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!
He currently serves as a Senior Staff Adversarial Engineer for Avalara, and his previous position was a Principal Penetration Testing Consultant for Secureworks.
When he's not figuring out what cert to get next or side project to work on, he enjoys playing video games, traveling, and watching sports.
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