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I recently setup my Synology Plex media server to stream all the movies and TV shows that I own.
Synology Plex Media Server – Introduction
First, if you didn’t see my last Synology post, I got a new NAS to add to my lab at home.
I used to run Plex off my old openmediavault installation on the r710.
That said, I figured that it would run fine off of the NAS and allow me to keep it separate from my other VMs/services.
Note that while Synology offers a Plex package, they do not supply the 64-bit version. In this case, I decided to go with a manual installation.
Installation
First, I went to the Plex downloads page and grabbed the Synology 64-bit version.
Next, I uploaded the package to my NAS.
As I knew where the download came from, I accepted the unknown publisher warning to continue.
Finally, I confirmed the settings, and installed the Plex package to DSM.
Configuration and Permissions
With the package installed, I was able to open the Plex application, and it found my server.
Unfortunately, when I went to add my media, it was unable to find any files/folders.
As it turns out, this had to do with the permissions for the ‘plex’ user. Next, I gave read permissions to this user for my ‘Media’ directory.
This time, Plex found all of my TV shows (ripped from DVDs I own), and I was in business!
Synology Plex Media Server – Conclusion
One of the main reasons that I installed the package manually was hardware acceleration. That said, this requires Plex Pass, so I am not sure if I will pay for that yet.
Additionally, it doesn’t hurt to run the 64-bit version, as it should be more efficient.
I still plan to run most of my services from my server(s) but let me know if you run anything else directly from your NAS!
Ray Doyle is an avid pentester/security enthusiast/beer connoisseur who has worked in IT for almost 16 years now. From building machines and the software on them, to breaking into them and tearing it all down; he’s done it all. To show for it, he has obtained an OSCE, OSCP, eCPPT, GXPN, eWPT, eWPTX, SLAE, eMAPT, Security+, ICAgile CP, ITIL v3 Foundation, and even a sabermetrics certification!
He currently serves as a Senior Staff Adversarial Engineer for Avalara, and his previous position was a Principal Penetration Testing Consultant for Secureworks.
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