[Popular] Create Plex Server as a service (Windows)

Feature Suggestions
161

I switched to Plex running on a NAS after a couple of years being on a Windows machine. Runs fine on boot up.

162

An application like Plex should never have been designed as an interactive application. I can’t believe why this wont be catered for. All this development for edge features like PVR, yet a core useful feature gets ignored.

163

@jools5000 said:
An application like Plex should never have been designed as an interactive application. I can’t believe why this wont be catered for. All this development for edge features like PVR, yet a core useful feature gets ignored.

I agree. I suspect that the kids who originally ported it from xbmc (or whatever) did not have much exposure to the enterprise dev mentality and were more about nice UI, etc. I do not think they get it even now., or it would have been done long time ago (along with meaningful backup, etc).

164

Personally i do not understand why it is thought that this is a priority development requirement when for past few years we already have a working solution that is being used and is functional and it works and I myself have been using it on all my servers.

The only bit missing is auto updating but that is not a show stopper and i always like to have full control of updates anyway and would prefer to do it myself manually -

  • Download the new version
  • Check the download size/signature
  • Stopping plex media server through the service tray Service App icon
  • Double checking all stopped
  • Manually killing any Plex processes that did not get stopped
  • Run the new installer and not to launch Plex Media Server at the end
  • Start Plex Media Server through the service tray Plex Service App icon

It works.

And I pasted a link to this solution several times in this thread.

165

@sa2000 said:
Personally i do not understand why it is thought that this is a priority development requirement when for past few years we already have a working solution that is being used and is functional and it works and I myself have been using it on all my servers.

@sa2000: If your libraries are on a NAS share that gets mapped to, say, Z drive when you log on to Windows, how do you handle this when running Plex as a service (since the drive will probably not be mapped)?

166

@alekdavis said:

@sa2000 said:
Personally i do not understand why it is thought that this is a priority development requirement when for past few years we already have a working solution that is being used and is functional and it works and I myself have been using it on all my servers.

@sa2000: If your libraries are on a NAS share that gets mapped to, say, Z drive when you log on to Windows, how do you handle this when running Plex as a service (since the drive will probably not be mapped)?

UNC Paths

\\NAS\Share\Folder
167

@sa2000 said:

@alekdavis said:

@sa2000 said:
Personally i do not understand why it is thought that this is a priority development requirement when for past few years we already have a working solution that is being used and is functional and it works and I myself have been using it on all my servers.

@sa2000: If your libraries are on a NAS share that gets mapped to, say, Z drive when you log on to Windows, how do you handle this when running Plex as a service (since the drive will probably not be mapped)?

UNC Paths

\\NAS\Share\Folder

Normally, remote shares do not allow anonymous access, so how do you specify credentials when connecting via UNC path? Or does it assume that the access is open to public? Would not be good from security perspective.

168

@alekdavis said:

@sa2000 said:

@alekdavis said:

@sa2000 said:
Personally i do not understand why it is thought that this is a priority development requirement when for past few years we already have a working solution that is being used and is functional and it works and I myself have been using it on all my servers.

@sa2000: If your libraries are on a NAS share that gets mapped to, say, Z drive when you log on to Windows, how do you handle this when running Plex as a service (since the drive will probably not be mapped)?

UNC Paths

\\NAS\Share\Folder

Normally, remote shares do not allow anonymous access, so how do you specify credentials when connecting via UNC path? Or does it assume that the access is open to public? Would not be good from security perspective.

I always have same credentials on windows and NAS for share access. So the plex windows account I run the service in, is also present on the NAS with same password and permissions set for share and contents

169

Definitely needed on a Mac with multiple users who log on.

170

@sa2000 said:
Personally i do not understand why it is thought that this is a priority development requirement when for past few years we already have a working solution that is being used and is functional and it works and I myself have been using it on all my servers.

The only bit missing is auto updating but that is not a show stopper and i always like to have full control of updates anyway and would prefer to do it myself manually -

  • Download the new version
  • Check the download size/signature
  • Stopping plex media server through the service tray Service App icon
  • Double checking all stopped
  • Manually killing any Plex processes that did not get stopped
  • Run the new installer and not to launch Plex Media Server at the end
  • Start Plex Media Server through the service tray Plex Service App icon

It works.

And I pasted a link to this solution several times in this thread.

Because this is a core feature that a lot of people rely on, and the fact that you’re relying a 3rd party to provide this functionality that

  1. There is no guarantee that the service will continue to be developed
  2. There is no guarantee that running as a service will not break with a future version of Plex

Considering all the other development that the application has received, this is a small core feature that is worth properly implementing in the software as a supported feature.

Just as your preference is to control updates, the software was designed to be easy to update with web interface updates, which this now breaks. Running as a service now makes you a second class Plex user.

171

+1 would love to have this, I currently have worked around this, but it would help to have native support for this.

172

I liked the service, paid for a subscription for a month and then realized that the SERVER does not work as a service !!! Disappointed and go to competitors.

173

@BonovPlex said:
I liked the service, paid for a subscription for a month and then realized that the SERVER does not work as a service !!! Disappointed and go to competitors.

Which competitors?

174

@alekdavis said:

@BonovPlex said:
I liked the service, paid for a subscription for a month and then realized that the SERVER does not work as a service !!! Disappointed and go to competitors.

Which competitors?

Emby

175

@BonovPlex said:

@alekdavis said:

@BonovPlex said:
I liked the service, paid for a subscription for a month and then realized that the SERVER does not work as a service !!! Disappointed and go to competitors.

Which competitors?

Emby

Sweet. Thanks. I have a Plex Lifetime pass, but I’m still open to anything that would allow me to run on Windows box without the need to log in and make it easier to do backups (it’s amazing how many highest rated requests, like grouping movies, etc, have not been addressed).

176

I moved from Windows to a QNAP NAS server last February. It runs Plex on bootup. Been very happy but I only use it for music and photos.

177

+1 for this.

178

What I don’t understand is that this is a requested feature that has been debated for 5 years and the only response is use a third party solution.

179

Running as a service is not a substantial programming/deployment effort (at least in Windows). With that in mind, it would be a nice upgrade. And it would even further Plex’s highly professional product reputation. +1 here for running as a service.

I’m and IT professional so I’ve managed to overcome the obstacles. I tend to refrain from recommending Plex to non-professionals for this reason. They get frustrated when the server is not operating.

180

That is really a core function i mean it is called Plex Media SERVER. Name a Server Application that is not running as service in Windows. But hey we have a new News section now but it is not possible to install the software as service since 5 years.