Error while upgrading "plexmediaserver" from the GUI

Mannekino

Patron
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
332
Hi,

I'm trying to upgrade Plex Media Server from the FreeNAS GUI but when I do this I get the following error. How can I begin troubleshooting this? When I go in the console of the jail the "log" file mentioned doesn't have any contents.

[Errno 17] File exists: '../var/run/log' - > '/mnt/system/iocage/jails/plexmediaserver/root/dev/log'

1569146302728.png
 

Mannekino

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Nov 14, 2012
Messages
332
I just finished doing maintenance on all my jails. I've noticed that all the jails that were created by the installation of a plugin return this error when I try to update it from the GUI. The jails I created manually don't return this error when updating. Haven't been able to fix it though.
 

Dudenell

Cadet
Joined
Aug 12, 2016
Messages
9
I know this doesn't help you but I just wanted to let you know I'm getting the exact same error...
 

Cptn_penguin

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Joined
Sep 29, 2019
Messages
3
I also registered an account to mention that I am getting the exact same error when trying to update my plex (with plex pass) jail.

Running FreeNAS-11.2-U6, and the jail was originally created on 11.2 using the new GUI.

The jail runs fine (plex media server is working, etc) but updating from the GUI gives the error mentioned by the original commenter.
 

Mannekino

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Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
332
I haven't been able to look into any further. Been wanting to check log files. If you have any suggestions which logs I could check after triggering an update I can check.
 

ThreeDee

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Jun 13, 2013
Messages
698
did you stop the jails first before trying to update?
 

Cptn_penguin

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Sep 29, 2019
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I did try stopping the jail and it got further in the process - I think the running jail is what caused it.

However, running the plex update introduces a new problem - it breaks everything, and I lose the server settings, metadata and so on and restores it to a "clean" install of plex as if it were brand new. Rather than mess about with trying to restore my backups I just rolled back to a previous snapshot.

I'll come back at this again when I have more time.
 

ThreeDee

Guru
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Jun 13, 2013
Messages
698
is this a modified install? I was having issues with my stock plex-plexpass plugin install with plex just randomly dropping and becoming inaccessible .. "updating" it fixed it ..
 

Cptn_penguin

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Sep 29, 2019
Messages
3
No, standard install using the new iocage method (created in the new gui). My jails are on one pool (a small mirrored SSD setup) while the main data storage is on a different zpool. I have that mounted inside the jail for plex to point at. Backups of the metadata/library are also sent to that large pool.

After I updated the plugin using the GUI, the jail came back up and the plugin also stated it was up, but trying to connect to it gave an error. Checking status from the command line gives the whole "Cannot 'start' plexmediaserver. Set plexmediaserver_enable to YES in /etc/rc.conf or use 'onestart' instead of 'start'." error. If you use the "onestart" option it fires up a fresh plex server with no library/mounts etc. If you try to start it another way it simply fails. The rc.conf *does* have the appropriate line in it that the error code says to add. Restarting the jail and restarting the entire server have no effect.

I've rolled back the snapshot and am back to a working system for now.

I haven't made any serious changes to the plex install as far as I am aware - I'm a relatively novice at FreeNAS in general so I don't mess about with it without some documentation if I can help it. (For example, I avoided trying to manually update using the CLI with the broken UI element un the U5 release).

There must be a way to pick out the critical files you need to save and replace when doing one of these upgrades to plex so that you can hit the button and have it update the jail and then put back your settings and metadata/library etc.
 

Jailer

Not strong, but bad
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Sep 12, 2014
Messages
4,975
This thread is exactly why many users on this forum advise against using the plex plugin and recommend installing it in a standard jail.
 

sqmiler

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Joined
Oct 20, 2019
Messages
2
@Jailer... Sounds like a plan.
I've just (this week) spun up my first FreeNas system, I've been with OMV for years and have been considering jumping. So I'm running the two systems in parallel at present.
Are there any straight forward guides to creating a Plex server in a standard jail?
 

ThreeDee

Guru
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Jun 13, 2013
Messages
698

Jailer

Not strong, but bad
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Sep 12, 2014
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4,975
There's a guide in the resources section that can get you started or alternatively @danb35 has a script you can run that takes care of most of the process.
 

Breit

Dabbler
Joined
Oct 4, 2016
Messages
25
This seems to be a permissions issue. Try opening the jails shell and type:
Code:
chown plex:wheel /var/run/log

Then retry the update.
 
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