Plex is a multimedia application that is used to stream media files including videos or photos on various devices including smart TVs. This is also used to watch your favorite shows or listen to music on Desktops as well as on smartphones.
Plex users can create their music library and access it all across the world on smart digital devices over the internet. It also supports creating their unique user accounts and managing them accordingly. The most important feature of Plex, it allows users to synchronize the data on their mobiles and because of this, it can be played in offline mode without access to the internet.
Plex can be installed on various Linux distributions, Windows, and MacOS by various methods. This article will explain the installation of the Plex on Debian by various methods and it will follow the outline:
- How to Install Plex on Debian
- Method 1: Install Plex by Downloading its Debian Package on Debian
- Method 2: Install Plex Using the Snap Package
- Method 3: Install Plex Using the FlatHub Package
- How to Uninstall the Plex on Debian
Let’s start the post by exploring different installation methods of Plex on Debian.
How to Install Plex on Debian?
Plex can be installed on Debian 12 by following the three different methods:
- Downloading the Debian Package
- Using the Snapcraft
- Using the Flathub
All these installation methods of Plex on Debian are explained in the step-by-step guide in the next sections.
Method 1: Install Plex by Downloading its Debian Package on Debian
The best and recommended approach to install the Plex on Debian is by downloading its Debian package from its official website. This will ensure the installation of the updated release of the Plex. To install Plex on Debian 12 by the mentioned method, follow all the mentioned-below steps.
Step 1: Download the Plex’s Debian Package
First, open the web browser and navigate to the “Downloads” section of Plex’s official website:
Choose the distribution and Download the debian package of Plex.
Step 2: Launch the Terminal
Now run the terminal by using the CTRL+ALT+T shortcut key:
Step 3: Access the Downloads Directory
To use the cd command to navigate the “Downloads” directory and list down its contents to confirm the download of the Debian package of Plex:
$ cd Downloads && ls
The debian package has successfully downloaded on Debian 12.
Step 4: Install Plex on Debian 12
Now install the Plex on Debian 12 with the wget command:
$ sudo apt install ./plexmediaserver_1.32.7.7621-871adbd44_amd64.deb
Step 5: Start the Plex on Debian 12
When the installation is completed, start the Plex server with the following command:
$ sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver
Step 6: Enable the Plex
To start the Plex with the boot of Debian 12, enable it by running the command:
$ sudo systemctl enable plexmediaserver
Step 7: Display the Status
To display the status of the Plex Media Server, use the command:
$ sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver
Step 8: Enable the Port 32400
To enable the traffic of the Plex media server, ensure port 32400 is allowed:
$ sudo ufw allow 32400/tcp
Step 9: Access Plex Media Server Web Interface
To access the web interface of the Plex Media Server, open the web browser and go to the below-mentioned URL:
http://localhost:32400/web
The Plex Media Server has successfully installed Debian 12 using its Debian package.
Method 2: Install Plex Using the Snap Package
Snapcraft is the Linux application store that contains the snaps of different software applications. To install the Plex on Debian 12 using its snap, run the commands explained below.
Step 1: Install the snapd Command Utility
The snapd command is used for managing the snaps by downloading them from Snapcraft. To install the snapd on Debian 12, run the command:
$ sudo apt install snapd -y
After the successful installation of the snapd command utility, proceed to the installation of the Plex.
Step 2: Download and Install Plex Using the Snapcraft
To download and install the Plex application for the Desktop, execute the command:
$ snap install plex-desktop
The snap of the Plex has been installed successfully on Debian 12.
Method 3: Install Plex Using the FlatHub Package
Similar to Snapcraft, Flathub is another Linux application store that can be used to install the applications on the Debian 12.
To install the Plex Desktop on Debian 12 using its Flathub package, follow the instructions.
Step 1: Install the flatpak
To manage the package of the Flathub store, first, install the flatpak command utility:
$ sudo apt install flatpak -y
Step 2: Download and Install Plex Desktop
Now using the flatpak command, download and install the Plex desktop on Debian 12 with the following command:
$ flatpak install flathub tv.plex.PlexDesktop
Step 3: Run the Plex Desktop
When the installation is completed, run the Plex Desktop with the execution of the command:
$ flatpak run tv.plex.PlexDesktop
The application has been installed successfully on Debian 12.
How to Uninstall Plex on Debian?
If the Plex is installed on Debian 12 using the dpkg command utility, then run the below-mentioned command to remove it:
$ sudo dpkg -r plexmediaserver
If it is installed using the Snapcraft package, then remove it with the following command:
$ snap remove plex-desktop
If it is installed with the Flatpak package, then run the command:
$ flatpak uninstall flathub tv.plex.PlexDesktop
The Plex package has been successfully removed from Debian 12. To remove all the unused dependencies of Plex, run the command:
$ sudo apt autoremove -y
All the unused dependencies of the Plex have been removed successfully.
These are the three different installation methods for the installation of Plex on Debian 12.
Conclusion
To install the updated version of the Plex media server on Debian 12, download its Debian package from its official website. Then install it either using the dpkg package manager or the apt package manager. Likewise, for the installation of the Plex Desktop on Debian 12, use the Snapcraft and Flathub packages.
All these installation methods of Plex Media Server and Plex Desktop have been explained in this post with a step-by-step guide.
