Plex in Docker on a Synology NAS (No Hardware Transcoding)

Last updated on 30 November 2023

Please note if you are using DSM7.2 or higher you should use the Container Manager version of this guide from the menu.

This guide has reached the end of its updates as most people are now on the latest DSM update - This guide is correct as of 08/12/2023 however no further updates will be added.

Update	Date
Aligned the Plex Claim environment variable with the other guides.	01/05/2023

In this guide I am going to take you through the setup of Plex in Docker.

Do I need Hardware Transcoding?

The version of this guide you follow will depend on whether you want hardware transcoding, this is available to Plex Pass holders and requires your Synology CPU to have Intel Quick Sync capabilities.

Generally, if you are only using Plex at home with devices that can direct play your media you likely won’t need this. However, if you have users that share your server outside your household, or plan on streaming to mobile devices you will want hardware transcoding as this will speed up the process of changing media between codecs and resolutions quickly.

You can find the hardware transcoding guide here, if you want the standard setup continue on below…

Let’s Begin

In order to use this guide successfully you will need to complete the two proceeding guides which will get your folder structure and Docker, user setup. In addition, if you already have the original Synology Plex Package installed you will need to uninstall it first.

• Step 1: Directory Setup Guide
• Step 2: Setting up a restricted Docker user

Downloading the Plex Image

Open up Docker within DSM and navigate to the ‘Registry’ tab, then search for ‘Plex’.

In the list of available containers select the one made by Linuxserver as shown below, right click on it and select ‘Download’ or click the button at the top of the window.

When the dialogue pops up asking you to choose a version, make sure you choose ‘Latest’ from the list.

You can check the status of the download over on the ‘Image’ tab, it will take a few minutes depending on the speed of your internet connection.

Setting up the container

In Docker click on the ‘Image’ tab, in the list of your containers select the ‘Linuxserver Plex’ image and click on ‘Launch’

A note on Network Mode

You will notice that for Plex we don’t put it on the normal bridge network, this is because DSM reserves the DLNA ports Plex requires in order to use DLNA. So we run in Host mode, so it can share the ports.

General Settings

Next you will be greeted with the General Settings screen, this is where you can start specifying some of your preferences.

You can change the name of the container to anything you like, and you may want to enable Auto Restart as this will ensure the server starts automatically if you reboot your NAS.

You will also notice a Configure capabilities button — don’t change anything in here!

Next up we are going to click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ button, this will take you to a new window with a number of tabs which we are going to work through.

Environment

Next we are going to set up a couple of environment variables that docker will use to allow the container access to our files and folders and also to tell it where we live in the world.

Click the Add button, and fill in the following details as per the table/screenshot, you will need to do one at a time.

Variable	Value
PUID	The UID you obtained in the user setup guide
PGID	The GID you obtained in the user setup guide
TZ	Your timezone wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones
VERSION	latest
PLEX_CLAIM	See Note Below

Please note the PLEX_CLAIM variable is optional and not always required. You can remove if you don’t need it or come back and add it if you are unable to sign in to your server on start up.

To get the code go to https://plex.tv/claim and sign in, then put the code you receive in the PLEX_CLAIM variable. You have 4 mins to finish the guide after doing this, so best to grab it just before running the container.

Links / Execution Command

You do not need to set up anything on these tabs.

Press ‘Save’ to go back to the initial setup screen, then press ‘Next’

Volume Settings

We will now be specifying the directories where Plex will store its configuration files and where to find our media.

Click on ‘Add Folder’ select the ‘docker’ folder and create a new sub-folder called ‘plex’ select this folder and click ‘select’

Now add ‘/config’ to the Mount path box

Click Add Folder again and this time select the top level ‘data’ folder and click Select, then enter ‘/data/media’ into the ‘Mount path’ box

Click Next to move to the final screen.

Summary

You have now completed the setup of the container.

You will be shown an overall summary of the settings we have specified, this is a good time to double-check everything is correct. Finally, click on Done and the container should start to boot.

Initial Plex Setup

After a few minutes you should be able to access the server and go through the Plex setup by going to the IP of your NAS in your browser followed by port 32400/web/

e.g. 192.168.0.45:32400/web/

You will be asked to sign in or sign up for an account if you don’t have one already.

You should now be able to add your media which will be in the /data folder within Plex

You have now completed the setup.

Historic Updates	Date
New guide released	06/12/2021
Updated Environment Variables to ensure server is updating to the latest version	02/02/2022
Updated with DSM7.1 Steps and Screenshots	28/05/2022
Amended the mount path for media	12/08/2022

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