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macOS Configuration

macOS Configuration

Section titled “macOS Configuration”

Essential configuration for your Plex server on macOS.

Basic Settings

Section titled “Basic Settings”

Access Plex settings at http://localhost:32400/web → Settings.

Server Name

Section titled “Server Name”
  • Settings → General → Set descriptive name

Automatic Updates

Section titled “Automatic Updates”
  • Enable “Update my Plex Media Server automatically”

Hardware Transcoding

Section titled “Hardware Transcoding”

VideoToolbox (Apple Silicon)

Section titled “VideoToolbox (Apple Silicon)”

VideoToolbox is automatically available on Apple Silicon Macs:

  1. Settings → Transcoder
  2. Enable “Use hardware acceleration when available”
  3. Plex Pass required

Intel Quick Sync (Intel Macs)

Section titled “Intel Quick Sync (Intel Macs)”

For Intel Macs with integrated graphics:

  • Ensure Intel GPU is enabled
  • Enable hardware acceleration in Settings

Launch Agent (Auto-Start)

Section titled “Launch Agent (Auto-Start)”

Create a launch agent for automatic startup:

Terminal window
nano ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.plexapp.plexmediaserver</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/Applications/Plex Media Server.app/Contents/MacOS/Plex Media Server</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Load it:

Terminal window
launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.plexapp.plexmediaserver.plist

Network Settings

Section titled “Network Settings”

Port Configuration

Section titled “Port Configuration”
  • Settings → Remote Access
  • Default port: 32400

Secure Connections

Section titled “Secure Connections”
  • Settings → Network
  • Set “Secure connections” to Required

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”