Plex server just stopped running Ubuntu 16.04

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: 1.13.9.5439-7303bc002
Linux OS: Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

My plex server stopped running a couple of weeks ago. Rebooting the server does not help. I can still access the server and the media content through other networking services, however, Plex Server does not run. I am not sure where to begin. I tried:

$ service plexmediaserver status

result is

$ ● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server for Linux
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; disabled; vendor preset: enable
Active: inactive (dead)

I tried:

$ ps -ef | grep -i plex

the result is:

jonatha+ 13993 13980 0 19:46 pts/0 00:00:00 grep --color=auto -i plex

I tried:

$ service plexmediaserver start

the result is:

==== AUTHENTICATING FOR org.freedesktop.systemd1.manage-units ===
Authentication is required to start ‘plexmediaserver.service’.
Authenticating as: myusername
Password:

To which I do not know how to respond. I would actually just like to re-install, but I do not want to lose my current libraries. Is there a step-by-step rebuild or re-install guide? This was close, but I would lose all of my libraries.

https://support.plex.tv/articles/201198426-restart-plex-media-server-setup-from-scratch/

Also, I would love to know what happened. How could it have such a catastrophic failure?

2

If the server stops running, removing and re-installing, without purging your libraries won’t fix it.

It’s best to open the command line, go to /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server and make a tar.gz of the ./Logs directory and attach it.

we can see what’s happening.

It is usually best to diagnose these things when they stop working if you have time and not weeks later

1 Like
3

Thank you. I totally understand the need to do it quickly. Sometimes life does not seem to give enough time. If you cannot help, I understand that too.plex-logs.tar.gz (3.6 MB)

4

NO problem. LIfe does that. You had what looks like a kernel panic . Yes?

In this case, Go ahead and remove the package. . do NOT purge (purge deletes your metadata)

Reboot,
check again for OS updates, reboot as needed.
Re-install.

If this is in a VM, check the network adapter emulation. Some of the adapters caused the same kernel panic symptoms as the end of your log files.

Oct 12, 2018 06:24:08.178 [0x7f00257fd700] DEBUG - Checking if time for scheduled update
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1 Like
5

Thank you so much for providing this solution. I uninstalled the package, rebooted. Then did all the OS updates. Then re-installed the latest Plex. I did not remove any directories. Plex server is back and running well now for about a week. All my media and it’s metadata was there and ready.

Thank you!

6

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