I got the job guys. Double the pay and half the work. It's absolutely insane. I couldn't even process it yesterday when I got the call.

Had a very strong interview yesterday. I'd be surprised if I didn't get the job. Double the pay half the work essentially.

"So it begins"

There are no guides online that I have found which attempt to teach anyone how to properly install Plex on a CentOS 7.2 server while also explaining what you are actually doing. I'm attempting to do that here but this is also my first guide so I will be editing over time to make it as good as It can be. I'm not a Linux master by any stretch of the imagination. I hope this helps someone in a similar position.

First we will update CentOS (wiki)
yum update -y

You can use vi as your text editor but I prefer nano. This is just personal preference.
yum install nano -y

Now we need to install Samba (wiki)
yum install samba samba-client samba-common -y

Change the directory to root and then create the samba directory
cd /
mkdir -p /samba

We need to set permissions and ownership of the samba folder
chmod -r 0777 /samba <---permissions
chown -r nobody:nobody /samba <---ownership

Now we will set SELinux (wiki) permissions
chcon -t samba_share_t /samba

At this point it's a good idea to create a backup of your samba configuration file just in case something goes wrong with your configuration.
cp /etc/samba/smb.conf /etc/samba/smb.conf.bak

Now we need to edit the samba configuration file. vi would be in place of nano if you are using that text editor.
nano /etc/samba/smb.conf

Scroll down to Network-Related Options.

workgroup = WORKGROUP
netbios name = Plex
max protocol = SMB3

Remove semicolons before the existing lines so they aren't commented out. Directly below max protocol add the following:

security = user
map to guest = bad user
dns proxy = no

Now you need to create a share definition so we can access Plex from any PC. PgDN or scroll to the bottom of the document and enter the following.

[Plex]
path = /samba
browsable = yes
writable = yes
guest ok = yes
read only = no

Now exit and save your changes

Enable the smb and nmb services
systemctl enable smb.service
systemctl enable nmb.service

I always restart the services just in case. This may be unncessary.
systemctl restart smb.service
systemctl restart nmb.service

Firewall permissions need to be created and then the firewall needs to be reloaded
firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=samba
firewall-cmd --reload

Map \<ip address\Plex to your windows PC. Once that succeeds I always create a text file to verify I have write access.

Now, on your Windows PC download: Plex https://www.plex.tv/downloads/ I chose 64bit CentOS

Drag the .rpm file over into the drive you just mapped in Windows.

Back in CentOS we need to run a local install of Plex
cd /samba
ls <--- To verify that the file is there
yum localinstall plexmediaserver-0.9.16.4.1911-ee6e505.x86_64 [Note: Once you start typing plex you can hit TAB and it will attempt to autofill the file name. Since there is only one file there is no chance of it autofilling the wrong file name.]

Let's start the Plex service and stop the firewall service for testing purposes
systemctl start plexmediaserver.service
systemctl stop firewalld.service

On your windows PC open up your browser and test connectivity to your Plex server: http://<ip address>:32400

Reboot the server.

Stop the Plex service
systemctl stop plexmediaserver.service

Now we need to allow Plex through the firewall (this will be a new document).
nano /etc/firewalld/services/plexmediaserver.xml

Enter the following
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<service>
<short>Plex Media Server</short>
<description>This opens up PlexMediaServer for http (32400), upnp, and autodiscovery.</description>
<port protocol="tcp" port="32469"/>
<port protocol="udp" port="32413"/>
<port protocol="udp" port="1900"/>
<port protocol="tcp" port="32400"/>
<port protocol="udp" port="32412"/>
<port protocol="udp" port="32410"/>
<port protocol="udp" port="32414"/>
</service>

Now add the Plex service to the firewall
firewall-cmd --permanent --add-service=plexmediaserver
firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-service=plexmediaserver

Reboot the server.

On your windows PC open up your browser and test connectivity to your Plex server: http://<ip address>:32400 Note: In order to use your Plex Media Server remotely you will need to configure port forwarding on your router. The default port as listed above is 32400.

Now you can browse your Plex files on your Windows PC and add/remove what you want.

Follow Plex's media preparation guidelines: https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/categories/200028098-Media-Preparation

@johnhooks said:

Guys I have a server I'm running to display a slideshow of my cats. It has to run 28/8/368. Downtime is not an option, I can't not see my cat's pictures. I need 40 TB of storage in RAID 0 for ultra redundancy and my budget is some change I found in the parking lot. Can anyone help me?

I created a Raspi Supercomputer for this very purpose. It was only $2000 for the computer, $1000 for the network rack w/switches and an 8 bay Synology NAS as a backup. I'm going to push them out to remote sites into digital picture frames and a projector so I can project them onto my local water tower.

Create a service unit file in /etc/systemd/system/certbot-renewal.service

[Unit]
Description=Certbot Renewal

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/certbot renew --post-hook "systemctl restart httpd"

Create the timer unit file /etc/systemd/system/certbot-renewal.timer

[Unit]
Description=Timer for Certbot Renewal

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*-*-* 01,13:00:00
RandomizedDelaySec=3600
Unit=certbot-renewal.service

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

start the timer
systemctl start certbot-renewal.timer

enable to start the timer on boot
sudo systemctl enable certbot-renewal.timer

status
systemctl status certbot-renewal.timer

journal
journalctl -u certbot-renewal.service

*Included JB's timer.

After almost 3 weeks in the hospital, my Grandpa is apparently going home tomorrow or friday once the oxygen tank delivery arrives at his home. I was really worried we were going to lose him. We had a lot of scares throughout this time. The guy is 78 years old and survived a confirmed covid case. Hopefully this gives any of you that have sick relatives some hope.

Closing on the house tomorrow. Got my ubiquiti equipment ready

This was painful to read

@aidan_walsh afaik there is no reason to install it as a role. All it does is create unnecessary licensing dependencies.

I was turned down for a raise. I was just informed. So I'm leaving the moment I get another job.

Last hour of work before I start my new job!

I just want to say thank god for mangolassi. I've learned so much since I came here. I really don't think I'd be where I'm at now if it weren't for all of you guys helping me so much. It's really appreciated

Well, with a lot of help from @dashrender, I successfully demoted two problem Domain Controllers and fixed my add network printer list not populating. The DC's were two standalone servers and free up two servers for use as VM Hosts.

Next projects:

1. Installing 50+ new gigabit switches (we are currently 10/100)
2. Configure and install 150 new workstations. All Windows 10. Nice amount of resources too (8 GB of memory minimum as an example).

Oh and Fiber is getting activated at my 3 biggest sites.

Last night my cat was playing with my foot as I was typing a message to my friend in a game. He bit me playfully and instead of making noise I typed F*** in chat. I'm now going to go outside more.

My Grandma just avoided a phone scam by verifying with me

Laura and I put an offer down on our first house