Skip to content

DOCKERHUB_README.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
223 lines (179 loc) · 7.73 KB

DOCKERHUB_README.md

File metadata and controls

223 lines (179 loc) · 7.73 KB
Raw

Plex Generate Previews

GPU-accelerated video preview thumbnail generation for Plex Media Server.

The Problem: Plex's built-in preview generation is painfully slow.

The Solution: This tool uses GPU acceleration and parallel processing to generate previews 5-10x faster.

Features

Feature Description
Multi-GPU NVIDIA, AMD, Intel, and Windows GPUs
Parallel Processing Configurable GPU and CPU worker threads
GPU to CPU Fallback Optional fallback-only CPU workers for GPU decode failures
Hardware Acceleration CUDA, VAAPI, D3D11VA, VideoToolbox
Library Filtering Process specific Plex libraries
Quality Control Adjustable thumbnail quality (1-10)
Docker Ready Pre-built images with GPU support
Web Dashboard Manage jobs, schedules, and status
Scheduling Cron and interval-based automation
Radarr/Sonarr Webhook integration for auto-processing on import

Quick Start

docker run -d \
  --name plex-generate-previews \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  --device /dev/dri:/dev/dri \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -v /path/to/media:/media:ro \
  -v /path/to/plex/config:/plex:rw \
  -v /path/to/app/config:/config:rw \
  stevezzau/plex_generate_vid_previews:latest

Then open http://YOUR_IP:8080, retrieve the authentication token from container logs, and complete the setup wizard.

Get Your Authentication Token

docker logs plex-generate-previews | grep "Token:"

Or set a fixed token with -e WEB_AUTH_TOKEN=your-password.

Volume Mounts

Container Path Purpose Mode
/media Your media files ro (read-only)
/plex Plex application data (where BIF files are stored) rw
/config App settings, schedules, job history rw

Docker Compose

GPU (Intel / AMD / NVIDIA)

services:
  plex-previews:
    image: stevezzau/plex_generate_vid_previews:latest
    container_name: plex-generate-previews
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    # Intel / AMD GPU (VAAPI)
    devices:
      - /dev/dri:/dev/dri
    # NVIDIA: remove 'devices' above, uncomment below
    # deploy:
    #   resources:
    #     reservations:
    #       devices:
    #         - driver: nvidia
    #           count: all
    #           capabilities: [gpu]
    environment:
      # NVIDIA only (uncomment if using NVIDIA):
      # - NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all
      # - NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES=compute,video,utility
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
    volumes:
      - /path/to/your/media:/media:ro
      - /path/to/plex/config:/plex:rw
      - /path/to/app/config:/config:rw

CPU-Only

services:
  plex-previews:
    image: stevezzau/plex_generate_vid_previews:latest
    container_name: plex-generate-previews
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"
    environment:
      - GPU_THREADS=0
      - CPU_THREADS=8
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
    volumes:
      - /path/to/your/media:/media:ro
      - /path/to/plex/config:/plex:rw
      - /path/to/app/config:/config:rw

GPU Support

GPU Type Platform Acceleration Docker Flag
NVIDIA Linux CUDA/NVENC --gpus all
AMD Linux VAAPI --device /dev/dri
Intel Linux QuickSync/VAAPI --device /dev/dri
All Windows D3D11VA Native only
Apple Silicon macOS VideoToolbox Native only

NVIDIA GPU

Prerequisites: NVIDIA drivers + NVIDIA Container Toolkit.

docker run -d \
  --gpus all \
  -e NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all \
  -e NVIDIA_DRIVER_CAPABILITIES=compute,video,utility \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  -v /path/to/media:/media:ro \
  -v /path/to/plex/config:/plex:rw \
  -v /path/to/app/config:/config:rw \
  stevezzau/plex_generate_vid_previews:latest

GPU + CPU Fallback Mode

Set CPU Workers to 0 and CPU Fallback Workers to 1 (or higher) to keep main processing on GPU while allowing CPU retry for unsupported codecs.

Environment Variables

All settings can be configured in the web UI (Settings page). Environment variables are optional overrides.

Variable Default Description
PLEX_URL (wizard) Plex server URL (e.g. http://192.168.1.100:32400)
PLEX_TOKEN (wizard) Plex authentication token (auto-set via OAuth wizard)
PLEX_CONFIG_FOLDER (wizard) Path to Plex config folder
GPU_THREADS 1 Number of GPU worker threads (0-32)
CPU_THREADS 1 Number of CPU worker threads (0-32)
FALLBACK_CPU_THREADS 0 CPU fallback workers for GPU failures (0-32)
THUMBNAIL_QUALITY 4 Preview quality 1-10 (2=highest)
PLEX_BIF_FRAME_INTERVAL 5 Seconds between preview images (1-60)
PLEX_LIBRARIES All Comma-separated library names or IDs
PUID 1000 User ID (Unraid: 99)
PGID 1000 Group ID (Unraid: 100)
WEB_PORT 8080 Web server port
WEB_AUTH_TOKEN Auto Fixed authentication token
LOG_LEVEL INFO Logging level: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR
TMP_FOLDER System Temporary folder for processing
PLEX_TIMEOUT 60 Plex API timeout in seconds

Unraid

Search for "plex-generate-previews" in Community Applications, or run manually:

docker run -d \
  --name plex-generate-previews \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  -p 8080:8080 \
  --device /dev/dri:/dev/dri \
  -e WEB_AUTH_TOKEN=my-secret-password \
  -e PUID=99 \
  -e PGID=100 \
  -v /mnt/user/data/plex:/data/plex:ro \
  -v "/mnt/cache/appdata/plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server":/plex:rw \
  -v /mnt/user/appdata/plex-generate-previews:/config:rw \
  stevezzau/plex_generate_vid_previews:latest

Performance Tuning

GPU Threads CPU Threads Use Case
1 1 Default (safe for all hardware)
4 2 Balanced (mid-range systems)
8 4 High-end systems
0 8 CPU-only

Configure in the web UI under Settings.

Important Notes

  • Don't use init: true in docker-compose -- this container uses s6-overlay and init: true will break it.
  • Use your host IP for Plex -- the container cannot reach localhost on your host. Use http://192.168.1.100:32400, not http://localhost:32400.
  • Recommended Plex setting -- set "Generate video preview thumbnails" to Never in Plex settings. This tool replaces that with GPU-accelerated processing.

Documentation

Full documentation is available on GitHub:

Support

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.