How to Install Plex Media Server on CentOS 7

Plex is a streaming media server that brings all your video, music and photo collections together and stream them to your devices at any time and from anywhere.

In this tutorial, we will show you how to install and configure Plex Media Server on CentOS 7.

Prerequisites #

Before continuing with this tutorial, make sure you are logged in as a user with sudo privileges .

Install Plex Media Server #

The recommended method to install and manage Plex Media Server on CentOS 7 is by using the Plex official repository. It requires no technical knowledge and it should not take you more than 20 minutes to install and configure the media server.

The following steps describe how to install Plex Media Server on a CentOS system:

1. Add the Plex repository

   To enable the Plex repository open your text editor and create a new YUM repository configuration file named plex.repo in /etc/yum.repos.d/ directory:

   /etc/yum.repos.d/plex.repo

   [PlexRepo]
   name=PlexRepo
   baseurl=https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/rpm/$basearch/
   enabled=1
   gpgkey=https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key
   gpgcheck=1

   Copy

2. Install Plex

   Install the latest version of the Plex Media Server with:

   sudo yum install plexmediaserverCopy

   Once the installation is completed start the plexmediaserver service and enable it to start on system boot with the following commands:

   sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver.servicesudo systemctl enable plexmediaserver.serviceCopyCopy

3. Verify the installation

   To verify if the Plex service is running type:

   sudo systemctl status plexmediaserverCopy

   ● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server for Linux
      Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
      Active: active (running) since Sat 2018-07-21 22:22:22 UTC; 12s ago
    Main PID: 13940 (Plex Media Serv)
      CGroup: /system.slice/plexmediaserver.serviceCopy

Adjust the Firewall Rules #

Now that Plex is installed and running you need to configure your firewall to allow traffic on Plex Media Server specific ports.

Open your text editor of choice and create the following Firewalld service:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<service version="1.0">
<short>plexmediaserver</short>
<description>Plex TV Media Server</description>
<port port="1900" protocol="udp"/>
<port port="5353" protocol="udp"/>
<port port="32400" protocol="tcp"/>
<port port="32410" protocol="udp"/>
<port port="32412" protocol="udp"/>
<port port="32413" protocol="udp"/>
<port port="32414" protocol="udp"/>
<port port="32469" protocol="tcp"/>
</service>

Save the file and apply the new firewall rules by typing:

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=plexmediaserver --permanentsudo firewall-cmd --reloadCopyCopy

Finally check if the new firewall rules are applied successfully with:

sudo firewall-cmd --list-allCopy

public (active)
  target: default
  icmp-block-inversion: no
  interfaces: eth0
  sources:
  services: ssh dhcpv6-client plexmediaserver
  ports:
  protocols:
  masquerade: no
  forward-ports:
  source-ports:
  icmp-blocks:
  rich rules:
Copy

Configure Plex Media Server #

Create the directories in which you will keep your media files:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/plexmedia/{movies,series}Copy

The Plex Media Server runs as the user plex which needs to have read and execute permissions to the media files and directories. To set the correct ownership run the following command.

sudo chown -R plex: /opt/plexmediaCopy

Open your browser, type http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:32400/web and you will be presented with a setup wizard, which will guide you trough the Plex configuration:

In order to use the Plex Media Server, you will need to create an account.

Press the Google, Facebook or Email button to create a free Plex account. If you want to access premium features you can purchase a Plex Pass plan.

Once you sign up you will be redirected to the page with information about how Plex works as shown below:

Click on the Got it button.

On the next screen enter your Plex server name, leave the Allow me to access my media outside my home box checked, and click Next.

The next step is to add a media library. Click on the Add Library button.

When the popup window shows, select movies as library type and click Next.

In the next step click on the Browse for media folder and add the path to the directory that will contain the Movies media files, in our case /opt/plexmedia/movies.

Click on the Add button and then on the Add Library.

You can add as many Libraries as you want.

Click Next, then Done and you will be redirected to the Plex web dashboard.

Now that you have completed the setup wizard, you can start exploring Plex options and all the things it can do.

Conclusion #

You have learned how to install Plex Media Server on your CentOS 7 machine and how to create a Media Library.

You can now install the Plex application on your Android, iPhone, Smart TV, Xbox, Roku or any other supported device. You can find a list of supported Apps & Devices on the Plex Downloads page or you can simply install the application from the device’s app store.

You should also check out the official Plex Quick-Start guide and Plex Documentation page.

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.