pms-docker

When upgrading from version v0.9.x to v1.x, the method for defining TLS configuration in the Ingress resource has changed. You must replace the certificateSecret field with a tls block. This allows for more flexible host-to-secret mapping.

# Old configuration (v0.9.x)
certificateSecret: plex.example.com

# New configuration (v1.x)
tls:
- hosts:
  - plex.example.com
  secretName: cert-example-com

If you are setting up Plex on a headless server and did not provide a PLEX_CLAIM token, the initial setup wizard only triggers if you access the server via http://localhost:32400/web. To achieve this from your local machine, create an SSH tunnel:

ssh username@ip_of_server -L 32400:ip_of_server:32400 -N

After running this, you can access the setup wizard by navigating to http://localhost:32400/web on your local computer.

To move an existing Plex installation to the Docker /config directory:

1. Identify your current config directory. If it is /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/, your new Docker config root will be /var/lib/plexmediaserver.
2. If your current directory does not follow the Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ structure, create a new directory for Docker and manually create the subfolders:
   • [new_config_dir]/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/
3. Copy your existing Plex Media Server folder into that new path.
4. Ensure the container has permissions (or use CHANGE_CONFIG_DIR_OWNERSHIP=true).

Macvlan networking creates a new virtual computer on the network for the container. This setup is similar to Host networking but requires specifying a network and an IP address.

Requirements:

• You must have a macvlan network already configured on your Docker host (e.g., named physical).
• You must specify a unique IP address for the container.

docker run \
-d \
--name plex \
--network=physical \
--ip=<IPAddress> \
-e TZ="<timezone>" \
-e PLEX_CLAIM="<claimToken>" \
-h <HOSTNAME> \
-v <path/to/plex/database>:/config \
-v <path/to/transcode/temp>:/transcode \
-v <path/to/media>:/data \
plexinc/pms-docker

If you are migrating an existing PMS server to Kubernetes, you can use a custom initContainer.script to import your existing Library directory.

Important: The script must include a check to exit early if the database already exists to prevent overwriting data on pod restarts.

Example: Fetching database from a web server

This script uses curl to download a compressed archive from a URL and extract it to /config.

#!/bin/sh
echo "fetching pre-existing pms database to import..."

if [ -d "/config/Library" ]; then
  echo "PMS library already exists, exiting."
  exit 0
fi

apk --no-cache add curl
curl http://example.com/pms.tgz -o pms.tgz
tar -xvzf pms.tgz -C /config
rm pms.tgz

echo "Done."

Host networking uses the IP address of the host running Docker, making the container's networking appear as the host itself. This is one of the easiest setups with the fewest workarounds.

Note: If your /etc/hosts file is missing an entry for localhost, add one before using this mode.

docker run \
-d \
--name plex \
--network=host \
-e TZ="<timezone>" \
-e PLEX_CLAIM="<claimToken>" \
-v <path/to/plex/database>:/config \
-v <path/to/transcode/temp>:/transcode \
-v <path/to/media>:/data \
plexinc/pms-docker

Use the following standard Docker commands to manage your running Plex container (assuming the container is named plex):

• Start: docker start plex
• Stop: docker stop plex
• Restart/Upgrade: docker restart plex (restarts the application and pulls the latest version if configured)
• Shell Access: docker exec -it plex /bin/bash (access the container's bash shell)
• View Logs: docker logs -f plex (view startup script logs in real time)

The rclone object in the Helm chart allows you to mount remote drives into the PMS container.

• rclone.enabled: Set to true to create the rclone sidecar.
• rclone.configSecret: The name of the secret containing the rclone configuration file. The key in the secret must be rclone.conf. All keys in the secret will be available in /etc/rclone/.
• rclone.remotes: A list of remotes to mount. Format: name:[/optional/path]. These will be mounted at /data/name inside the PMS container.
• rclone.readOnly: If true, remote volumes are mounted as read-only (default is true).
• rclone.additionalArgs: Additional arguments passed to the rclone command.