I migrated PMS from OpenMediaVault plugin to docker container and everything is working like a charm but the thumbnail generating process.
I use OMV 4.0.19-1 (Arrakis) on Kernel 4.14-0.0.bpo.3-amd64, Docker 17.12.0-ce and PMS 1.10.1.4602 (latest).
I have set up in “Settings --> Library” to generate the thumbnails whenever a new item is added and as a scheduled action. I have tried to force it by selecting “Analyze” and “Update all metadata” for all my libraries.
If I try to force the generating process by logging into the container: docker exec -it plex bash
I cd to the Plex Media Scanner path: cd ./usr/lib/plexmediaserver
And type the command to manually generate the thumbnails: ./Plex\ Media\ Scanner --generate --section <id>
It returns the following error, despite the file existing on the directory: ./Plex Media Scanner: error while loading shared libraries: libboost_atomic.so.1.59.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
When I was running PMS as a OMV plugin, the thumbnail was generated automatically (the Media folder in PMS was like ~200GiB in size as I have around 30k video files) but I cannot get it to work running it as a container.
I am having largely the same problem. I was using Plex via the OMV plugin, but went with a docker instead. I was unable to use my existing database for unknown reasons - plex in the docker would crash on it. So I let plex create a new database.
All the metadata came down without any problems, but it did take a day or so.
When I add a new movie, the thumbnails are properly generated. But no thumbnails are generated for any of the already existing 8,000+ movies.
I tried the following and at least it responded the same way as it did before, without errors, before I moved to a docker, but it doesn’t seem to be working either.
Not sure what happened or why, but just maybe what I did above finally worked. My Plex docker is now generating the thumbnails for preexisting movies. But like as in the past it will take a very, very long time to finis this task.
@“frederick.grayson” said:
Not sure what happened or why, but just maybe what I did above finally worked. My Plex docker is now generating the thumbnails for preexisting movies. But like as in the past it will take a very, very long time to finis this task.
I’m using the Linuxserver.io docker. PMS is updated to the latest Version 1.11.3.4803 by the docker.
Basically the same setup you are on, OMV 4.0.19-1 (Arrakis), Kernel 4.14-0.0.bpo.3-amd64, Docker 17.12.0-ce.
When I ran those commands it didn’t start generating the thumbnails immediately. I noticed it was making them the next morning. And it’s making them in reverse alphabetical order - starting with Z.
Did you try with the commands I posted?
In PMS under Server | Settings | Library did you enable the feature: Generate video preview thumbnails as a scheduled task and when media is added, and under Server | Settings | Scheduled Tasks did you set a broad range of times?
@“frederick.grayson” said:
I’m using the Linuxserver.io docker. PMS is updated to the latest Version 1.11.3.4803 by the docker.
Basically the same setup you are on, OMV 4.0.19-1 (Arrakis), Kernel 4.14-0.0.bpo.3-amd64, Docker 17.12.0-ce.
When I ran those commands it didn’t start generating the thumbnails immediately. I noticed it was making them the next morning. And it’s making them in reverse alphabetical order - starting with Z.
Did you try with the commands I posted?
In PMS under Server | Settings | Library did you enable the feature: Generate video preview thumbnails as a scheduled task and when media is added, and under Server | Settings | Scheduled Tasks did you set a broad range of times?
I will try it then. I am not at home at the moment.
Yeah I have the checks enabled under configuration.
@“frederick.grayson” said:
I’m using the Linuxserver.io docker. PMS is updated to the latest Version 1.11.3.4803 by the docker.
Basically the same setup you are on, OMV 4.0.19-1 (Arrakis), Kernel 4.14-0.0.bpo.3-amd64, Docker 17.12.0-ce.
When I ran those commands it didn’t start generating the thumbnails immediately. I noticed it was making them the next morning. And it’s making them in reverse alphabetical order - starting with Z.
Did you try with the commands I posted?
In PMS under Server | Settings | Library did you enable the feature: Generate video preview thumbnails as a scheduled task and when media is added, and under Server | Settings | Scheduled Tasks did you set a broad range of times?
One last question, with thumnbnails do you refer to the unique thumbnail of the poster of the video or the sequence of thumbnails that Plex generates for a video file to preview the content when scrolling/moving forward/backwards?
I am having trouble to generate the latest (which is the one that could take hundred of GiBs). The main poster is correctly generated for both old and newly added videos, but I cannot force to generate the sequence of preview thumbnails as before when running as a plugin.
When I write “thumbnails” I mean the generated series of frames that appear when moving forward and backward in a movie during playback. This makes my database huge.
When you add a new video, are the thumbnails generated for it?
What’s happening here is that a newly added video triggers generation of its thumbnails immediately. Once complete, Plex goes back to generating thumbnails for previously existing videos. This is the same way it worked before I went to a docker, but as I said the proper behavior did not begin immediately.
What library type are you using - Movie or Other Videos? I only have Movie, Music, and TV Shows here.
Set library path export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/plexmediaserver
And force the thumbail generate process /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex\ Media\ Scanner -g
But I get no output either from the shell or from the plex alerts dock (it only shows the first line as waiting for events). I have tried to restart the Plex docker and the OMV server. I have tried some other modifiers after the Scanner command like -v (verbose), -p (show progress) and -x (force an operation)
I get no feedback from the shell in docker when I complete the last line of those commands. I didn’t get any feedback when I was running on the plugin before docker either.
When Plex is generating the thumbnails and I run htop from my regular user shell I see several processes like this:
I have only “top” with a 5% CPU and “systemd” with a 0,1% CPU running on the process window.
If I force to rescan the metadata on the PMS frontend I get Plex Script+ and Plex Media+ with a moderate CPU usage. But if I enter the thumbnail generation command I get none of the Plex processes running.
I remember getting Plex Trans+ with a high CPU usage for days when I was generating the thumbnails on the Plex plugin (and my cache SSD where I store the Plex media getting populated), but I cannot manage to get it working in the docker.
Are you able to play any videos that require transcoding? Verify that you can, even if you have to chase down something you normally wouldn’t. Find something in x265.
The transcoder is what’s used to make those thumbnails, so if it’s not working for some reason…Also, in your docker configuration, where did you point the /transcode directory in the Volumes and Bind mounts? That needs to either be the default (empty) and not set read only, or to a folder on the sytem the docker can write to and not set to read only.
Thank you for all the help. I installed htop, pretty nice software.
You were right, the transcoder is not triggered whenever I request a conversion or something different that the source video/audio track, so it seems that you found the root of the problem.
My /transcode directory is pointed at my cache disk (SSD) /srv/dev-disk-by-label-cache/docker/plex/transcode
The docker user is Plex (PGID 118) and group Plex (PGID 114). The group Plex (and therefore the user Plex) has -rw permissions at the root directory of the Plex docker: /srv/dev-disk-by-label-cache/docker/plex/
I think I will remake the plex docker and see how it goes.
I pointed my /transcode to a new folder on the same drive that I pointed the /config (database folder) to. Both folders have the same ownership and permissions.
@“frederick.grayson” said:
I pointed my /transcode to a new folder on the same drive that I pointed the /config (database folder) to. Both folders have the same ownership and permissions.
Damn, thank you, so we share the same configuration. /srv/dev-disk-by-label-cache/docker/plex/config /srv/dev-disk-by-label-cache/docker/plex/transcode
I will try the “offical” Plex docker instead of the Linuxserver.io then, and let you know.
/srv/dev-disk-by-label-dp1/plexmediaserver-dockered (/config in the docker points here)
/srv/dev-disk-by-label-dp1/plexmediaserver-transcode (/transcode in the docker points here)
I believe that the Linuxserver.io docker needs to have /transcode user defined.
If /transcode is undefined it will be set to point to /transcode for the host path and empty for the container path and also set read only. I don’t think this will work.
I believe the official Plex docker can have an undefined /transcode target, and in that case it will be internalized to the container.
Well, I have installed offical Plex docker and now transcoding works (I used same paths and docker user and groups). Thumbnail generation is in process without needing to execute it manually from the bash.
So I will be running this one instead. I could not find out why it was not working in the Linuxserver.io one.
