Plex offers good quality media streaming services. It can be accessed on the web, but several users prefer to use its desktop app. And linux users have to go under a certain criteria to install it on their system. So here, I’ll deliver a guide to Install Plex Media Player on Linux. To be precise, I’ll talk about solutions use Plex Media Player on Ubuntu, Arch Linux, Fedora, OpenSUSE & Linux Mint.
How Do I Install Plex Media Player on Linux?
Linux has several flavours that operate in different manners. So you need to implement the procedure depending upon the currently installed Linux Flavour. The procedure is quite similar to one another. For a normal user, different commands needs to be executed to install various packages to use Plex Media Player on Linux.
Arch Linux
Gladly, Plex Media Player is available for Arch Linux. As it’s installation is only available through AUR, users are required to assist with the terminal to execute certain commands. This operation requires the installation of additional packages, such as Base-Devel and Git.
- Launch Linux Termainl by pressing CTRL + Alt + T keys from your keyboard.
- Execute the following pacman command:
sudo pacman -S base-devel git
- For the assistance of installed AUR packages, use Trizen AUR Helper utility for a smooth experience:
git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git cd trizen makepkg -sri
- Now use the Trizen -S to install Plex Media Player on Arch Linux
trizen -S plex-media-player
Ubuntu/Debian
Several services of Linux Ubuntu and Debian are similar to one another. So in bother Linux flavours, I’ll be using the AppImage file package to install Plex. Users will be required to create an AppImage directory and then use it to complete the task using the terminal.
- Open terminal on Ubuntu or Debian.
- Create a new directory using the mkdir of AppImages
mkdir -p ~/AppImages
- To move the terminal into the AppImages session, use CD
cd ~/AppImages
- Now to download Plex Media Player, use the wget command for your convenience and wait until the downloading process is completed.
wget https://knapsu.eu/data/plex/Plex_Media_Player_20210521-ae73e074_x64.AppImage
- After downloading the file, you need to grant certain privileges that can be done using the chmod command.
sudo chmod +x Plex_Media_Player_20210521-ae73e074_x64.AppImage
- Use the following command to run Plex Media Player on Ubuntu or Debian:
./Plex_Media_Player_20210521-ae73e074_x64.AppImage
- Else, launch File Manager and open the AppImages folder to launch Plex.
Fedora
Plex Media Player can be used on Fedora, but only if the RPM Fusion repository is enabled. So if you haven’t enabled this free software repository, perform the following procedure. Likewise, learn to install Plex Media Player on Linux Fedora.
- Inside Terminal, benefit from dnf install to enable the Fusion repository.
sudo dnf install https://mirrors.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-34.noarch.rpm
- Now imply the simple command to install Plex
sudo dnf install plex-media-player
OpenSUSE
Unfortunately, no official repository is available for Linux OpenSUSE users. So they have the option of using AppImage to get the job done. While using the third-party repository, you’ll not be required to pay additional charges, but only some extra commands to take advantage of AppImage.
- While using Linux Terminal, create AppImages folder and move to its directory by execution the following commands one-by-one:
mkdir ~/AppImages cd ~/AppImages
- Download Plex Media Player from AppImage:
wget https://knapsu.eu/data/plex/Plex_Media_Player_20210521-ae73e074_x64.AppImage
- Update AppImage package for a better performance:
sudo chmod +x Plex_Media_Player_20210521-ae73e074_x64.AppImage
- To open Plex Media Player on Linux OpenSUSE, use the following command:
./Plex_Media_Player_20210521-ae73e074_x64.AppImage
Note: The above-provided method can also be used to install Plex Media Player on Linux Mint.
Flatpak
For Linux flavours like Ubuntu, Debain, OpenSUSE, & Mint, users have the option of using AppImage of Flatpak. And if you insist on getting the job done in two simple commands, here’s what you need to do.
- Open Terminal from the app manager
- Execute the following commands one-by-one:
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists plex-media-player https://flatpak.knapsu.eu/plex-media-player.flatpakrepo flatpak install plex-media-player tv.plex.PlexMediaPlayer
Note: Usage of AppImage & Flatpak is recommended for Linux flavours in which Plex Media Player isn’t available officially.
That’s all, thanks for your time spent reading How To Install Plex Media Player on Linux at itsDailyTech.
