[WindDoc]

I was so enthralled with my first install of PLEX on a new Mac mini that I couldn't wait to install it on my main iMac computer. I'm streaming TV and DVD rips from a NAS box. It didn't take me too long to figure out how to transfer my already scraped PLEX database from one machine to another, but now I realize that both PLEX installations are basically functioning independently.

Has anyone tried to put the Plex and Plex Media Server folders on a shared volume and then just have the local profile.xml file point to these? That would make my life easier in terms of updating once from one machine and having all the changes reflected across all machines.

[ingensoppa]

You just need to move the USERDATA folder from library/application support/plex to your NAS, then make a symbolic link of that folder and place these back to library/application support/plex on each computer running plex

this way, your watched/unwatched and resume status is in sync.

[WindDoc]

Thanks for the tip!

I moved the "userdata" folder out of ~/Library/Application Support/Plex/ and onto my NAS and the symbolic link worked perfectly!

To make the symbolic link, I used SymbolicLinker 2.0 (updated for Snow Leopard!) Could not have been easier.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

[Ardeban]

WindDoc, on 03 November 2009 - 07:19 PM, said:

Thanks for the tip!

I moved the "userdata" folder out of ~/Library/Application Support/Plex/ and onto my NAS and the symbolic link worked perfectly!

To make the symbolic link, I used SymbolicLinker 2.0 (updated for Snow Leopard!) Could not have been easier.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction!

Can you explain this a little bit more?

I'm planning to do a second plex instalation and this could help me a lot!

Thanks!

[WindDoc]

Inside your Plex folder (~/Library/Application Support/Plex/), there is a folder named "userdata". Just drag this folder to your NAS shared volume wherever you'd like. Install the SymbolicLinker contexual menu item. Once installed, then all you need to do is to select the "userdata" folder that you just copied to your NAS and control-click for the contextual menu... pick "Create Symbolic Link" from the menu. A file with the symbolic link will be created right next to the "userdata" folder on your NAS. Drag this symbolic link to your desktop and rename it "userdata". Replace the "userdata" folder on your local machine with the symbolic link file. That should be it. Before you launch Plex, just make sure that your NAS shared volume is mounted. That's it.

[kcmedic]

WindDoc, on 12 November 2009 - 05:00 AM, said:

Before you launch Plex, just make sure that your NAS shared volume is mounted. That's it.

What happens if you launch Plex and the NAS isn't connected? Does it just create a new User Data folder that you can just delete? Or, more specifically, what if Plex is running, the computer goes to sleep, and when it wakes it drops the connection to the NAS (this happens a lot with my iMac in the bedroom)? Will it cause any problems?

[WindDoc]

kcmedic, on 16 November 2009 - 07:45 PM, said:

What happens if you launch Plex and the NAS isn't connected? Does it just create a new User Data folder that you can just delete? Or, more specifically, what if Plex is running, the computer goes to sleep, and when it wakes it drops the connection to the NAS (this happens a lot with my iMac in the bedroom)? Will it cause any problems?

If Plex can't find the "userdata" folder, then it will just put up a message when you select "Watch a Movie" or whatever to the effect of "no movies found". It will not create another "userdata" folder. Then all you have to do is to quit Plex, mount your NAS shared volume, and then relaunch Plex.

So judging from a lot of the messages in this forum, the surest thing to do is to set your Mac mini and Plex to never sleep. In addition to dropping the shared volume on sleeping/waking, I ran into a lot of other issues when allowing my Mac mini to sleep and then trying to wake it up with the remote/etc with Plex running...strange screensaver issues (really fast displaying slideshow of fanart, for example) and blank black screen upon waking (again probably the screensaver looking for fanart on a shared volume that got dismounted on sleep). I have joined the ranks of users who don't let their Mac mini sleep...ever.

And just in case, I use a little Applescript app that I found to mount my shared "userdata" volume.

[jeromem75]

Thx for that tip !!!

[DeanCorp]

WindDoc, on 17 November 2009 - 03:39 AM, said:

And just in case, I use a little Applescript app that I found to mount my shared "userdata" volume.

Where could I find this AppleScript? I would also like to edit that Applescript to allow it to mount my afploc file.

[WindDoc]

I'm out of town so I can't get to my Mac mini right now to check the exact script that I used, but here is a general format that I found...

try
mount "smb://myname:passwd@server.domain.com/sharename"
end try

Paste this into a new script in the Applescript editor and then save as an application.

[Videophile]

I simply grab the share that is mounted on my desktop or found in finder and drag it over to System Preferences > Accounts > login items. This works for those that already have teh share established and don't want to get their fingers dirty typing things

[Videophile]

WindDoc, on 17 November 2009 - 03:39 AM, said:

If Plex can't find the "userdata" folder, then it will just put up a message when you select "Watch a Movie" or whatever to the effect of "no movies found". It will not create another "userdata" folder. Then all you have to do is to quit Plex, mount your NAS shared volume, and then relaunch Plex.

So judging from a lot of the messages in this forum, the surest thing to do is to set your Mac mini and Plex to never sleep. In addition to dropping the shared volume on sleeping/waking, I ran into a lot of other issues when allowing my Mac mini to sleep and then trying to wake it up with the remote/etc with Plex running...strange screensaver issues (really fast displaying slideshow of fanart, for example) and blank black screen upon waking (again probably the screensaver looking for fanart on a shared volume that got dismounted on sleep). I have joined the ranks of users who don't let their Mac mini sleep...ever.

And just in case, I use a little Applescript app that I found to mount my shared "userdata" volume.

Have the sleeping issues been fixed yet with SL 6.2 and plex 8.3? I usually put mine to sleep, but love the idea of mounting the user data on the server. It makes upgrading much easier as well as saves two machine from scrapping... Plus, it saves energy and creates less wear and tear ont he mac

[WindDoc]

Videophile, on 18 November 2009 - 06:14 PM, said:

Have the sleeping issues been fixed yet with SL 6.2 and plex 8.3? I usually put mine to sleep, but love the idea of mounting the user data on the server. It makes upgrading much easier as well as saves two machine from scrapping... Plus, it saves energy and creates less wear and tear ont he mac

The only sleep issues I am having seem to be related to my shared volume not being available on waking up after going to sleep WHILE Plex is running (since all the userdata was available before sleep and then all of the sudden it is gone on wake up and Plex can't find it again).

[stickyc]

For those that are doing this, have you run into issues with multiple copies of Plex pointing to the same userdata folder (particularly when adding files)? My understanding is that the original XBMC wasn't coded with the intent of having multiple clients pointing to the same DB simultaneously.

[WindDoc]

stickyc...

No problems here....so far!

I have two Plex machines sharing one userdata folder. What happens often in my setup is that one Plex machine will be playing a movie while I am adding/deleting movies and updating/cleaning the library/changing thumbs, etc from the other machine.

It is my impression (I have no real idea) that Plex only accesses the userdata folder to get pertinent data when a certain activity is activated...such as when "Watch Movies" is pressed, in order to get the movie description/thumbs/fanart...and maybe again when a movie is started or stopped, in order to read/change the resume info. At least in my setup, changing the library database for other movies on one Plex machine (not the one currently playing somewhere else) does not affect the state of the other Plex machine. This other Plex machine knows nothing of the changes to the library until a library update is initiated from that machine. If I try to play a movie that I know has been deleted, I just get the "error opening file" message.