Plex is a one stop destination to stream movies, tv shows, sports & music. Plex gives you one place to find and access all the media that matters to you. From personal media on your own server, to podcasts, web shows, and news, to streaming music, you can enjoy it all in one app, on any device. Hardware transcoding makes media streaming from your NAS faster and more efficient. In this step by step guide I will show you how to install Plex with Hardware Transcoding on your UGREEN NAS using Docker & Portainer.

💡Note: This guide works perfectly with the latest Plex HW 1.41.1 release.

• STEP 1

Please Support My work by Making a Donation.

• STEP 2

Install Portainer using my step by step guide. If you already have Portainer installed on your UGREEN NAS, skip this STEP. Attention: Make sure you have installed the latest Portainer version.

• STEP 3

Add Read & Write Permissions to the Docker Folder. If you have already added the Read and Write Permissions to the Docker Folder, skip this STEP.

• STEP 4

Create or Log in to your Plex account. Claim your PLEX code from the link below. You will need this Plex code later at STEP 7. Follow the instructions in the image below.

🚀 PLEX CLAIM CODE

• STEP 5

Go to File Manager and open the docker folder. Inside the docker folder, create one new folder and name it plexhw. Follow the instructions in the image below.
Note: Be careful to enter only lowercase, not uppercase letters.

• STEP 6

Log into Portainer using your username and password. On the left sidebar in Portainer, click on Stacks then + Add stack. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 7

In the Name field type in plexhw. Follow the instructions in the image below.

Note: Copy Paste the code below in the Portainer Stacks Web editor.

version: "3.9"
services:
  plex:
    image: ghcr.io/linuxserver/plex:latest
    container_name: PlexHW
    hostname: plex
    network_mode: host
    mem_limit: 4g
    cpu_shares: 1024
    security_opt:
      - no-new-privileges:true
    healthcheck:
      test: wget --no-verbose --tries=1 --spider http://localhost:32400/web
    volumes:
      - /volume1/docker/plexhw:/config:rw
      - /volume1/movies/media:/movies:ro
    devices:
      - /dev/dri/renderD128:/dev/dri/renderD128
      - /dev/dri/card0:/dev/dri/card0
    environment:
      TZ: Europe/Bucharest
      PUID: 999
      PGID: 10
      VERSION: public
      PLEX_CLAIM: YourPLEXClaimCode # STEP 3
    restart: on-failure:5

Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change /volume1/movies/media with your personal path to movies (where your movies are located). For example I have used my personal movies path folder /volume1/movies/media Change it according to your preferences.
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for TZ. (Select your current Time Zone from this list.)
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value numbers for PUID and PGID with your own values. (Follow my step by step guide on how to do this.) 999 is my personal PUID value and 10 is my personal PGID value. You have to type in your own values.
Note: Before you paste the code above in the Web editor area below, change the value for PLEX_CLAIM and type in your own Plex Claim code that you have previously generated at STEP 4.

• STEP 8

Scroll down on the page until you see a button named Deploy the stack. Click on it. Follow the instructions in the image below. The installation process can take up to a few minutes. It will depend on your Internet speed connection.

• STEP 9

If everything goes right, you will see the following message at the top right of your screen: “Success Stack successfully deployed“.

• STEP 10

Go back to STEP 1 or you will deal with karma 🙂.

• STEP 11

The installation process can take up to a few seconds/minutes. It will depend on your Internet speed connection. Now open your browser and type in http://ugreennas-ip-address:32400/web. Click Sign in. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 12

⚠️Warning: If the page is stuck on loading, just refresh the page. Click Got it!. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 13

Add a Plex Pass or click close if you have one. ⚠️Warning: Plex Pass it’s mandatory for running Hardware Transcoding. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 14

Give your server a friendly name then click Next. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 15

Click Add Library. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 16

Click Movies then Next. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 17

Click Browse For Media Folder. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 18

From the folder choose movies then click Add. follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 19

Click Add. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 20

Click Add Library. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 21

Click Next. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 22

Click Done. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 23

Once you are logged in your Plex account, at the top right of the page click on your profile then Account Settings. On the left sidebar click Transcoder. Follow the instructions in the image below.

• STEP 24

From the Background transcoding dropdown menu, choose Super fast, then select the following options:

• Enable HDR tone mapping.
• Use hardware acceleration when available.
• Use hardware-accelerated video encoding.

Click Save Changes. Follow the instructions in the image below. ⚠️Warning: Plex Pass it’s mandatory for running Hardware Transcoding.

Enjoy Plex with Hardware Transcoding on your UGREEN NAS!

Note: Check out my guide on how to install Jellyfin with Hardware Transcoding on your UGREEN NAS.

This post was updated on Wednesday / October 2nd, 2024 at 1:19 PM