Install Plex media server Debian 11 [Step-by-Step]

Install Plex Media Server - Overview

Plex media server is a very popular free software, used to store digital media files. It allows you to organize your TV shows, music, movies, and photos in one interface and access those digital media via the client application such as your PC, NVIDIA Shield, Mobile App, Roku, and many more platforms. With a good internet connection speed, you can also transfer media files with your family and friends.

We will show you in this tutorial, Step by Step Guide to install the Plex media server on Debian 11 bullseye distribution.

 

Steps to install Plex Media Server on Debian 11 bullseye distribution

The Plex media server installation on Debian 11 bullseye system completes after executing the number of steps. Therefore, to start the installation open the terminal window using the application menu and implement the following steps:

 

Step 1: Update and upgrade system packages

It recommended action you need to perform before installing any new software or package on your system. So, by running the following commands update and upgrade all repository packages of your system:

$ sudo apt update 
$ sudo apt upgrade

Once all packages of your system are updated, move to the next step in which you need to install the required packages.

 

Step 2: Install required dependencies

The curl package is required to install the Plex media server. So, install the required curl package as an application dependency on Debian 11 distribution by executing the following command:

$ sudo apt install apt-transport-https curl

 

Step 3: Install Plex media server on Debian 11 system

After installing the dependencies, start the Plex media server installation on the Debian 11 system. To install the Plex media server, you need to add a Plex repository to your system. First, using ‘curl’ on your Debian system by using the below-given command:

$ curl https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key | sudo apt-key add -

 

Step 4: Add the Plex media server repository

Add the plex media server repository into the source.list of your system by running the below-mentioned command:

$ echo deb https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/deb public main | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/plexmediaserver.list

It is the best practice to update the packages repository by using the following command before starting the plex media server installation:

$ sudo apt update

After updating the apt repository, start the Plex media server installation.

 

Step 5: Install Plex media server on Debian 11 system

You can install the Plex media server using the apt package manager as follows:

$ sudo apt install plexmediaserver

You will see the installation of the Plex media server on the terminal screen which is shown in the following screenshot:

 

Step 6: Verify Plex media server installation

The Plex media server will automatically start on your system. So, check the Plex media server running status by using the below-mentioned command:

$ sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver

As you can see in the following screenshot, the Plex media service is running on our system.

But, if the service is not running and you receive an error then, first enable the Plex media server service on your Debian 11 system. Start the Plex media server by executing the following commands:

$ sudo systemctl enable plexmediaserver

$ sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver

 

Step 7: Configure Firewall

Next we need to allow access to plex media server from different Linux server. Since we are using firewalld in our setup so we will execute the following commands:

$ sudo firewall-cmd --add-port=32400/tcp --permanent
$ sudo firewall-cmd --reload

 

Step 8: Start the Plex media server web interface

After completing the installation, launch the Plex media server web UI on your Debian system. To access the web UI, open the Mozilla Firefox and type the following URL address in the address bar:

http://localhost:32400/web

You can also access the Plex media server interface using the below-given URL:

http://127.0.0.1:32400/web

Now, you can log in on the Plex media server using an existing social media account as follows:

 

The next web page shows you the working of the Plex media server.

 

Next, you need to set up the server. By default, it configures your server name and you can also give any desired name. Allow to access media outside from home and click on the ‘Next’ button.

Once all configurations are completed, you can ‘Add Library’ and can organize all media files.

 

Upgrade Plex media server on Debian 11

Whenever the new version of the Plex media server is released in the market, you can also upgrade this application. Before upgrading, update all packages and then use the following command upgrade it:

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install --only-upgrade plexmediaserver

 

Remove or Uninstall Plex Media Server from Debian 11 system

If you no longer want to use the Plex media server on your system then, you can remove it by running the below-mentioned command:

$ sudo apt autoremove plexmediaserver -y

 

Conclusion

We installed the Plex media server on the Debian 11 bullseye system in this article. Plex media server is easy to maintain and offers great features. Using this software you can organize media libraries via the client application.