Seeing a red dot with “401 unauthorized” status for Plex in your Homarr dashboard, even though your Plex server runs perfectly fine? The issue is likely your URL format.

Instead of using the standard IP:PORT format like other containers, Plex requires the full web interface path.

The Fix

Change your Plex internal address from:

192.168.1.100:32400

To:

192.168.1.100:32400/web/index.html#!/

Why This Path is Required

Plex’s web interface uses a single-page application architecture with hash-based routing. The /web/index.html#!/ path serves as the entry point to the bundled Plex Web App. This specific URL structure is how Plex handles authentication and routing for external integrations like Homarr.

Unlike other services that expose simple API endpoints at their base URL, Plex requires access through its web application interface to properly authenticate and respond to status checks.

• Homarr Plex 401 Discussion
• Plex Media Server URL Commands | Plex Support

MeTube is a web GUI for youtube-dl, a command-line tool for downloading videos from YouTube and several hundred other sites.

My goal for this project was to set up automation for downloading YouTube videos directly to my Plex library.

The primary reason is that I can’t trust myself with YouTube Shorts. Once I open YouTube, I’m likely to spend at least a few minutes browsing through them. The simplest solution was to add friction to the process: I removed the YouTube app from all my devices and blocked the domain using my local DNS server.

This worked like a charm. Now, I only visit YouTube every few days to add content that interests me to my Plex library.

You can read more about setting up your own DNS server here.

Prerequisites

• ‼️ Docker must be installed and set up on your system by following the TrashGuides setup for Synology.

This guide assumes you have configured common environment variables like PUID, PGID, TZ, DOCKERSTORAGEDIR, and DOCKERCONFDIR as outlined in the TrashGuides.

Installation Steps

1. Create Required Directories

First, we need to create folders for MeTube’s configuration and downloads. One folder will store MeTube’s application data, and the other will be the destination for your downloaded videos.

SSH into your Synology NAS and execute the following commands:

The commands below assume you’ve followed the linked guide exactly. Adjust paths like /volume1/data/media/youtube and /volume1/docker/appdata/metube if your storage volume or directory structure differs.

• Folder for video downloads (e.g., your Plex library):

  sudo mkdir -p /volume1/data/media/youtube
  

• Folder for the MeTube container’s configuration:

  sudo mkdir -p /volume1/docker/appdata/metube
  

2. Set Permissions

Next, execute the following commands via SSH to configure the correct permissions for the newly created directories:

sudo chown -R docker:users /volume1/data/media/youtube /volume1/docker/appdata/metube
sudo chmod -R a=,a+rX,u+w,g+w /volume1/data/media/youtube /volume1/docker/appdata/metube

This command ensures the docker user has the necessary ownership and read/write permissions.

3. Configure Docker Compose

Append the following service configuration to your main docker-compose.yml file. If you followed the TrashGuides setup, this file is located at /volume1/docker/.

services:
  metube:
    container_name: metube
    image: ghcr.io/alexta69/metube:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    logging:
      driver: json-file
      options:
        max-file: ${DOCKERLOGGING_MAXFILE:-10}
        max-size: ${DOCKERLOGGING_MAXSIZE:-200m}
    ports:
      - "8081:8081"
    environment:
      - PUID=${PUID}
      - PGID=${PGID}
      - TZ=${TZ}
      - UMASK=002
      - DOWNLOAD_DIR=/downloads
      - AUDIO_DOWNLOAD_DIR=/downloads
      - STATE_DIR=/config/.metube
      - TEMP_DIR=/downloads/.temp
    volumes:
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - ${DOCKERSTORAGEDIR}/media/youtube:/downloads
      - ${DOCKERCONFDIR}/metube:/config

Note on Environment Variables and Volumes:

• ${DOCKERSTORAGEDIR}/media/youtube maps your Synology’s media download folder to the /downloads directory inside the container. Ensure DOCKERSTORAGEDIR is correctly defined (e.g., DOCKERSTORAGEDIR=/volume1/data).
• ${DOCKERCONFDIR}/metube maps your Synology’s MeTube appdata folder to the /config directory inside the container. Ensure DOCKERCONFDIR is correctly defined (e.g., DOCKERCONFDIR=/volume1/docker/appdata).

4. Start the Container

Navigate to the directory containing your docker-compose.yml file via SSH and run the following command:

docker compose up -d metube

The container will now download the image and start. You can then access the MeTube web interface by navigating to http://<your-synology-ip>:8081 in a web browser.

Check out MeTube’s README for a handy iOS shortcut that allows you share video URLs without opening MeTube!

Troubleshooting

• Port Conflicts: If port 8081 is already in use, change the host port in the ports section of your docker-compose.yml. For example, to use port 8082, modify the line to - "8082:8081".
• Permission Issues: If MeTube reports that it cannot write to the download or config directories, double-check the permissions set in Step 2. Also, verify that the PUID and PGID environment variables correspond to a user with write access to those folders.
• Container Logs: If the container fails to start or you encounter other issues, check its logs with this command:

  docker compose logs metube
  

Resources

• MeTube GitHub Repository
• TrashGuides for Synology Docker Setup

• Media Server - My Synology stores and serves my entire collection of movies, TV shows, and music. Using Plex, I can stream this content to any device, creating a personalized Netflix-like experience.
• Usenet / Torrent Client - I have the standard *ARR stack setup for managing my media library. I can’t recommend it enough. This suite of apps is a crown jewel of the entire setup.
• HomeBridge - HomeBridge allows me to integrate non-HomeKit devices into my Apple HomeKit setup.
• Time Machine Backup Destination - My Synology serves as a Time Machine backup destination for all my Macs. This is a major improvement over manually connecting external HDDs.
• DNS Server - I run AdGuard Home on my Synology as a DNS server. Similar to Pi-hole, it blocks ads across all devices on my network. You can read more about it here.
• Personal Cloud Storage - While I use iCloud for critical documents, my Synology acts as a personal cloud for miscellaneous files. It’s a great way to keep less important documents accessible without cluttering my primary cloud storage.

In the following sections, I’ll dive deeper into this setup, providing a high-level overview and sharing useful resources that have helped me create this system.

The Initial Setup

Storage Pools / Shares / Volumes

The first question I asked myself when setting up the system was “What volume structure should I use?” Initially, I aimed for complete separation between documents, media, and backups. This approach would have resulted in a single storage pool with three separate volumes.

However, I learned that creating separate volumes doesn’t offer significant advantages in this case (if any). It doesn’t provide any real security benefits. Instead, having separate shared folders with properly set up permissions is more than sufficient. So, unless you have a compelling reason to do otherwise, you should default to a single storage pool with a single volume.

95% of users should use a single SHR pool, with a single BTRFS volume. If you need something else, you’re an advanced user with an unusual use case (or just a big nerd who likes to tinker, even when it’s slightly harmful).

Some people make multiple pools for different RAID levels for different uses, or making a separate pool with surveillance-class drives for their cameras. IMO, it’s not worth that level of control, but it’s available. You must make separate pools for HDDs and SSDs.

There’s even less reason to use multiple volumes on the same pool. All of the backup, permissions, quota, etc. management is done at the shared folder level, so there just isn’t much benefit to multiple volumes, unless you’re hitting the 108TB limit and are forced to.

From the synology community on Reddit

Access Control

All of my shared folders use the default permissions, except for docker. The permissions for this directory are described in detail here. The gist of this setup is that the “docker” user has full access to the “docker” shared folder and nothing else. All other users can access anything except the docker folder.

I have three accounts in total:

• An admin account that I only use when I need to make changes to Synology.
• My personal account, which I use day-to-day. All of my client devices use it to access documents, media, and backups.
• The docker account I mentioned earlier.

Setting up Time Machine

Use this video and you should be good to go.

Docker

I started my Docker setup with this guide as part of setting up the *ARR stack. It goes into detail on how to set it up from the ground up. Once you’re done, it should be fairly easy to build on top of it.

I still haven’t gotten around to setting up automation for updating the containers, so I can’t speak on pullio, the solution suggested in the guide above.

Remote Access

With the initial setup done, it’s time to decide how to access your Synology outside of your home network. In my setup, I wanted to balance security and convenience. That’s why I decided against Synology’s Quick Connect and went with Tailscale. The free tier is more than enough for my needs, and this setup is beautifully simple to configure.

I wrote a separate article on how to set up Plex to work with Tailscale. If you want to learn more about the available options for remote access, this video covers the most popular choices.

Backup

I backup my entire system using the built-in Hyper Backup solution. Here’s a tutorial on how to set it up.

I don’t backup media to save space. In the worst-case scenario of two subsequent disk failures, I’ll still have all of my most important documents intact. The media library should be fairly simple to rebuild.

I have a monthly reminder to connect the external HDD and make a backup. You can configure it so that the external disk will be unmounted when the backup is finished. This makes the process easy and hassle-free. I connect the drive, initiate the backup, and detach it the next morning. You could keep it connected, but I prefer to keep my backup offsite. It’s my final safety net when everything else fails.

Resources

• Practical reasons for having multiple storage pools and volumes : r/synology
• Setting up AdGuard Home on Synology NAS with Tailscale | kunat.dev
• Synology - TRaSH Guides
• How to Backup MacOS to Synology NAS using Time Machine (easy) - YouTube
• Secure Remote Access to Your Synology Plex Server via Tailscale | kunat.dev
• The Complete Guide to Remotely Access Synology NAS - All 5 Options Explained - YouTube
• Do this FIRST - How to Backup Synology NAS to USB Hard Drive (Hyperbackup) - YouTube

Prerequisites

• Have a Plex server running as a Docker container using this guide. When you’re done, you should have a docker-compose.yml and a .env file with all your environment variables.
• Have Tailscale set up and running on your Synology. You can use this guide.

Make sure to disable the expiry for the IP address assigned to your Synology NAS in the Tailscale dashboard.

Steps

1. Set PLEX_ADVERTISE_URL (in the .env file) to your Synology IP address in the Tailscale dashboard and your local network IP address:

## PLEX
# ... other keys
PLEX_ADVERTISE_URL="http://ds1512p:32400,http://192.168.0.186:32400"

Remember to include port numbers in both IP addresses!

2. Restart the Plex container using the latest changes:

sudo docker-compose up --force-recreate plex

3. Check if the changes have been applied successfully. “Custom server access URLs” should be set to $PLEX_ADVERTISE_URL.

Summary

That’s it! With the above setup, you should be able to connect to your Plex server from your local network as well as from anywhere, as long as you’re connected to Tailscale.

Resources

• How to run Plex through Tailscale