How to listen to your Plex music collection on the Linux desktop
Plex Media Server is excellent for managing your movies and TV shows. However, did you also know you can use it to host your personal music files too? In this guide, we’ll show you how to take advantage of Plex to listen to your own personal music collection from your server on the Linux desktop
Note: This guide requires a Plex Media Server installation. If you do not already have one set up, please follow our guide on the subject and upload your music collection to plex before attempting this guide. You’ll also need a Plex Pass.
Installing PlexAmp on Linux
PlexAmp needs to be installed on your Linux PC in order to use it to play your favorite Plex music from the Linux desktop. There are two ways you can get PlexAmp working on your Linux PC: Flatpak and AppImage.
To start the installation, open up a terminal window. To open up a terminal window on the desktop, press Ctrl + Alt + T on the keyboard, or search for the terminal in the app menu and open it that way.
When the terminal window is open and ready to use, follow the installation instructions down below to get the PlexAmp app working.
Flatpak installation instructions
Flatpak is the best way to install PlexAmp on Linux. It offers up regular updates, and you don’t need to mess around with downloadable AppImage packages. To start the installation, you’ll need to set up the Flatpak runtime.
To set up the Flatpak runtime, install the “flatpak” package on your computer. If you can’t figure out how to install the Flatpak runtime, please follow along with our in-depth guide on the subject.
When you’ve set up the Flatpak runtime, use the flatpak remote-add command to add the Flathub app repository to your system. This repo will allow you to install the PlexAmp app.
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
Now that the software repository is added to your system, you can install the PlexAmp application on your system using the flatpak install command below.
flatpak install flathub com.plexamp.Plexamp
AppImage installation instructions
If you don’t have access to Flatpak on your Linux PC, the next best way to use PlexAmp on your desktop is by downloading the AppImage file directly to your computer and run it.
AppImage files are great on Linux, though not everyone likes using them. Essentially, they’re like Windows EXE files. Here’s how to get the PlexAmp app working.
First, open up a terminal window on the desktop. Once it is open, use the wget command to download the latest PlexAmp AppImage to your computer.
wget https://plexamp.plex.tv/plexamp.plex.tv/desktop/Plexamp-3.5.0.AppImage
After downloading it, create a new folder in your home folder with the name “AppImages.” This folder is where you’ll keep PlexAmp on your system.
mkdir -p ~/AppImages
Move your PlexAmp app into the new folder using the mv command.
mv Plexamp-3.5.0.AppImage ~/AppImages/
Next, enter the new folder using CD and use the chmod command to update the permissions of the app.
cd ~/AppImages/
sudo chmod +x Plexamp-3.5.0.AppImage
Finally, run the app with the command below. Or, open up the Linux file manager and double-click on the PlexAmp AppImage file.
./Plexamp-3.5.0.AppImage
Listening to music with PlexAmp
To listen to music with PlexAmp, start by launching the application on your Linux desktop. You can launch the app by searching for “PlexAmp” in your app menu. Once the app is open, you’ll see the login screen.
Using the login screen, enter your Plex credentials. Or, if you’re already logged in to Plex with your Linux web browser, click on the “log in with browser’ button instead.
Upon logging in, you’ll be asked to select a library. To select a library, simply take your mouse, click on your music collection (as displayed in PlexAmp) and select it. Then, click on the “Continue” button to move on to the next page.
When you click on the continue button, you’ll see your PlexAmp “Home”. This “Home” is a lot like what you’d see in Spotify or other music applications people use today.
To listen to a song, you can look at your recent plays or your recently added section. Alternatively, click on the “search” box, to locate what you wish to listen to. You can also click on the music icon next to the home icon to view your artists, songs, and albums in a collection.
PlexAmp mobile app
In this guide, we go over how to use PlexAmp on the Linux desktop to listen to your Plex media collection. That being said, PlexAmp is also available on iOS and Android.
For more information on the PlexAmp application for mobile, visit their website.
