Plexmediaserver.service fails to start after upgrade to 1.18.9.2571

Plex Media Server
1

uname -a:
Linux tivo 5.4.0-4-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 5.4.19-1 (2020-02-13) x86_64 GNU/Linux

cat /etc/os-release:
PRETTY_NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux bullseye/sid”
NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux”
ID=debian
HOME_URL=“https://www.debian.org/”
SUPPORT_URL=“https://www.debian.org/support”
BUG_REPORT_URL=“https://bugs.debian.org/”

plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
plexmediaserver.service: Control process exited, code=exited, status=217/USER
plexmediaserver.service: Failed at step USER spawning /bin/sh: No such process
plexmediaserver.service: Failed to determine user credentials: No such process

Plex Media Server installation configuration info: Fri Mar 27 22:08:45 EET 2020

Init=0
Systemd=1
LinuxContainer=0
NewInstall=0
HaveOverride=0
OverrideFile=""
PlexUser=“plex”
PlexGroup=“plex”
VideoGroup=“video”
AppSuppDir="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support"
PlexTempDir="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/tmp_transcoding"
LangEncoding=“en_US.UTF-8”
ExistingVersion=11809
HaveHardware=1
NeedUser=0
NeedGroup=0
NeedVideo=0
Verbose=1
Running=1

btw i noticed that there is no version in os-release(as queried by plexmediaserver.service)

2

This line is disturbing

plexmediaserver.service: Failed at step USER spawning /bin/sh: No such process
plexmediaserver.service: Failed to determine user credentials: No such process

It presumes user plex is the username,
it knows this is a reinstall on top of itself (existing = 1.18.9)

Need User, Group, Video are all zero (nothing needs to be created)

when you run the installation, what does the console output look like?

Did you customize something?

3

vx-20200328_005048
vx-20200328_0050481920×732 63.5 KB

nothings customized afaik.

4

let’s see what journalctl is complaining about ?

sudo journalctl -xe | grep -i plex

you’ll want to scroll through it.

Next, look for the obvious like directory permissions.

If nothing jumps out at you, give it the sledgehammer anyway :slight_smile:

sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver
5

did recursive chown, dirs 755 files 644 allready.
grep plex /etc/passwd: plex:x:110:114::/usr/lib/plexmediaserver:/bin/bash

for the sake of it i exported all vars globally:
plex@tivo:/$ export | grep PLEX
declare -x PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support"
declare -x PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_HOME="/usr/lib/plexmediaserver"
declare -x PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_DEVICE=“PC”
declare -x PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_MODEL=“x86_64”
declare -x PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_PLATFORM_VERSION=“11”
declare -x PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_VENDOR=“Debian GNU/Linux”
declare -x PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_MAX_PLUGIN_PROCS=“6”
declare -x PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_TMPDIR="/tmp"

and started with:
plex@tivo:/$ LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/lib /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex\ Media\ Server

and everything works !!!

Mar 28, 2020 09:25:48.976 [0x7f3206dc0700] INFO - Plex Media Server v1.18.9.2571-e106a8a91 - Debian GNU/Linux PC x86_64 - build: linux-x86_64 debian - GMT 02:00
Mar 28, 2020 09:25:48.976 [0x7f3206dc0700] INFO - Linux version: 11, language: en-US
Mar 28, 2020 09:25:48.976 [0x7f3206dc0700] INFO - Processor Intel® Core™ i5-4460 CPU @ 3.20GHz
Mar 28, 2020 09:25:48.976 [0x7f3206dc0700] INFO - /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Server
etc…

considering everything worked before the upgrade, and manually starting works, i think the service file is the culprit.
perhaps a dash<->bash escaping problem ?

root@tivo:~# l /bin/sh
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Mar 28 09:36 /bin/sh -> bash

6

We have always used /bin/sh as the shell for that little bit when launching PMS.

There should be no shell for user plex (which you show in your /etc/passwd)

Why are you using these bash statements?

7

that way i declared vars in profile on login. its just for me to not using the ExecStart with grepping. like i wrote, there is no Version in debians os-release for example
root@tivo:~# cat /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux bullseye/sid”
NAME=“Debian GNU/Linux”
ID=debian
HOME_URL=“https://www.debian.org/”
SUPPORT_URL=“https://www.debian.org/support”
BUG_REPORT_URL=“https://bugs.debian.org/”

8

I’m trying to figure out what your intent is.

Are you intending to have a login account with the same UID/GID as the plex service UID/GID? If you are, creating an overloaded entry in /etc/passwd is far easier.

As you have it defined,

plex:x:110:114::/usr/lib/plexmediaserver:/bin/bash

is going to launch bash. This will fail every time.
It’s also not how user plex was created. (you forgot about this customization)

9

changed to: plex:x:110:114::/usr/lib/plexmediaserver:/usr/sbin/nologin
works now thank you
btw the user was created years ago, i dont even remember when, and always worked.
nvm, thanks for your help

1 Like
10

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