So email today. Plex is stopping us with server installs on Windows 7 from april.
Is this a joke? No need to run Windows 10 with all its metrics sneaking to just run the Plex server.
If they push this through I have 2 options: run it as long as I can without updating until ■■■■ happens or upgrade to another front end for my movies etc. to our TV upstairs?
Any good suggestions with roughly the same possibilities?
I am only using Plex as a frontend, nothing else.
Shi decision Plex!
I believe Plex is making the correct decision. Allowing their software to install or upgrade on Windows 7 has been a mistake for at least 2 years.
If you do not want to upgrade Windows then that is your choice but it is also Plex’s choice which operating systems they choose to support.
Plex OWNS the software and they can support or not support what they choose.
If you wish to run Plex and you want to run Windows then you know your options.
However if you want or need a more secure environment then Linux is always a choice. I run both for many things but I really do not like the complexities that Linux forces on users so I recommend Windows and therefore Windows 10 or 11.
BTW: In the future I may face similar problems because not one of my current computers can run Windows 11. so unless I choose to upgrade my hardware I will have to choose running a totally unsupported operating system or upgrading my hardware.I guess, with luck, I will age out of life before Windows 10 goes the way of Windows 7.
Windows 7 support from Microsoft ended in Jan 2020 so 3rd party support just can’t keep up with it indefinitely, but the Plex server and desktop apps you have now will still work. It’s pretty common scenario for software to stop support on EOL OSes, though understandably frustrating.
Not sure what you mean by “frontend” … but a possible upgrade might be to switch to Linux OS on the same machine - particularly if you’re worried about trackers\metrics in Windows. It’s a relatively painless process to switch and there are several guides for moving your Plex database information between setups.
Just a thought for a way to address the situation.
I know a guy who has one of these for sale if you need an upgrade
Even MS stopped supporting Win7 3 years ago. Why shouldn’t plex move on too?
well i run on server 2012 R2 and i also got an email stating they are ending support.
this is despite microsoft officially supporting this version of windows until october of this year.
so plex, whats the best option for me now?
I am curious if it will Plex will truly stop supporting windows server 2012 R2… It didn’t actually say that… My email said IT APPEARS you are running something older than Windows 10. Windows Server 2012 R2 is still supported until Oct of 2023… So, is it or is it not supported past April 10th… If it isn’t… Can you just bypass the updates and it still run. This is a very big question for me as I deploy in 4 days… I really do not want to reinvent my server lol in 4 days…
Since 2012 R2 is Windows 8.1-based, I’m assuming it will be out of support as well, despite Microsoft still supporting it for several more months. The forum announcement mentions version 1607, which corresponds to Windows 10 RS1/Server 2016.
Yes, you can stick to 1.31 and everything will still work (make sure to turn off automatic updates in your server settings), there are just no compatibility guarantees from 1.32 onwards. The one thing to keep an eye on is any security-related announcements, since being stuck on 1.31 means no security updates, unless Plex decides something is important enough to backport to 1.31.
Appreciate the update… Sadly I do not have the time to update this prior to my departure… I am already tasks saturated with moving my dogs to foster care, mom to an assisted living location and only getting 11 days notice of the deployment (wasn’t on the initial list) so got added last Friday at 0830 and I’m leaving next week. Ughhh.
Don’t run os’s outside of security support
Plex should have made this decision sooner
I love Plex… I just wish they had give a bit more notice to this… Server 2012 R2 is supported til Oct… Windows 8 isn’t.
I started using Plex on an windows 8.1 desktop years ago…I never upgraded it to windows 10 because I only used it for Plex here at home. I even have remote turned off because we don’t use it remotely… It’s always mostly ran smoothly over the years… I do have another windows 11 desktop that doesn’t get used but I just dread transition with a red hot passion. I think I may just wait until it stops working and just not update it…then just go from there
Current install will not just stop working all of a sudden on April 10, but there will be no more updates. It should not auto-update on them even if enabled.
There may be future updates to clients that require updates to the server to work, though I don’t know of any thing currently being worked on that would cause a client to stop working with an older server (though there may be new server features you cannot use) but it will eventually happen.
considering plex was involved in the huge lastpass situation earlier this year, i dont like the idea of them dropping patch support for any OS really at this point in time.
i’ve got plex running on a 44 core server, and its easy to say upgrade, but not so easy in practice guys.
I have no interest in downgrading my Windows 7 Pro PC (running PMS) to any version of Windows 10, which would now I presume even cost me money to do. I also do not want to move my Plex server from my Windows 7 Pro PC to my Windows 10 Pro PC. For reasons explained elsewhere, I generally do not upgrade my main Plex client (running on a SHIELD); I am therefore running an old Plex client. That old Plex client generally works with my server (which is currently up-to-date, but will no longer be updated), but there are problems I live with. (As described elsewhere, I stopped reporting Plex problems a long time ago.) My only concern now is if (1) I no longer upgrade my Plex server and (2) lock my client at its current old level, will (3) Plex continue to operate? All I do (99.9% of the time) is stream movies and music at home. I am willing to risk missing OS (obviously) and Plex security updates, etc. However, I do use Alexa with Plex, and Plex says my server is not available from the Internet, so I can only stream music with Plex at home when the relay box is checked; (4) will this relay mechanism someday fail because my server is running on Windows 7 Pro?
I ran Plex on a Windows 2000 server for a bunch of years. Even after Plex officially dropped support for it. The clients worked fine for a good few years after that until one update… I guess changed the way it talked to the backend and it quit working.
Upgraded to Windows 2008… And then after a catastrophic event, Windows 2012 - which I’ve been on ever since.
I’ll do same as I always do - potter along fine, until something breaks ( or my server dies ) and then just do the upgrade. Plex has gotta be one of the easier things to do that with, tbh. 
But you’re fine running an older, unsupported version of Windows?
You’re worried about a venerability being found in Plex later and them not patching it in a version of Plex Media Server you’re running, ignoring if* the same issue happens with Windows 7 or 8.1 Microsoft is not going to be releasing a patch for it, either. An interesting double-standard.
Also, keep in mind Plex does not backport patches to previous versions to start with like an OS maker does. If a venerability is found that impacts v. 1.30.0 and they patch it, you have to update to Version 1.31.3 or whatever is current, even if 1.30.0 is still considered “supported” by Plex. They aren’t going to release a special 1.30.1 version that has just that patch added.
Mentioning the LastPass thing is a red herring because we’re talking about a hack that took place on PMS when the issue had been patched for years already, and the OS that LastPass employee was running was still supported, so he was perfectly capable of updating PMS without changing his OS and choose not to.
*-- likely already has happened. No one is talking about it because the support lifecycle of those versions of Windows has already passed and anyone still running them now has made their bed.
yes the irony seems to be skipped the person that posted that.
I am running server 2012r2 which is currently still under support, and I currently have option to continue to receive updates all the way to 2026 if I want to purchase esu.
I am in here talking about active, currently supported operating systems that Plex has decided to stop supporting.
Don’t work for plex
But people running full windows server for whatever reason to host plex are a tiny minority - 8.1 end of lifed 2 months ago and was not popular at the scale that windows 7 was
Dropping win 8.1 will require dropping 2012 as they are the same codebase
