Plex¶

Plex is a global streaming media service and a media player platform.

Description¶

It organizes your video, music, and photos from your personal libraries and streams them to all your devices. While it is not fully open-source, it is a highly popular and feature-rich media server solution.

Links¶

Official Website

Alternatives¶

Getting started¶

Docker installation¶

The most common way to host Plex is via Docker. Replace placeholders with your actual paths and a Plex Claim Token.

docker run -d \
  --name plex \
  --network=host \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ="Etc/UTC" \
  -e PLEX_CLAIM="claim-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx" \
  -v /path/to/plex/config:/config \
  -v /path/to/media/tvshows:/data/tvshows \
  -v /path/to/media/movies:/data/movies \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  linuxserver/plex

CLI examples¶

Plex provides the Plex Media Scanner for command-line library management. On Linux/Docker, you can execute it within the container:

# List all libraries (sections)
docker exec -it plex "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Scanner" --list

# Scan a specific library (replace <id> with the section number)
docker exec -it plex "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Scanner" --scan --section <id>

# Refresh metadata for a specific library
docker exec -it plex "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Scanner" --refresh --section <id>

API examples¶

Plex exposes a REST API on port 32400. You need a X-Plex-Token for authentication.

# Get all library sections in XML format
curl -X GET "http://localhost:32400/library/sections?X-Plex-Token=YOUR_PLEX_TOKEN"

# Get server identity and version
curl -X GET "http://localhost:32400/identity"

Backlog¶

Configure Plex Meta Manager for automated collection management.

Contribution Metadata¶

Confidence: high
Last reviewed: 2026-03-01

Sources / References¶

https://www.plex.tv/
https://emby.media/
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201242707-plex-media-scanner-via-command-line/
https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-plex/