pi plex server

Thanks to my birthday, I finally got to experiment with creating a Raspberry Pi Plex Server. I've only been dreaming of this for two years, so here we are.

If you don't know what Plex Media Server is, I wrote about it before, but it's pretty much the standard for home media servers. It's out of box easy to use with any operating system; it's all point and click; it can run on anything at all. It's free. Right now, it's the best option right now for usability, ease of access, and features, and honestly, it doesn't have a lot of rivals that match it on any of these and none on all fronts. Kodi's comes second, but by quite a bit; I tried it, I liked it, but it needs more seasoning and some understanding on how people use media servers.

This is, right now, the best place to put your movies, tv shows, and fanvids. Though with fanvids, some work will definitely be involved, it's worth it for the sheer organization and tagging and linking you can do to associated shows and movies.

It runs on literally anything, but as I got the pi up, if you don't have an old computer and want to do some comparison shopping, I thought I'd break down the price point on building an economy Home Media Server that can play anything--even 4K, I'm doing it now--and won't break your budget and how to install and run it.

Pi Plex Media Server: Hardware

We'll start with what you need for your new Pi Plex Media Server.
( Raspberry Pi )

( Raspberry Pi: Required Components )

( Raspberry Pi: Installing NOOBS on a microSD Card )

( Your Media: Hard Drives and Storage )

( Pi Media Server: My Configuration )

( Pi Media Server: Alternate Configuration Examples For Your Budget )

Pi Plex Media Server: Software

Now, installing Plex: I read three tutorials to put this together. Here are the two most useful to me.

Links:
How to Setup a Raspberry Pi Plex Server
How to Turn a Raspbery Pi into a Plex Server

These will work fine, but I did run into some differences. At first, I was going to just write here my changes, but making you jump between if you don't want to may be confusing, so I'm reproducing the instructions they gave--or both if they differ--and adding my changes for Pi 4 and the latest OS update.

Note: This will all be in command line; don't be afraid. This will be very exact and I'll be telling you not only what to do but why and what it means. You cannot do this wrong, I promise; I'll be with you the entire time.

This will be in four parts.
( Before You Install Plex )

( Install Plex Media Server )

( Configure Plex Media Server Run Options )

( Now, To Make Your Plex Life Easier: A Bash Script )

Now, enjoy your new media server.

ETA: Edited for readability.