Synchronizes the watched and timeline status between any number of Plex servers all using standard Plex APIs.
This project is in BETA TESTING.
Plex Cluster contains two applications:
- Plex Cluster Proxy, which is installed alongside every Plex server and acts as a proxy (using
nginx) between Plex Media Server and the internet. This application's job is to pass any requests that come to it along to the Plex server while catching any requests that mark watched status and also forwarding them on the Plex Cluster Manager. There is one instance ofPlex Cluster Proxyfor each Plex server. - Plex Cluster Manager is then used to synchronize the status between Plex servers. There is only one instance of
Plex Cluster Managerwhich is used by all instances ofPlex Cluster Proxy.
An example use case:
- Plex client requests to watch a show with GIUD (unique identifier)
ABCfrom theTV Showslibrary onPlex Server 1 - The request goes through
Plex Cluster Proxy 1and is passed along toPlex Server 1 - The user stops the show midway.
- The request goes through
Plex Cluster Proxy 1and is passed along toPlex Server 1, but is also passed along toPlex Cluster Manager Plex Cluster Managertakes the request and checks for any other Plex server with a library namedTV Showsand GUIDABC- For any other servers it finds, such as
Plex Server 2, it forwards the request on to them and the show is instantly marked as watched up to that midway point. - User switches over to
Plex Server 2and sees that they are midway through showABC
- Syncs watched status on-demand, right away
- Uses standard Plex APIs without accessing the database
- Can work across multiple Plex servers
- Scheduled "full update" can completely sync user's watched status for any user that has been active on each Plex server since running
Plex Cluster - Syncs media that is contained on both (or multiple) servers without erroring when media does not exist
- Works for Plex.tv or Managed users
- Support "full sync" for users on some Roku models and other devices that encapsulate a temporary token in the request header (this does not impact on-demand sync)
- Each Plex server must have a dedicated DNS or Dynamic DNS hostname
The best way to use Plex Cluster is with Docker. You can follow the Dockerfiles to set up the proxy manually, however if you're not running Docker for your services, you're missing out.
This installation follows this example:
- 2 Plex servers, one at home called
Homeand one remote calledRemote Homehas...- a public DNS record of
plex-home.mydomain.com - a Plex server running on
192.168.0.10:32400 - a Plex Cluster Proxy instance running on
https://plex-home.mydomain.com:32401 - a wildcard SSL certificate for
*.mydomain.comin the/certsfolder
- a public DNS record of
Remotehas...- a public DNS record of
plex-remote.mydomain.com - a Plex server running on
192.168.1.10:32400 - a Plex Cluster Proxy instance running on
https://plex-remote.mydomain.com:32401 - a Plex Cluster Manager instance running on
https://plex-remote.mydomain.com:32402 - a wildcard SSL certificate for
*.mydomain.comin the/certsfolder
- a public DNS record of
First, we need a Plex server, and a copy of Plex Cluster Proxy running at home. These can be spun up with the following docker-compose.yml:
version: '3.7'
services:
# A proxy based on nginx that sits between the Plex server and
# the internet. Every time a request is made to Plex, if that
# request is to mark status, an API call is made
# to plex-cluster-manager.
#
# There is one of these for every Plex server.
plex-cluster-proxy:
image: nowsci/plex-cluster-proxy
container_name: plex-cluster-proxy
environment:
- PLEX_IP=192.168.0.10 # The IP address of the Plex server's NIC
- PLEX_PORT=32400 # The port Plex is listening on
- HTTPS_HOST=plex-home.mydomain.com # The host that Plex Cluster Proxy will listen on
- HTTPS_PORT=32401 # The port that Plex Cluster Proxy will listen on
- RESOLVERS=8.8.4.4 8.8.8.8 # DNS servers that Plex Cluster Proxy should use
- SSL_CERTIFICATE=/certs/fullchain.pem # Mapped location of the below SSL cert
- SSL_CERTIFICATE_KEY=/certs/privkey.pem # Mapped location of the below SSL cert
- CLUSTER_MANAGER=https://plex-remote.mydomain.com:32402 # URL of Plex Cluster Manager
- CLUSTER_MANAGER_TOKEN=JgUNaJ6DcB7FhhYGcUpaa9DwPy # CHANGE THIS: A random token that Plex Cluster Proxy will use to authenticate with Manager
volumes:
- /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro # Keeps time in sync
- ./certs/fullchain.pem:/certs/fullchain.pem:ro # Mapped path to the SSL certificate
- ./certs/privkey.pem:/certs/privkey.pem:ro # Mapped path to the SSL certificate
- plex-cluster-proxy:/data # Docker volume where log data is stored for processing
ports:
- 32401:32401 # Port mapping (same as HTTPS_PORT), forward this port on your firewall
restart: always # Restart on failure
# The Home Plex server
# This assumes you have Plex Pass
plex:
image: plexinc/pms-docker:plexpass
container_name: plex
environment:
- TZ=America/New_York
network_mode: bridge
ports:
- "192.168.0.10:32400:32400/tcp" # The port and IP to listen on, do not forward this port on your firewall
volumes:
- ./plex/plex/config:/config # Where you want your Plex Library/Config folder to be
- /storage/transcode/plex:/transcode # A path for transcoding
- /storage/transcode/plex/Sync+:/config/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sync+ # To keep sync transcoding in the transcode folder
- /storage/transcode/plex/Sync:/config/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sync # To keep sync transcoding in the transcode folder
- /storage/media:/media # Media folder
restart: always
volumes:
plex-cluster-proxy: After you spin this up with docker-compose up -d, navigate in your browser to http://192.168.0.10:32400/web and login to your new server. A few key things to set up are:
- Settings -> Remote Access -> Disable Remote Access (Don't worry, you'll still be able to get here through your custom URL)
- Settings -> Network -> Click Show Advanced
- Settings -> Network -> Secure connections -> Choose
Required - Settings -> Network -> Custom server access URLs -> Enter
https://plex-home.mydomain.com:32401
The home server setup is complete.
Next we need a Plex server, a copy of Plex Cluster Proxy and a copy of Plex Cluster Manager running remotely. These can be spun up with the following docker-compose.yml:
version: '3.7'
services:
# A proxy based on nginx that sits between the Plex server and
# the internet. Every time a request is made to Plex, if that
# request is to mark status, an API call is made
# to plex-cluster-manager.
#
# There is one of these for every Plex server.
plex-cluster-proxy:
image: nowsci/plex-cluster-proxy
container_name: plex-cluster-proxy
environment:
- PLEX_IP=192.168.1.10 # The IP address of the Plex server's NIC
- PLEX_PORT=32400 # The port Plex is listening on
- HTTPS_HOST=plex-remote.mydomain.com # The host that Plex Cluster Proxy will listen on
- HTTPS_PORT=32401 # The port that Plex Cluster Proxy will listen on
- RESOLVERS=8.8.4.4 8.8.8.8 # DNS servers that Plex Cluster Proxy should use
- SSL_CERTIFICATE=/certs/fullchain.pem # Mapped location of the below SSL cert
- SSL_CERTIFICATE_KEY=/certs/privkey.pem # Mapped location of the below SSL cert
- CLUSTER_MANAGER=http://plex-cluster-manager:32402 # URL of Plex Cluster Manager (local Docker URL in this case)
- CLUSTER_MANAGER_TOKEN=JgUNaJ6DcB7FhhYGcUpaa9DwPy # CHANGE THIS: A random token that Plex Cluster Proxy will use to authenticate with Manager
volumes:
- /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro # Keeps time in sync
- ./certs/fullchain.pem:/certs/fullchain.pem:ro # Mapped path to the SSL certificate
- ./certs/privkey.pem:/certs/privkey.pem:ro # Mapped path to the SSL certificate
- plex-cluster-proxy:/data # Docker volume where log data is stored for processing
ports:
- 32401:32401 # Port mapping (same as HTTPS_PORT), forward this port on your firewall
restart: always # Restart on failure
# The service that sychronizes the Plex servers. It takes the API calls
# from plex-cluster-proxy, and reaches out to any other configured Plex
# servers to set their status just as if the client connecting to the
# original Plex server was connecting to that one instead.
#
# You will want to secure this behind an SSL proxy in the real world.
#
# There is only ever one of these.
plex-cluster-manager:
image: nowsci/plex-cluster-manager
container_name: plex-cluster-manager
environment:
- CLUSTER_MANAGER_TOKEN=JgUNaJ6DcB7FhhYGcUpaa9DwPy # CHANGE THIS: A random token that Plex Cluster Proxy will use to authenticate with Manager
- UPDATE_ON_START=true # Do a full sync on start
- DEBUG=false # Output debug logs
- FULL_SYNC_SCHEDULE=0 2 * * * # A cron-styled schedule for when to run the full sync
volumes:
- /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro # Keeps time in sync
- ./config/plex-cluster-manager.yml:/config/plex-cluster-manager.yml:ro # A config file, see below
- plex-cluster-manager:/data # Where Plex Cluster Manager stores it's SQLite DB
restart: always
# The Remote Plex server
# This assumes you have Plex Pass
# You could also clone the Home server and remove Preferences.xml before starting
plex:
image: plexinc/pms-docker:plexpass
container_name: plex
environment:
- TZ=America/New_York
network_mode: bridge
ports:
- "192.168.1.10:32400:32400/tcp" # The port and IP to listen on, do not forward this port on your firewall
volumes:
- ./plex/plex/config:/config # Where you want your Plex Library/Config folder to be
- /storage/transcode/plex:/transcode # A path for transcoding
- /storage/transcode/plex/Sync+:/config/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sync+ # To keep sync transcoding in the transcode folder
- /storage/transcode/plex/Sync:/config/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Cache/Transcode/Sync # To keep sync transcoding in the transcode folder
- /storage/media:/media # Media folder
restart: always
volumes:
plex-cluster-manager:
plex-cluster-proxy: Before starting it up, you will need to create the plex-cluster-manager.yml configuration file (sample). This file looks like:
hosts:
- host: plex.mydomain.com
port: 11111
token: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
#log: ./plex.log # This is not commonly used. It is only used to tail a local log.The token should be a Plex token for the administrative user on the Plex server. You can get a token from Plex using this script.
After you spin this up with docker-compose up -d, navigate in your browser to http://192.168.1.10:32400/web and login to your new server. A few key things to set up are:
- Settings -> Remote Access -> Disable Remote Access (Don't worry, you'll still be able to get here through your custom URL)
- Settings -> Network -> Click Show Advanced
- Settings -> Network -> Secure connections -> Choose
Required - Settings -> Network -> Custom server access URLs -> Enter
https://plex-remote.mydomain.com:32401
The remote server setup is complete.
Once everything is complete, login via https://plex.tv and if you watch the logs via docker-compose logs -ft and mark shows watched you should start seeing plex-cluster-proxy and plex-cluster-manager synchronize the status.
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