Running Plex as Service

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#:1.112.0.359-0d79a49f
Player Version#: 1.110.0.351-4e48eb83
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>

Hello, apparently I am in over my head.

I’m migrating to a new/second server because my PC is way too old. I had PMS all setup on a new nuc style Windows 11 PC. It was running smoothly, but did not seem to restart the server after a Windows Update and machine reboot. I don’t recall this being an issue on my Windows 10 machine which ran my original server?

I initially tried to enable the option for “Start Plex Media Server at Login” from the system tray (right click on icon, bottom right) but this didn’t seem to work right.

So then I was playing with running PMS as a service. I found instructions on how to do this with NSSM. I used this video as a guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR_Ckx1Ls9Q

I followed the steps and it seemed to successfully create the service. However when I started it, though PMS was showing up in the Task Manager as running, it wasn’t actually doing anything. The server was not showing up on any of my players, even on the server PC itself.

I can start the server manually and PMS does work then. Only odd thing is that then TWO servers show up simultaneously on the Task Manager list.

I manually went into the Services list and stopped the service I setup with NSSM. So now I am basically back where I started.

All I want is a simple/reliable way for my server to start back up on it’s own after PC auto reboots so my library doesn’t disappear on me (especially if I am accessing music remotely via Plexamp, and am not able to start the PMS until I get home). If running as a service isn’t the best option then I am happy to use a different strategy.

Please help me find a solution if possible?

Thanks,

Russ

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I am running Plex server with NSSM. So it is possible.
However, this requires you to always update it manually. You cannot use the integrated update feature. And you have to ensure yourself that it is not started regularly if it’s already running as a service.

Both things can be avoided by using this instead: PMS as a service

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OK, I swear all I needed to do was ask for help and the solution would present itself.

I think my problem was that the Task Manager Startup list wasn’t populating right. I did the shell:startup trick (copy/paste etc.) and it seems to start now. I had to delete the service using the NSSM remove feature, but now it does seem to run PSM after a reboot (at least manual reboot) before I login to the PC.

I will need to see how it works in “hands off” mode, but I am hopeful.

Given that it seems to work OK in pre-login mode as a program on the Task Manager startup, is there any appreciable benefit to using the PMS as a service route instead?

I will freely admit that I used NSSM instead of the attached link (which I have seen before) because I was intimidated by some of the steps on the list. I am more of an AV tech guy than a PC wiz. So If my goal can be accomplished with the Startup instead of Service route, I am fine with that.

Thanks for the tip all the same!

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I messed with it for a while a few years ago, and decided that it wasn’t really worth the effort. Just set your computer to auto login to a dedicated Plex account on bootup and then set Plex to run at login.

This assumes you have some basic network security, of course.

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