Plex (2025): organize, transcode & stream everywhere

What is Plex?

Plex organizes personal media (movies, TV, music, photos) and streams it to TVs, phones, and browsers with rich metadata. You own the library and the server, Plex provides clients and UI.

Install Plex (Windows / macOS / Linux / NAS)

First-time setup & claiming the server

1. Open the Plex web UI and sign in.
2. Claim the server to bind it to your account.
3. Add libraries (Movies, TV, Music, Photos) and set correct agents/language.
4. Run an initial scan and verify matches.

Library structure & naming

/Movies/
  The Matrix (1999)/
    The Matrix (1999).mkv
    The Matrix (1999).srt
  Dune (2021)/Dune (2021).mp4

/TV/
  Dark/
    Season 01/
      Dark - s01e01.mkv
      Dark - s01e02.mkv

Metadata agents & posters

Choose the right agent (e.g., The Movie Database). Enable language and country settings to match regional titles. For posters, prefer high-quality, moderately sized images for fast UI loads.

Hardware transcoding (Quick Sync / NVENC / VCN)

• Enable hardware acceleration in Plex settings (Transcoder).
• Intel iGPU: install i915 drivers; NVIDIA: install drivers & runtime; map devices in Docker.
• Prefer Direct Play/Direct Stream first; transcode only when necessary.

Docker Compose stack

services:
  plex:
    image: lscr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest
    container_name: plex
    network_mode: host
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - VERSION=docker
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config
      - /mnt/media/movies:/movies
      - /mnt/media/tv:/tv
      - /mnt/media/music:/music
      - /mnt/media/photos:/photos
    devices:
      - /dev/dri:/dev/dri # Intel/AMD iGPU (Quick Sync / VCN)
    restart: unless-stopped

Use network_mode: host for easy discovery on Linux; on macOS/Windows use bridge + port mappings.

Remote access & reverse proxy

Prefer reverse proxy with TLS (Caddy/Traefik/Nginx). Restrict IP ranges, enable strong credentials, and avoid exposing the entire network. UPnP-less manual mapping is safer.

Users, restrictions & sharing

• Create managed users for kids; limit libraries and content ratings.
• Set streaming quality caps for remote viewers.
• Audit sessions and bandwidth in the dashboard.

Images & posters: quick privacy tip

Posters, fanart, and photo libraries can leak device or location data if images carry EXIF/GPS. Clean them before publishing or sharing your library screenshots and assets.

DVR & Live TV basics

With a compatible tuner and guide data, Plex DVR records OTA/cable channels to your library. Use proper storage targets and set post-processing to normalize file names for easy matching.

Mobile sync & offline

Use mobile sync for trips. Pre-encode device-friendly versions to avoid live transcoding on the go and to reduce battery drain.

FAQ