How to Install Plex Media Server on Centos 7-8|RHEL 7-8

Step 1 - Add Plex Repository

The first step we need to do for this guide is to add the Plex repository to our CentOS 7 system.

Go to the 'yum.repos.d' directory and create new repo file 'plex.repo' using the vim editor.

cd /etc/yum.repos.d/
vim plex.repo

Paste the following Plex repository configuration there.

# Plex.repo file will allow dynamic install/update of plexmediaserver.
[PlexRepo]
name=PlexRepo
baseurl=https://downloads.plex.tv/repo/rpm/$basearch/
enabled=1
gpgkey=https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-keys/PlexSign.key
gpgcheck=1

Save and exit.

Plex repository has been added to the CentOS 7 system.

Step 2 - Install Plex Media Server on CentOS 7\8

Now we will install Plex media server on our CentOS server.

Run the yum command below.

sudo yum -y install plexmediaserver

After the installation is complete, start the plex service and enable it to launch everytime at system boot using the systemctl commands below.

systemctl start plexmediaserver
systemctl enable plexmediaserver

Plex media server has been installed - check it using the following command.

systemctl status plexmediaserver

And you will get the result as shown below.

The Plex Media Server is now running on the CentOS 7 server.

Step 2 - remove Plex Media Server on CentOS 7\8

To completely remove the Plex Media Server from the computer, first make sure the Plex Media Server is not running. Then do the following:

1. Run the command rpm -e plexmediaserver
2. Remove the directory /var/lib/plexmediaserver/
3. Run the command userdel plex

Step 3 - Configure Firewalld Rules for Plex Media Server

In this tutorial, we will enable Firewalld services. Make sure firewalld packages are installed on the system.

Or you can install them using the yum command below.

sudo yum -y install firewalld

Now start the firewalld service and enable it to launch every time at system boot.

systemctl start firewalld
systemctl enable firewalld

Next, we need to add new firewalld configuration for our plex installation. Plex media server needs some port in the 'LISTEN' state, so we will create new firewalld XML configuration.

Go to the '/etc/firewalld/service' directory and create a new service firewalld configuration 'plex.xml' using vim.

cd /etc/firewalld/services/
vim plexmediaserver.xml

There, paste the following configuration.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<service>
  <short>plexmediaserver</short>
  <description>Ports required by plexmediaserver.</description>
  <port protocol="tcp" port="32400"></port>
  <port protocol="udp" port="1900"></port>
  <port protocol="tcp" port="3005"></port>
  <port protocol="udp" port="5353"></port>
  <port protocol="tcp" port="8324"></port>
  <port protocol="udp" port="32410"></port>
  <port protocol="udp" port="32412"></port>
  <port protocol="udp" port="32413"></port>
  <port protocol="udp" port="32414"></port>
  <port protocol="tcp" port="32469"></port>
</service>

Save and exit.

Now add the 'plexmediaserver' service to the firewalld services list, then reload the configuration.

sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=plexmediaserver --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

And you will get the result as below.

The plexmediaserver service has been added to firewalld - check it using the firewalld command below.

firewall-cmd --list-all

And you should get 'plexmediaserver' on service list.

Step 4 - Configure Plex Media Server

Before configuring the Plex media server, make sure you have an account for Plex. If not, you can register using the URL below.

https://app.plex.tv/

And then login to your account.

If you're a registered user and logged in with your browser, you can open your Plex media server installation url in the following way changing the IP to your server IP.

http://192.168.33.10:32400/web/

And you will be redirected to the plex login as below.

Click the 'SIGN IN' button.