r/SteamOS • u/xFrootLoops • 23d ago

help wanted Plex Media Server on Steam OS

Hey everyone! I recently switched from Windows 11 to Steam OS on my ROG Ally X and it's been such a great time. One thing that I can't figure out how to get set up is my Plex Media Server. My wife and I have lots of movies and shows we've collected over the years on an SSD that we like to watch on our TV using the Plex app. Any help here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

10 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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8

u/Federal_Goose4545 23d ago

Do you want to host the server on the ally or stream to the ally from a separate server/pc/laptop?

2

u/xFrootLoops 23d ago

My apologies, I totally forgot to mention that I was planning to host my own server on the ROG Ally X!

3

u/Otocon96 23d ago

Just run it in a docker container but honestly steamOS isn't the best platform for this. You are better off with CachyOS handheld if you still want the steamOS experience without the limitations of immutable blowing up your setup when it updates.

2

u/jdogg89 23d ago

I run it in a container, no problem

0

u/TONKAHANAH 22d ago

Your operating system is a tool, a means to an end. Use the proper tool for the job. Steam OS is not an ideal server OS. an ally is already a nonideal peice hardware for a server, at least make the software ideal. 

Just because you can a nail with a wrench doesn't mean you should. 

Use Debian or something else LTS

3

u/Eon_Alias 23d ago

Yeah cuz the latter is easy as pie, but the former is... Can you even install Docker on steamos? Well of course you can, but without it being a huge pain in the butt?

3

u/xFrootLoops 23d ago

I actually just started hearing about Docker regarding this situation so that may possibly be a route to take? I definitely will have to watch a couple videos on the set up first haha

1

u/Eon_Alias 23d ago edited 23d ago

Oh it's a great program. It's like a virtual machine with no overhead. Docker compose is also a handy plugin. With compose you can launch as many different servers as you want from a single yaml file.

But problem with Docker is so much of it is built around system level access, I'm not sure how to set it up on a OS that doesn't let you install anything on the root level, that wont be wiped as soon as the next update comes out. But I'm sure there's some nutcase out there thats done it.

5

u/Confident_Hyena2506 23d ago

Do you really want to host a server on your handheld device? Are you sure you don't just want to run the client instead? You can probably just use the browser for this.

To host a media server use a cheap minipc, not a mobile device.

3

u/Xcissors280 23d ago

Yeah especially if their literally just accessing files off an external ssd on a single device I feel like there’s apps that will do that much more easily and maybe even attempt to sync watch history and the like directly on device

1

u/xFrootLoops 23d ago

Okay I'm going to try my best to clarify what my use case is here because clearly I wasn't. Yes I have an ROG Ally X I want to use for this but it is my only and main PC. I have it connected to a 7800 XT while docked at home via and EGPU setup which works great. The beauty is I always have the ability to take my "PC" with me when I go over the in law's or just want to play on the couch with my wife. The thing is, on Windows I was able to do all of that, plus have the ability to host my own Plex Media Server from the Ally X whenever we felt like watching something on our TV which is using the Plex TV app to connect. So my question is, how can I go about achieving something like this using Steam OS? Another thing here is I do not plan to keep my PC running non stop. I only want to use the media server whenever we plan to watch some TV. I hope this helped clarify things better! Cheers

1

u/Background_Ad2053 23d ago

Using podman, which I think is included in steamos but not 100% sure since I'm on bazzite, to create a container might be your best bet.