My server has been offline for now 28 hours, with only a notice that the database is performing maintenance. Why is Plex pushing updates that break the server for over a day, if you have a large database? I wouldn’t have updated if I knew this was going to happen. Quite honestly I am really considering the move to Jellyfin entirely now, because this kind of downtime is ludicrous.
Did Plex push the container update (doubtful because everyone is on vacation)
or
Did the image you are using on Unraid get updated by its author ?
From what i can see, your server hasn’t contacted plex.tv in a day
I will need a ZIP of the Logs directory (or tar.gz) to see what happened.
Which version of PMS did you get updated from & what is it now?
The last major update was at 1.40.0. We are now at 1.42 & 1.43.0 (beta)
Truthfully, I didn’t push any update for anything. I rebooted my server when it was hanging (OS related not Plex related) and when it came back online it was saying that the database was running migrations. Everywhere I look online says this happens after an update is pushed. Considering I’m pulling from the plexinc docker container, would that not still be something that would be handled by Plex the organization? Attached are the logs. Server is still offline for it’s 38th hour.
Actually attached
Logs.zip (437.2 KB)
You appear to have a database corruption issue:
Dec 27, 2025 07:58:21.871 [22659835841168] ERROR - SQLITE3:0x80000001, 11, database corruption at line 91363 of [a29f994989]
This could certainly cause problems with migrating the DB due to a PMS update.
If you’re comfortable with Linux in general and working at the command line specifically (if you’re running your server in this environment, you should be), give @ChuckPa’s DBRepair script a shot. Full instructions and download links are here:
This is only the third time now my database has gotten corrupted. God I am so sick of Plex constantly doing this. Now I am probably gonna have to delete and rebuild the database again, and spend hours of my time re-matching, fixing, and recreating playlists. Thanks Plex, you’re sure making this a lot better.
If you use the DBRepair tool, you will want the REPLACE function.
This will look through your backup databases.
You select one and it will check the DB’s integrity.
If valid, it will use it as the current DB (moving the current / faulty one) out of the way.
There are some things you can do to help Plex help you, with regard to database corruption.
If you use the Plex app on a mobile device and have notifications enabled for the app, database corruption is one of the things about which it can notify you. This would be helpful in recovery as you could quickly revert to a backup (PMS won’t backup a corrupt DB).
If I could figure out how to use that tool, I would. Deleting seems easier.
I have this feature turned on in the mobile app, no notification was generated
Yea this tool refuses to work for me. I put it in the root PMS docker folder, added executable perms, and when I try running it the error gives ‘Error: Unknown host.’
We’ll probably need more information then. What image are you running in your container?
I just tested with the official Plex PMS container and the instructions on the tin worked.
Plex Media Server, released by the official plexinc developer
Respectfully, it’s hard to assign blame to Plex Media Server here. You already mentioned system stability issues.
It’s likely that those same instabilities led to the database corruption.
You have to provide a stable platform for Plex Media Server, or any other software for that matter, to run on.
It’s very easy for me to assign blame to the application that is constantly screwing up, while nothing else has issues. Just gonna move to Jellyfin and be done with this thread/forum as well since everyone wants to blame me while the application was just sitting there working and then stopped as though I did something to it.
If your system is unstable (a hung OS) requiring restarts, it suggests that you have larger problems. Plex Media Server uses a database (SQLite 3) to store its metadata. If it is interrupted at a “bad” time, corruption can occur. The same would occur with any database-driven software.
I understand that you’re frustrated, but you have recovery options. You can use the utility above to repair or recover a previous database. Or you can manually restore a backup database (there’s documentation at support.plex.tv for that).
Or you can just provide a stable system for PMS to run on.
Yes I’ve looked into the OS issues. It may be related but I can’t fix it. Yes, it’s frustrating that I spend thousands building a new system from the ground up only for this issue to constantly ■■■■ things up and I can’t figure out why. Offering empty suggestions like fix the issue I’ve looked into extensively already doesn’t give me anything more than annoyance that I apparently have to throw everything away and start over. Rather try and find an application that doesn’t have such an easily destroyed database.
I really don’t understand the anger. There have been no empty suggestions here.
- Provide a stable platform on which to run your media server
- Repair your database if it becomes corrupted, for whatever reason
- Restore a non-corrupt database if that is not possible
All the “popular” media servers use SQLite 3 as their database, so you’ll have the same issues whichever you use, given an unstable underlying server.
If your car dies and I tell you “Just fix it” would that not upset you too?
Nobody is suggesting that you “just fix it.” There are specific tools and instructions to do so.
Following your analogy, if you drive your car down a road with huge potholes and chunks of debris every day, and the car’s suspension fails, who do you blame? The car, the driver, or those responsible for the road’s maintenance?
Hint: PMS is the car, you’re the driver, and your server is everything else.
