# Ubuntu 20.04 Plex Failed to Start

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/ubuntu-20-04-plex-failed-to-start/737530>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-linux\
**Created:** [August 19, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ubuntu-20-04-plex-failed-to-start/737530 "2021-08-19T17:02:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Alexus\_Plinius](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/alexus_plinius/32/308251_2.png) [@Alexus\_Plinius](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Alexus_Plinius)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ubuntu-20-04-plex-failed-to-start/737530/1 "2021-08-19T17:02:56Z")

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Server Version#: Likely latest

Hi Guys,

I migrated my Plex Server from a Ubuntu Server to Ubuntu.

I followed the plex migration instructions:  
[https://support.plex.tv/articles/201370363-move-an-install-to-another-system/](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201370363-move-an-install-to-another-system/)  
First installing and then signing out of the plex app and then stopping it.

After stopping it I copied across the library details:  
/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

Then restarted the server.

Unfortunately it now fails to start:

```auto
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
     Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Thu 2021-08-19 17:39:51 BST; 13min ago
    Process: 3291 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mkdir -p "${P>
    Process: 3293 ExecStart=/bin/sh -c export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_VENDOR="$(grep ^NAME= /etc/os-release | awk -F= "{print \>
   Main PID: 3293 (code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION)

Aug 19 17:39:51 Madmax-PLEX systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
Aug 19 17:39:51 Madmax-PLEX systemd[1]: Stopped Plex Media Server.
Aug 19 17:39:51 Madmax-PLEX systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Aug 19 17:39:51 Madmax-PLEX systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Aug 19 17:39:51 Madmax-PLEX systemd[1]: Failed to start Plex Media Server.

```

Issue may be related to " For Linux/NAS systems, make sure that the directories and contents are all owned by `plex:plex` (or whichever user you have running Plex Media Server under)." from the migration page. Sadly I didn’t quite understand this.

Any idea how I should begin to diagnose the issue? Let me know if I need to post any logs/Ubuntu details.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ChuckPa](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/chuckpa/32/79710_2.png) [@ChuckPa](https://forums.plex.tv/u/ChuckPa)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ubuntu-20-04-plex-failed-to-start/737530/2 "2021-08-19T17:19:25Z")

</div>

Think about what you did.

1. You copied files from somewhere else,
2. **With a different username**
3. What happens when a non-privileged user attempts to access a file it doesn’t own?

What’s the remedy? It should be obvious –

```auto
sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver

```

It’s in posts and documentation throughout the forum.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Alexus\_Plinius](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/alexus_plinius/32/308251_2.png) [@Alexus\_Plinius](https://forums.plex.tv/u/Alexus_Plinius)\
**Post date:** [August 19, 2021, 7:08pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ubuntu-20-04-plex-failed-to-start/737530/3 "2021-08-19T19:08:59Z")

</div>

Fixed it perfectly many thanks.

Apologies, wasn’t sure what the issue could be. Cheers for clearing it up =D

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [November 17, 2021, 7:09pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/ubuntu-20-04-plex-failed-to-start/737530/4 "2021-11-17T19:09:18Z")

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