PMS Stopped working on Ubuntu Server upgrade from 18.0 to 20.04 LTS Upgrade

[Mosscomes]

I have the following configuration: Ubuntu Server 20.04 with most recent (as of 10/30) Plex Media Server (nonfunctional so I cannot access what version). When I upgraded the server, access to PMS was cut off with the following output from systemctl status plexmediaserver:

● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vend>
Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2020-11-03 05:04:08 EST; 2h 4>
Main PID: 1228 (code=exited, status=127)

Nov 03 05:04:08 ubuntuserver2 systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled re>
Nov 03 05:04:08 ubuntuserver2 systemd[1]: Stopped Plex Media Server.
Nov 03 05:04:08 ubuntuserver2 systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start reques>
Nov 03 05:04:08 ubuntuserver2 systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with >
Nov 03 05:04:08 ubuntuserver2 systemd[1]: Failed to start Plex Media Server.

In doing some research, I saw references to configuration information in /etc/systemd/system/plexmediaserver. There is no reference to Plex in the file system. I also checked ```
netstat -la | grep 32400 (and 32401) and did not see anything listening on those ports.

There is no Plex Media Server log from after the Ubuntu upgrade.

I am trying to avoid reinstalling PMS and scanning from scratch. I see discussions on copying data and metadata files and overwriting files after PMS installation. Is re-installation the only way to get Plex running?

I do have a system image of my Ubuntu 18 OS made immediately prior to the upgrade using Clonezilla.

[ChuckPa]

Please do the following:

1. journalctl -xe | grep plex (look for the error message and details
2. ls -la /var/lib/plexmediaserver

The first tells us the exact error as recorded by systemctl
the second is a directory listing. ( the permissions of /var/lib/plexmediaserver are prone to change during Ubuntu system upgrade )

[Mosscomes]

@ChuckPa

journalctl -xe | grep plex

Here’s journalctl -xe | grep plex

Nov 03 07:02:45 ubuntuserver2 sudo[55367]: tim : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/home/tim ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status plexmediaserver
Nov 03 07:05:10 ubuntuserver2 sudo[59434]: tim : TTY=pts/0 ; PWD=/home/tim ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status plexmediaserver
Nov 03 07:06:04 ubuntuserver2 sudo[61231]: tim : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/tim ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status plexmediaserver
Nov 03 07:07:43 ubuntuserver2 sudo[63873]: tim : TTY=pts/2 ; PWD=/home/tim ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status plexmediaserver
Nov 03 07:08:31 ubuntuserver2 sudo[65317]: tim : TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/tim ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status plexmediaserver

ls -la /var/lib/plexmediaserver:

drwxr-xr-x 3 plex plex 4096 Nov 17 2018 .
drwxr-xr-x 76 root root 4096 Oct 30 18:48 …
drwxr-xr-x 3 plex plex 4096 Nov 17 2018 Library

Note: second line above corresponds to date and time of update.

Yesterday, I did attempt to change permissions using sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver command. It went through its paces for atleast 15 minutes.

[ChuckPa]

Please go in on the terminal and make a tar.gz of the Logs directory and attach it.

Something happened, which shouldn’t ever happen, during the upgrade.
(PMS is shut down throughout the process)

[Mosscomes]

logs.tar.gz (1.3 MB)

I am assuming you mean PMS logs.

[ChuckPa]

Thanks. Those are the correct logs

It confirmed for me that PMS shut down cleanly.
It also confirms that it hasn’t started up, even in the slightest way, since then.

I would like you to Uninstall the package dpkg -r
Do not purge
When done, restart Ubuntu
Next, reinstall the package and please show me both:

1. The console output
2. The contents of /tmp/plexinstaller.log

[Mosscomes]

The plot thickens.

I cannot find the plexmediaserver program using dkpg-query.

This also brings up something I noted above:
TTY=pts/1 ; PWD=/home/tim ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl status plexmediaserver.

There has never been any Plex data stored in the /home/tim tree.

I had added a couple of years ago the LXDE desktop onto my Linux server to give it graphical front end. I don’t recall having any issue doing so with Plex. I also never had trouble with Plex in the last couple of years. I also note that there is no Plex software listed in the Synaptic package,
manager.

There now is clear difference in the front ends. Under 18.04 LTS, the desktop said LXDE. Under 20.04LTS it says Lubuntu 20.04.

I primarily use Webmin to administer the server. I can’t find Plexmediaserver using those commands. But, Webmin still lists the Plex Media Server service as start on boot up, but it says “no” to running. When I try to restart the service from there, I get:

Nov 03 15:06:27 ubuntuserver2 pkexec[564814]: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root by (uid=1000)
Nov 03 15:06:27 ubuntuserver2 pkexec[564814]: tim: Executing command [USER=root] [TTY=unknown] [CWD=/home/tim] [COMMAND=/usr/lib/update-notifier/package-system-locked]
Nov 03 15:06:46 ubuntuserver2 systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Nov 03 15:06:46 ubuntuserver2 systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
– Subject: Unit failed
– Defined-By: systemd
– Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support

– The unit plexmediaserver.service has entered the ‘failed’ state with result ‘exit-code’.
Nov 03 15:06:46 ubuntuserver2 systemd[1]: Failed to start Plex Media Server.
– Subject: A start job for unit plexmediaserver.service has failed
– Defined-By: systemd
– Support: http://www.ubuntu.com/support

– A start job for unit plexmediaserver.service has finished with a failure.

– The job identifier is 23955 and the job result is failed.

I wonder if that the update to Ubuntu/Lubuntu deleted the Plex program, but left the data and some elements intact. I am pretty sure I used LXDE’s command line program to do the upgrade with the “get do-release-upgrade” command.

[ChuckPa]

Are you attempting to install from the Ubuntu store or using dpkg -i filename.deb ?

If you are installing using the Ubuntu store – you can remove that.
The Ubuntu store, as of 20.04 only offers & supports SNAP packages.

PMS, although offered in SNAP form, will not function as well as it does when installed via dpkg . SNAP does not have hardware transcoding capability. This is a limitation of SNAP.

[Mosscomes]

I have not yet attempted to restore Plex. I have never used the Ubuntu store for Plex. I have used dpkg in the LXDE environment along with apt-get. Although I have made a copy of my /var/lib/plexmediaserver/application folder on a data disk, will there be any issue with my data (assuming I am not using purge)?

[Mosscomes]

I found this topic that has a couple of elements that I wonder would pertain to my situation:

Reinstall OS Ubuntu 18 to 20.04 and had to set it all up again (Solved)

Yes I back it up all. I made a link to the backup to Link shortcut /usr/lib/plexmediaserver to /media/WD-MyDrive-2TB/plexmediaserver were the backup is. Renamed the new /usr/lib/plexmediaserver folder to /usr/lib/plexmediaserver~ so I did not delete it. But when I got to the URL I get a 404 Not Found error. Then rename the link back how it was refresh the link it it comes up takes a little bit and all my folders show up at the left side but with ! on each of them. Have some links I pointed t…

Basically, I want to place a backup copy of my database over the default installation database.

Do I need to make any other changes to configuration files?

Here’s another element that I want to ask about: I have a system disk that pretty much has nothing but the ubuntu os, programs and the plex database. All the other data is located on 4 data disks that use samba to for my windows pc acess. In reading the above link and the ones linked, I get the impression that I can do place the database files off the system disk. That would indicate that this would prevent this issue in future Ubuntu LTS updates.Is my reading of this correct?

At this point, I want to restore the PMS database to the system disk. Once I have that, I can image the system disk and experiment.

[ChuckPa]

There is no need to do all this the hard way.

1. Backup & restore is best served by using tar
2. Symbolic links are problematic in many ways;
3. Putting Plex’s main metadata directory on a USB drive, mounted in /media by the automounter, is asking for trouble
4. Experience has shown that moving PMS’s metadata on a persistent partition , such as /home is the best. Other internal HD’s, mounted with ‘exec’ option, are also viable.

Fundamental requirements are:

1. Local file systems only - Network shares are not safe due to file locking requirements
2. A linux-native file system formatting - xfs, btrfs, or ext4
   3, drive / partition mounted in /etc/fstab with exec privilege asserted.

Changing where PMS’ metadata is (moving from /var/lib/plexmediaesrver)

Moving PMS 'Library'

Moving Plex’s metadata (Library) directory on systemd based systems This information is intended for those systems where cat /proc/1/comm returns systemd. If your system returns init, please see the next post in this thread. While you may change /lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service, it is under the control of the package manager and subject to replacement without warning at any time during an update. To provide stability, systemd allows creation of an override.conf file to customiz…

Easiest Backup & Restore procedures

Back up/ Restore /clone your PMS metadata

Backing up your PMS data involves the same steps you’ll need if you were to clone your PMS and take to a new computer, reinstall the operating system, or just want a backup for safe keeping. Stop PMS Invoke the root shell Create the backup image [chuck@lizum ~.74]$ sudo sh sh-4.4# cd /var/lib/plexmediaserver sh-4.4# tar cfz /nas/tmp/PlexBackup.tar.gz ./Library sh-4.4# ls -la /nas/tmp/PlexBackup.tar.gz -rw-r--r--. 1 root root 864050144 Oct 29 15:29 /nas/tmp/PlexBackup.tar.gz sh-4.4# Copy …

[Mosscomes]

Hummm. I reinstalled PMS, rebooted the system, launched the Plex management console and everything is there and functioning. Still can’t get over that the upgrade to 20.04 deleted the program and left everything else intact.

Thanks for the help! Not only did you remind me of the need to backup the PMS data, but how to properly do it.I’m sure when 22.00 LTS comes out, I’ll be much better prepared!

[ChuckPa]

I’ve been thinking about this.

The only time you could lose things is if it fully reformatted the root partition.
That’s the only plausible answer for something the system would do.

Now, whether reformatted due to repartitioning or not is no longer significant

[Morphy]

@ChuckPa

I have the exact same problem - I have uninstall the package, reinstall - but it wont start up

Seriously lost to get it online

root@Intelnuc:/opt/plexupdate# journalctl -xe | grep plex
Jan 27 11:32:10 Intelnuc jackett[269143]: 01-27 11:32:10 Info App config/log directory: /home/plex/.config/Jackett
Jan 27 11:32:10 Intelnuc jackett[269143]: 01-27 11:32:10 Info Loading Cardigann indexers from: /home/plex/.config/cardigann/definitions/, /etc/xdg/cardigan/definitions/, /opt/Jackett/Definitions
Jan 27 11:40:01 Intelnuc CRON[269857]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user plex by (uid=0)
Jan 27 11:40:01 Intelnuc CRON[269858]: (plex) CMD (/usr/local/bin/rtcheck irssi rtorrent)
Jan 27 11:40:01 Intelnuc CRON[269857]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user plex
Jan 27 11:50:01 Intelnuc CRON[270701]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user plex by (uid=0)
Jan 27 11:50:01 Intelnuc CRON[270702]: (plex) CMD (/usr/local/bin/rtcheck irssi rtorrent)
Jan 27 11:50:02 Intelnuc CRON[270701]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user plex
Jan 27 11:50:48 Intelnuc sudo[270767]: root : TTY=pts/3 ; PWD=/opt/plexupdate ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/bin/systemctl start plexmediaserver
– Subject: A start job for unit plexmediaserver.service has begun execution
– A start job for unit plexmediaserver.service has begun execution.
– Subject: A start job for unit plexmediaserver.service has finished successfully
– A start job for unit plexmediaserver.service has finished successfully.
Jan 27 11:50:48 Intelnuc systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
– An ExecStart= process belonging to unit plexmediaserver.service has exited.
Jan 27 11:50:48 Intelnuc systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.
– The unit plexmediaserver.service has entered the ‘failed’ state with result ‘exit-code’.

root@Intelnuc:/opt/plexupdate# sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Active: activating (auto-restart) (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2021-01-27 11:31:28 CET; 1s ago
Process: 268956 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d “{PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mkdir -p "{PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}” (code=exited, status=0>
Process: 268961 ExecStart=/bin/sh -c export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_VENDOR="$(grep ^NAME= /etc/os-release | awk -F= “{print $2}” | tr -d " )"; export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_DEVICE=“PC”; >
Main PID: 268961 (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Jan 27 11:31:28 Intelnuc systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Jan 27 11:31:28 Intelnuc systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result ‘exit-code’.

Plex Media Server installation configuration info: Wed 27 Jan 2021 11:31:15 AM CET

Init=0
Systemd=1
Custom=0
LinuxContainer=0
NewInstall=0
HaveOverride=0
OverrideFile=""
PlexUser=“plex”
PlexGroup=“plex”
VideoGroup=“video”
AppSuppDir="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support"
PlexTempDir="/tmp"
LangEncoding=“en_US.UTF-8”
ExistingVersion=0
HaveHardware=1
HaveTranscoderPref=0
NeedUser=0
NeedGroup=0
NeedVideo=0
Verbose=1
Running=0
Errors=0
Warnings=0
Havei915=1
HaveBeignet=1
HaveOpenCL=1
Platform=“NUC8i3BEH”
Processor=“Intel(R) Core™ i3-8109U CPU @ 3.00GHz”
Distro=“Ubuntu 20.04.1 LTS”
Kernel=“Linux Intelnuc 5.4.0-65-generic #73-Ubuntu SMP Mon Jan 18 17:25:17 UTC 2021 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux”
Memory=“7831 1458 3610”

[Morphy]

Got it to work after several reboots , odd , but ■■■■ it - running now

[ChuckPa]

Morning.

You got it to work by restarting several times?