How to Install and Run Plex Media Server on Synology NAS?

Intro:

Plex Media Server is an application that allows you to organize and manage the streaming of your media files, it’s used to access the media file that are stored in a centralized location and you can access them from other devices

Why do you need to install plex on Your NAS?

As Plex helps with organizing your Media Files that are stored in one central location it’s very common to use NAS to store large amounts of files as it has backup and redundancy features, Remote Access features and more, making it a perfect Storage location.

Step – 1 – Access your Synology web management and install Plex Application:

On your Synology web portal, open Package Center:

Then, Search for Plex Application and Hit “Install”:

Step – 2 – Create Shared Folder for Plex and assign the right permissions:

On the control panel, open “Shared Folder” Settings on “File Sharing” Section:

Create New Shared Folder to Store Your Media Files in it:

Next, Name the folder and click “Next”:

Choose if you’d like to encrypt the shared folder:

Keep the other options on the default, then click “Next” until you reach the permissions tab:

Give your user Read/Write permissions and click “Apply” , then change the user type from “Local users” to “System internal user”:

Then look for the user “PlexMediaServer” and give it the permissions, the click “Apply”:

Step – 3 – Open and Setup Plex Server:

Open Plex Application, it will forward you to Plex Web App to Host your IP address, for this step to complete you need to have a Plex Account.

When you open Plex App, it will prompt you to sign in to your account:

Choose your preferred method to sign in.

Then, head again to Synology and open Plex Application again, it will open and you will be able to see your Plex Server.

You might need to claim your server first:

Here you can manage and create libraries:

Step – 4 – Download Plex Desktop and Mobile Applications to access your Plex Server:

Download Plex Desktop or Android Applications then install it on the device you want to access Plex Server from.

I will open the Plex Desktop App:

Once opened, Sign in to your Plex Account:

Everything you upload on your Synology NAS will show on the librabires you create on Plex:

Conclusion: 

Plex has a free and paid version where you can get much more features from plex and get advanced in Plex, but basically you need a good storage system, especially when you have a large amount of Media files, you need to backup your Synology NAS properly.