Plex SERVER Auto-start - How?

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: 1.32.5.7349
Player Version#: 4.108.0
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>
Between Windows updates and Plex updates, a restarted machine means NO Plex; since I cannot figure out how to reliably auto-start Plex.

Because of this, the frequency of a non-working Plex system is nearly every week. Basically, the few family and close friends that I have shared my media with, have stopped using Plex since its never available… and it seems every time I travel; same deal. I have no access…

I did try a Windows Task Schedule and it certainly auto-started Plex… but it also prevents local Plex access, which I need. I manage all the metadata on that machine directly or via RDP. Because of that need, running Plex as a service, won’t work for me.

I don’t understand why this is so difficult as I have LOTS of other apps that auto-start; and also allow local access. These kinds of difficulties in what I believe is a basic function of how Plex is advertised, is very frustrating. Media Players in 2023 should NOT be a computing science research project… IMHO.

I’ve done a fair amount of searching here and elsewhere; and I see no simple solutions. (Like a setting in server that allows auto-start on restart - with or without login.) If I’ve somehow missed that, my apologies… please educate me!

But if not, then you have no business using the word “server” in “Plex Server”. It implies something that it is not. (Plex as a service not withstanding.)

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Open the system tray in the taskbar down at the bottom right “^”

Right click the Plex icon

Start Plex at login

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In addition, refer to this previous post.

As I mentioned there, there are things which will cause this not to work (including being joined to a domain or certain policies being managed by an organization).

However, I just tested with my Windows 11 Pro test server and it worked as expected; that is, with Plex configured to start on login and this setting enabled, Plex Media Server on this system was available after a restart, without logging in.

Note: The system on which I tested uses a Microsoft account for login; I’m not sure if a local account would change the behavior. It’s also an Administrator account.

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I’m not sure what you are saying here.
If the server is running, you can access it certainly.
Simply open https://app.plex.tv in a web browser.

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@JaysPlex: It is exactly like that menu. Start @ Login… but after any kind of update and a OS restart, there is no login.

@OttoKerner: Immediately after the Scheduled Task was added, I restarted Windows. Then I tried to “Open Plex” from the System Tray and Edge states: 401: Unauthorized Error. So I disabled the Task.

On your post about bugging Plex folks about this… it was certainly not my intention. I clearly stated I cannot use Plex as a Service. I was merely stating that as a service, it behaves more like a “server” than standard operation. Server apps typically are meant to run automatically after a restart - and without a login - so they keep serving! :slight_smile: Anyway, I appreciate the heads-up on the service wrapper.

@pshanew: Actually the required tag was selected: “Server-Windows.” I am using Windows 10 Pro to be more clear. Nice it works on 11 - but I am not updating to 11 anytime soon.

I should state that after an automated restart, there is no login… The machine is a file server. Are you suggesting to have the admin account auto-login so that Plex starts?

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That comment (about not knowing the OS) was part of the originally linked post, no relation to your question. Sorry for the confusion, I should have spelled it out.

The original problem was actually related to Windows 10 and the suggestion I linked to my original post is still relevant to it as well (the mentioned setting is present in both).

No, I’m only suggesting that you ensure the setting above is enabled. There are limitations, as I mentioned.

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You mean like this:

image
image692×293 6.84 KB

That does not work as this is how the machine was set from the beginning.

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Fair enough. I re-tested on Windows 10 Pro and it still works there as well (PMS not available after restart with it disabled; PMS is available after restart with it enabled without logging in). Microsoft mentions a couple of things in the article I linked originally which could cause this to fail, so perhaps that’s a contributing factor.

Given this, it may be that your only solution will be to run PMS as a service.

There’s also this ancient, not very popular (by votes) feature suggestion to natively support running as a service under Windows.

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As stated above - I work directly on the machine or via RDB through my admin account on this machine, From what I’ve read, there are significant limitations in operating Plex as a service form that context.

I’ve also learned in general that using unsupported software is problematic; eventually something breaks… and with Plex in particular I have had all kinds of problems that Plex dev and this fine community has sorted. So, I’m not interested in going off the beaten path…

If it works for you - and most importantly: its supposed to work - than I’d rather focus on what is causing it to break… I’ll review the article you’ve posted above… thanks!

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OK - that is a very short article - and it only states where to find the option(s) to auto-login in W10/W11. I see nothing on that page that discusses what could fail.

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I’m not sure what you are saying here.
If the server is running, you can access it certainly.
Simply open https://app.plex.tv in a web browser.

I do not use apple TV.

What I am saying is that after I set the Task Schedule, I restarted the machine and then to test, I started Plex on a remote machine; it connected, so it worked. Once the remote connection was confirmed, I RDP’s into my server and tried to start Plex. That did not work. Instead I got a page that stated:

401: Unauthorized Error

So since I was updating some metadata, I disabled the Task, restarted the machine, (remote connection no longer worked) then RDP’d into the server to manually start Plex and make the required metadata changes. No more 401 error. (After which, remote access worked - BTW)

So its clear that that the task worked but there is some kind of permission thing that does not allow local access.

Rob

Rather than 4 posts in a row… a PS:
Is it possible that if I have to start Plex this way, with some delay so Windows loads permissions data… its not clear the order of events on a Windows boot… but if permissions are not loaded at the time Plex is launched, it might generate that kind of error.

After typing the above I thought I should look at the Task properties… I cannot seem to find a delay setting.

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This has nothing to do with Apple TV. It’s an URL you can hit with your web browser.

Not really. I am running my server headless, Plex as a system service, and I’m using RDP all the time.

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Sorry for the late responses as I’ve been on business travel…

My apologies OttoKerner: its weird but app.plex.tv looked to me like appletv. Medium gray on light gray has lovely aesthetics for a webpage - but tricky for aging eyes. :slight_smile:

I’ve drilled down on Plex as a web service. Once again a computer science experiment not applicable for a home media server, IMHO. I do not need more IT projects; I have enough with my full time gig. In my experience, doing regedit hacks have a propensity to come back and bite you…

As you point out, its not supported via Plex dev either… so another thing I’ve learned in working on open-source and other pseudo open-source w/EULA community projects, is that when you go off the beaten path you have long-term management issues that I don’t want in a media server application. I digress…

I should be clear that I am taking about a machine that restarts; but does not have a user login. It really operates as a file server and file back-up machine + media server. I only login to do some routine maintenance that is not handled in automated processes; and more often than not, it is to create or edit metadata that Plex is unable to do - or screws up in the process of trying. (This is more often then you think).

To be clear, my delayed Windows login function does not work reliably. I test it and it works… then there is some restart process that happens and it then doesn’t… like this morning when I was in my backyard and tried to start music playback there… and here I am on the forums talking about it.

While on my business trip - yet again - I had no access. Every time I leave town, it seems I have no access.

This morning after I manually started Plex I checked the remote connections - all good. So then I restarted the machine and waited a couple of minutes (delayed login) and it still worked… cool.

It works - at least until it does not… which seems to be a lot more often then when it does. At least when I do a manual restart for a test it works… but when Window’s does a restart, it doesn’t?

BTW: this machine was rebuilt for a Plex transition from WMC about a year ago. Its W10 Pro with really only Plex and utilities for large storage systems like Hard Disk Sentinel, Snapraid and Plex. Since this was based on a WMC/My Movies transition, My Movies was also installed so that I had a metadata reference. I will likely remove it soon since that was completed some time ago. Just have not got around to it.

The point is, there is nothing else installed or running on this system on a brand new clean Windows installation… and by design I want to keep it this way to minimize interactions. Like the one that obviously I am currently dealing with.

One other comment… I recognize that this could very well be a Windows issue. I wish I set up a separate media only server on Linux but as this is also a file server that has been operating on NTFS drives through 20 years of migrations - I chose to have the box do both.

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The service helper tool that I linked above doesn’t require you to do registry hacks.

Native service support for Plex is being looked at, currently.

Are you referring to the color scheme of the forum? This should be using black-on-white as default.
You can switch it back in your forum profile under your avatar top-right.

Same as here.
That’s the prime use case for running as a windows service.

As I said above.
Running it as windows service is considered more stable.

I have some tips for making your server more reliable in general, but I assume you already know many of these points:

  1. Put your Plex server inside a private network/home network
  2. Avoid home network “fragmentation” (i.e. don’t use several “router”-type devices at once)
  3. Use a designated private IP range for your private network
  4. Give the server and your NAS static local IP adresses
  5. Avoid using more than one network adapter in your server machine
  6. Disable power saving for network adapters
  7. use a manual port forwarding, instead of relying on UPnP
  8. Don’t let hard drives spin down their platters
  9. Don’t rely on Windows to store access credentials to file servers/NAS devices
  10. Configure “DNS rebinding protection” in your router/DNS resolver (exempt the domain plex.direct from the protection)
  11. Make sure all involved devices have accurate date/time (activate automatic time sync)
  12. Always use a “staging” folder for preparing your media files, which is not being scanned by the server.
  13. Don’t point a Plex library to a “naked” drive letter. Always use a folder.
  14. Stick to the Plex naming conventions
  15. Never mix up media folders, Plex data folder, and the Transcoder temporary folder
  16. Before assigning an email address to a plex.tv account, make sure it’s actually ready to receive mail

Some of the above need additional details, which I can add if required.

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This is the only item that was not considered. For movies, my machine has 8 data drives and 2 parity drives directly connected… using SNAP RAID. So the array is not seen to the OS - or any application - as a single entity. From the media side, the 8 data drives are added as local drive letters. (Of course, Plex is the first system that did not allow me to add them as UNC paths - which I’ve used since the first version of WMC on Windows XP… but I digress. A separate discussion.)

But why would it differ to have each Movie folder in a drive letter:

  • H:\Movie Folders
  • I:\Movie Folders
  • …etc

Versus adding a parent folder in each drive:

  • H:\Movies ONE\Movie Folders
  • I:\Movies TWO\Movie Folders
  • …etc.

I don’t seem to have any issues on Plex scanning for metadata …nor do I have missing items. (Well, except for all my surround audio-only formats, which irritatingly Plex still does not properly support.)

(BTW: Music is on a separate RAID 1 array and is in a Parent folder called PLEX MUSIC. Similarly with PLEX PHOTOS.)

I am curious how this lack of nested folder organization would cause me issues for my movies. All is good on that front… right now my main issue is a lack of a reliable Plex start… typically during Windows forced restarts after updates.

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I’m not saying that this has anything to do with this thread’s topic.
The “naked drive letter” can become an issue if you rely on automatic library scans, which may either get triggered too often – or not at all.
It has to do with how Windows is notifiying apps that something has changed in the file system. This usually only works with folders but not with the root folder.

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Back again: I’ve literally given up trying to get Plex to work remotely… and once again, I get sucked into a computing science experiment where something should be working like an appliance… IMHO.

Every time a Windows update happens, that requires a restart; game over. Plex does not start and I cannot even stream music to my cell from the backyard - never mind remotely.

The good news is, that I no longer have to buy a new video card that I was planning for doing Plex transcoding. (Since due to reliability, no one attempts to do remote streaming any longer.)

PlexAmp stating its “bummed out” or “sad” because it cannot load directories or stream, does not amply describe my particular emotions.

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@rap depends on your setup. I use windows, and plex without any issue. I have 1 primary server, a server that hosts a copy of youtube videos, and a test server, all reboot and launch plex normally. One of the biggest issues Ive seen is that you need to configure the windows device to auto login. IE not prompt for username/password. Once you login the server should auto start.

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I tried creating a Windows scheduled task - with and without a delay - to auto-login. No go. See above for details.

I should state that this was a new build with a new Windows 10 Pro install for Plex. I have very little else on this machine.