Plex/Jellyfin Media Server Deployment Guide

Prerequisites & VPS Requirements

Starter

• 2GB RAM minimum
• 2 vCPU Cores
• Direct play only

→ View Plans

Large Library

• 4GB+ RAM
• 500GB+ Storage
• Extensive media

→ Storage VPS

Initial Server Setup

Update your RamNode VPS:

For Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install curl wget git ufw -y

For CentOS/Rocky Linux

sudo yum update -y
sudo yum install curl wget git firewalld -y

Install Plex Media Server

Install Plex on Ubuntu/Debian:

Ubuntu/Debian Installation

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

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

# Install Plex
sudo apt update
sudo apt install plexmediaserver -y

# Start and enable
sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver
sudo systemctl enable plexmediaserver

💡 Initial Setup: Create SSH tunnel: ssh -L 8888:localhost:32400 root@your-ip
Then visit: http://localhost:8888/web

Install Jellyfin Media Server

Install Jellyfin on Ubuntu/Debian:

Ubuntu/Debian Installation

# Install dependencies
sudo apt install apt-transport-https -y

# Add Jellyfin repository
curl -fsSL https://repo.jellyfin.org/ubuntu/jellyfin_team.gpg.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/jellyfin.gpg

# Install Jellyfin
sudo apt update
sudo apt install jellyfin -y

# Start and enable
sudo systemctl start jellyfin
sudo systemctl enable jellyfin

✅ Access Jellyfin at: http://your-ip:8096

Configure Firewall

For Plex (UFW)

Allow Plex Port

sudo ufw allow 32400/tcp
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

For Jellyfin (UFW)

Allow Jellyfin Port

sudo ufw allow 8096/tcp
sudo ufw allow 22/tcp
sudo ufw enable
sudo ufw status

Setup Reverse Proxy (Optional)

Use Nginx with SSL for secure access:

Install Nginx and Certbot

sudo apt install nginx certbot python3-certbot-nginx -y

Nginx Config for Plex

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name plex.yourdomain.com;
    
    location / {
        proxy_pass http://localhost:32400;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        
        # WebSocket support
        proxy_http_version 1.1;
        proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
        proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
    }
}

Enable Site & Get SSL

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/plex /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx
sudo certbot --nginx -d plex.yourdomain.com

Mount Additional Storage

Add extra storage for your media:

Mount Block Storage

# Find your disk
lsblk

# Format and mount
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/media
sudo mount /dev/sdb /mnt/media

# Make permanent
echo '/dev/sdb /mnt/media ext4 defaults 0 0' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R plex:plex /mnt/media
# OR for Jellyfin
sudo chown -R jellyfin:jellyfin /mnt/media

Optimization Tips

Increase File Limits

Edit /etc/security/limits.conf:

File Limits

plex soft nofile 65536
plex hard nofile 65536
jellyfin soft nofile 65536
jellyfin hard nofile 65536

Transcoding Optimization

• Hardware acceleration (Plex Pass required for Plex)
• Lower quality for remote streams
• Use H.264 for compatibility
• Pre-optimize media to reduce transcoding

Troubleshooting

Service Won't Start

Check Logs

# For Plex
sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver
sudo journalctl -u plexmediaserver -n 50

# For Jellyfin
sudo systemctl status jellyfin
sudo journalctl -u jellyfin -n 50

Permission Issues

Fix Permissions

# For Plex
sudo chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver
sudo chown -R plex:plex /mnt/media

# For Jellyfin
sudo chown -R jellyfin:jellyfin /var/lib/jellyfin
sudo chown -R jellyfin:jellyfin /mnt/media

Security Best Practices

Use strong passwords for admin accounts
Enable 2FA where available
Use SSL/TLS for remote connections
Regular backups of server configuration

Plex / Jellyfin Media Server

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