Linux Optimization

Linux Optimization

Maximize Plex performance on Linux systems.

Hardware Transcoding

Intel Quick Sync

# Install drivers
sudo apt install intel-media-va-driver vainfo

# Verify
vainfo

# Permissions
sudo usermod -aG video plex
sudo usermod -aG render plex

NVIDIA

# Install drivers
sudo apt install nvidia-driver-535

# Verify
nvidia-smi

# Permissions
sudo usermod -aG video plex

Database Optimization

Move to SSD

# Symlink database to SSD
sudo systemctl stop plexmediaserver
sudo mv /var/lib/plexmediaserver /ssd/plexmediaserver
sudo ln -s /ssd/plexmediaserver /var/lib/plexmediaserver
sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver

Optimize Database

# Stop Plex
sudo systemctl stop plexmediaserver

# Optimize
sqlite3 "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db" "VACUUM;"

# Start Plex
sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver

File Descriptor Limits

Edit /etc/security/limits.conf:

plex soft nofile 65536
plex hard nofile 65536

Memory Management

Transcoder RAM Disk

# Create RAM disk
sudo mkdir -p /tmp/plex-transcode
sudo mount -t tmpfs -o size=4G tmpfs /tmp/plex-transcode
sudo chown plex:plex /tmp/plex-transcode

# Set in Plex Settings → Transcoder

Add to fstab

tmpfs /tmp/plex-transcode tmpfs size=4G,mode=0755,uid=plex,gid=plex 0 0

Network Tuning

# Increase buffer sizes
sudo sysctl -w net.core.rmem_max=134217728
sudo sysctl -w net.core.wmem_max=134217728

Monitoring

# Monitor Plex
htop -p $(pgrep -d, "Plex Media Server")

# Disk I/O
iotop -o

# Network
iftop

Next Steps

• Remote Access
• Docker