put just the transcoder temp (for EAE) somewhere other than video. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2022, 1:30am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/permissions-issue-with-transcoder/789111/11 "2022-07-22T01:30:34Z")
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