Linux Troubleshooting

Linux Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions for Plex on Linux.

Service Issues

Check Status

sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver

View Logs

# Systemd logs
sudo journalctl -u plexmediaserver -f

# Plex logs
tail -f /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application\ Support/Plex\ Media\ Server/Logs/Plex\ Media\ Server.log

Restart Service

sudo systemctl restart plexmediaserver

Permission Issues

Fix Ownership

sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver
sudo chown -R plex:plex /path/to/media

Check User Groups

groups plex
# Should include: video, render, media

Add Groups

sudo usermod -aG video plex
sudo usermod -aG render plex
sudo usermod -aG media plex

Hardware Transcoding

Intel Quick Sync

# Check device exists
ls -la /dev/dri/

# Check VA-API
vainfo

# Permissions
sudo chmod 666 /dev/dri/renderD128

NVIDIA

# Check GPU
nvidia-smi

# Verify driver
nvidia-smi -L

Network Issues

Port Check

ss -tlnp | grep 32400

Firewall

# UFW
sudo ufw status

# firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

Database Issues

Repair

# Stop Plex
sudo systemctl stop plexmediaserver

# Repair
PLEX_DB="/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases/com.plexapp.plugins.library.db"
sqlite3 "$PLEX_DB" "PRAGMA integrity_check;"
sqlite3 "$PLEX_DB" "VACUUM;"
sqlite3 "$PLEX_DB" "REINDEX;"

# Start Plex
sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver

Docker Issues

Container Logs

docker logs plex
docker logs -f plex

Restart Container

docker restart plex

Rebuild

docker compose down
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Check Permissions in Container

docker exec -it plex ls -la /data
docker exec -it plex id

Get Help

• Plex Forums
• r/PleX
• Plex Support