Ubuntu 18.04 running plex server can't mount network disk running at QNAP NAS

[Z0rd0n]

Dear Plex community, I used plex for a long time before but one day I had great idea to change my W10 to Ubuntu 18.04. As I experienced on my self it’s not so easy to change operating system after 30 years of use. My setup is not standard and I can’t find help in web.
I use a NUC PC to run PMS now on Ubuntu with few external drive and I have a NAS with 1 drive for additional storage. I handle the standard USB external drives and add it to PMS but I have problem with that NAS. I did some steps like here: Connecting a Plex Media Server (Ubuntu) to a Shared Network Folder for its library | by Andrew Murray | Medium
but at the end i receive that message from terminal:

for several filesystems (e.g. nfs, cifs) you might need a /sbin/mount. helper program

I looked on Google how to solve it but as far as I totally newbie with Ubuntu it’s hard to figure it out.

[ChuckPa]

May I refer to you the documentation available in

https://forums.plex.tv/tag/server-linux-tips

Of particular attention to:

How to mount media from your NAS shares on Linux using NFS

Mounting NFS network shares for Plex use on Linux . The basic checklist A. Prepare the NAS: B. Create a ‘mount point’ directory structure on your Linux machine which will be where all your media shares are grafted and made available for Plex use. C. Create an entry in /etc/fstab for each share you wish to mount. D. Mount and debug as needed A. Prepare the NAS. This is unique to each NAS. In general, you only need grant read permission. Should you desire Read/Write for yourself, …

and

How to mount media from your NAS shares on Linux using CIFS / SMB

Mounting CIFS network shares for Plex use on Linux . The basic checklist A. Prepare the NAS B. Install , if required, cifs-utils (or appropriate client) on the Plex server system. C. Create the CIFS/SMB credentials file for use in /etc/fstab D. Create a ‘mount point’ directory structure on your Linux machine which will be where all your media shares are grafted and made available for Plex use. E. Create an entry in /etc/fstab for each share you wish to mount. F. Mount and debug as …

You will find the QNAP very forgiving if you use NFS. “It just works”.

[Z0rd0n]

Hi Chuck!
Thank you for quick answer and tutorial. But still I stuck on same error from command line.
I use this kind on configuration int sftab:

//192.168.0.128/multimedia/movies /nas/movies cifs auto,defaults,nofail,credentials=/etc/plex.cred,uid=plex 0 0

In my QNAP setup I set the NFS server on (was off previously).
I made the plex user, then credentials file, then directories and nothing change

[Z0rd0n]

Ok I installed cisf and nfs utilities and now I have it mounted.

But there is another problem -> Plex app doesn’t see that location when I try to add it to Library.

[ChuckPa]

Unmount the remote share
Make certain your directory permissions (if you’ve set them in the mount) are 755.
Make certain the default permissions on the directories are 755 (which allows plex to read & navigate through them)
Now remount.

The thinking here:

1. You, as owner get full read/write/transit (7)
2. Everything else (group and other) gets read/transit (5).

[ChuckPa]

In reflection:

Also stop using the “MultiMedia” share. It is a software API.
The QNAP FAQ warn against it.

Use the REAL shares which contain the media.

[Z0rd0n]

@ChuckPa

Unmount the remote share
Make certain your directory permissions (if you’ve set them in the mount) are 755.
Make certain the default permissions on the directories are 755 (which allows plex to read & navigate through them)
Now remount.

The thinking here:

1. You, as owner get full read/write/transit (7)
2. Everything else (group and other) gets read/transit (5).

Done. And it’s work. Just my Plex server doesn’t see the folder. But when I type destination manually (not chose from popup window) it’s working fine.

Thank You for help!

[ChuckPa]

Show me what you have please? I need more info.

If you’re using the “Multimedia” share, that’s why.

[Z0rd0n]

@ChuckPa

Show me what you have please? I need more info.

What do you mean? What should I do?

@ChuckPa

If you’re using the “Multimedia” share, that’s why.

Done. Still I can’t see my shared folder but it’s ok.

[ChuckPa]

I’m sorry, I should have been more specific.

May I see the fstab entry for the mount ?

If you can’t read it but can type directly, it usually means the r (read) permission is missing in a parent directory.

[Z0rd0n]

Regarding permission I set exactly this:

sudo chmod 755 /nas/*

[ChuckPa]

Is that the QNAP “Multimedia” share you are mounting? If so, it is the root of your problem.

“Multimedia” is a software API only. Permissions mean nothing.

You need to reference and mount real shared folders.

As example (I use NFS)

# /vie/movies
vienna:/movies     /vie/movies   nfs defaults,sec=sys,intr,rw,vers=4,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,auto,nofail,async,bg 0 0

# /vie/movies2
vienna:/movies2    /vie/movies2  nfs defaults,sec=sys,intr,rw,vers=4,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,auto,nofail,async,bg 0 0

# /vie/music
vienna:/music      /vie/music    nfs defaults,sec=sys,intr,rw,vers=4,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,auto,nofail,async,bg 0 0

[Z0rd0n]

Yes it’s standard folder made by QNAP. I disassembled it but if you’re telling it’s not gonna work I will change it. I make a new folder move my media and then try to run with you’re setup.
I have question how I can find properly server name in that case?

[ChuckPa]

That ‘standard folder’ is software. It is not real. It will not work .

Qnap faq.....read me first!

Welcome to Plex QNAP FAQ: This post will try and answer some common questions related to the combination of QNAP and Plex Media Server For more general Tips & Tricks, see this First of all, we urge you to look @ our support site on the NAS Guide page Questions: Q01: I installed the latest version, or? Q02: Which version do I need, Intel or Arm? Q03: You say Arm CPU, but is all Arm devices supported? Q04: Will my QNAP be powerful enough to support client X? Q05: How do I install a downloa…

I use the server IP or the DNS name I assigned in the modem/router (pfSense)

[Z0rd0n]

Ok I made a new folder, move data.

At fstab I have this command:

NAS:/volt_media/Seriale /nas/Seriale nfs defaults,sec=sys,intr,rw,vers=4,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,auto,nofail,async,bg 0 0

…And…doesn’t work. Terminal say: there is no /nas/Seriale in fstab

[ChuckPa]

see the middle button on the right? “Shared Folder Permissions”

click it.

Now select NFS permissions in the top dropdown.

Enable access

[Z0rd0n]

Ok done! and It’s working like that:

1. During mounting at terminal:
   
   
2. At File manager:
   
   
3. At plex still can’t see directory at library editing (add folder to library) you can see here:
   
   

[ChuckPa]

A few points of order if I may?

1. Don’t call out vers=4.2. Just call out vers=4. Let it negotiate up.
2. In preparation for Ubuntu 20.04, I’ve migrated from Fedora to Ubuntu 18.04.

[chuck@lizum ~.554]$ uname -a
Linux lizum 5.3.0-28-generic #30~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Jan 17 06:14:09 UTC 2020 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
[chuck@lizum ~.555]$ grep /vie/movies /etc/fstab
vienna:/movies    /vie/movies     nfs sec=sys,intr,rw,vers=4,timeo=15,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,auto,async,nofail,bg 0 0
vienna:/movies2   /vie/movies2    nfs sec=sys,intr,rw,vers=4,timeo=15,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,auto,async,nofail,bg 0 0
[chuck@lizum ~.556]$ mount | grep movies
vienna:/movies on /vie/movies type nfs4 (rw,relatime,vers=4.0,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,namlen=255,hard,proto=tcp,timeo=15,retrans=2,sec=sys,clientaddr=192.168.0.13,local_lock=none,addr=192.168.0.21)
vienna:/movies2 on /vie/movies2 type nfs4 (rw,relatime,vers=4.0,rsize=1048576,wsize=1048576,namlen=255,hard,proto=tcp,timeo=15,retrans=2,sec=sys,clientaddr=192.168.0.13,local_lock=none,addr=192.168.0.21)
[chuck@lizum ~.557]$


[chuck@lizum ~.558]$ ls -la /vie | grep movies
drwsr-sr-x 283 chuck chuck 16384 Jan  2 21:08 movies/
drwxr-xr-x 502 chuck chuck 28672 Dec 31 13:31 movies2/
[chuck@lizum ~.559]$ 

I think you’ll really enjoy the flexibilitty of NFS

[Z0rd0n]

Done. NFS wokring well.!
But…
I think I’m stupied. Plex can’t see that localization and I don’t know how to change it. Here is list of permision to that folder.

nuc@NUC:~$ ls -la /nas
total 32
drwxrwxrwx  5 root root 4096 lut 13 21:34 .
drwxr-xr-x 25 root root 4096 lut  8 23:25 ..
drwxrwx---  2 root root 4096 lut  9 22:15 Bajki
drwxrwx---  3 root root 4096 lut 14 23:54 Filmy
drwxrwx--- 19 root root 4096 lut 15 09:28 Seriale

If I right understand it’s 755 - so plex should see it. But it isn’t. Any idea?

[ChuckPa]

This fixes the file permissions. Right now you have them so only root:root can access them.

sudo find /nas -type d -exec chmod 755 {} \;
sudo find /nas -type f -exec chmod 644 {} \;

NFS will provide the files and directories to your PMS system without interpretation or distortion. The host will provider any localization interpretation to PMS.