In the realm of digital media, the sheer volume of content ready for streaming can be overwhelming. Amidst the numerous streaming options, a setup that marries Plex with Real Debrid offers a unique and compelling solution. This article, inspired by the instructions from the GitHub repository plex_debrid, guides you through the process of configuring Plex with Real Debrid for streaming on Windows.
What is Plex Debrid?
Plex Debrid enables streaming content from torrent sources using Debrid services, including Real Debrid. It operates with your personal media server, like Plex, and utilizes content services such as Plex Discover, Trakt, and Overseerr. This allows users to add movies and shows to their watchlist, which instantly become available for streaming.
The Plex Debrid Setup on Windows
- Rclone: This program deceives your operating system into believing that files from your Debrid service are stored locally, when in reality, they’re streamed as you open them. This is why content is available almost instantly and why you have virtually unlimited storage, depending on your Debrid service. The server’s hard drive never downloads anything.
- A personal media server like Plex: This allows you to watch these files from anywhere on any device. Hetzner is the most popular and cheapest cloud server for Plex hosting as well as plex_debrid hosting (optional).
- The plex_debrid script: This unifies everything and offers a simple way to add media content to your Debrid service.
Getting Started with Plex Debrid on Windows
For this setup to function, you need to mount at least one Debrid service as a virtual drive. Real Debrid comes highly recommended as it frequently receives updates and new features from Plex Debrid first. Once your Plex server is up and running, avoid downloading from your Debrid service in any other way than through Plex. Dedicate a single Real Debrid account for this setup.
Preparation
- Install Python 3.9.x from the official Python website.
- Install pip from the official website. (Usually installed with Python automatically)
- Install winfsp from the official website.
Mounting Real Debrid
Real Debrid does not permit access from multiple IP addresses simultaneously. However, this is not an issue when running a Plex server as all streaming through Plex is routed through your server’s IP address. Therefore, while your Plex server is operational, avoid downloading from your Debrid service in any other way than through Plex. This is also a good reason to have a separate “always on” Windows server in the cloud, for which I use Hetzner due to its low cost and unlimited bandwidth. Though I have an article on an alternative as well.
1. Download the latest ‘rclone.exe’ file from the GitHub repository.
2. Create a new folder on your desktop named “rclone” and open it.
3. Copy the downloaded “rclone.exe” file into this folder.
4. Open PowerShell within the “rclone” folder:
- For Windows 10: Open the Windows Explorer within the “rclone” folder, click on the “File” ribbon and select “Open PowerShell here”.
- For Windows 11: Right-click on the “rclone” folder on your desktop, press and hold the shift key on your keyboard, click on “Show more options”, and select “Open PowerShell here”.
5. In the PowerShell window, run the command ./rclone.exe config and press enter.
6. Type ’n’ to create a new rclone remote and name it ‘realdebrid’.
7. Type ‘47’ to choose the “realdebrid” remote type.
8. Enter your Real Debrid API key (can be found at https://real-debrid.com/apitoken).
9. Choose ‘no’ when asked to edit the advanced configuration.
10. Follow the rest of the prompted instructions.
11. Type ‘q’ to exit the rclone config menu.
12. To mount Real Debrid, enter ./rclone.exe cmount realdebrid: X: --dir-cache-time 10s. A new virtual computer drive with the letter X named 'realdebrid' should appear on your computer. You should find 3 folders within it: "movies", "shows", and "default".
13. To run rclone in the background, close the PowerShell window, open it again as described in step 4, and run the command ./rclone.exe cmount realdebrid: X: --dir-cache-time 10s --no-console. The console should close and rclone should run in the background.
Setting Up Plex
- Install and start your Plex server following any of the many available online guides. Once it’s running and you have claimed it with your Plex account, open the Plex webUI.
- Create a new Plex library for movies and add the folders “X:/default” and “X:/movies”.
- Create a new Plex library for shows and add the folders “X:/default” and “X:/shows”.
- It’s recommended to disable ‘video preview thumbnails’ and the scheduled task ‘perform extensive media analysis’ to reduce the download traffic.
- Disable the library setting “Empty trash after every scan” to ensure that no content is accidentally removed.
Setting Up Plex Debrid
- Visit the plex_debrid repository at https://GitHub.com/itsToggle/plex_debrid. Click on the “Code” button located at the top right of the page and then select “Download ZIP”. Unzip the downloaded file on your desktop, which will result in a new “plex_debrid” folder containing several files.
- If you’re using Windows 10, navigate to the “plex_debrid” folder and open it. In the opened Windows Explorer, select the “File” tab from the ribbon at the top and then click “Open PowerShell here” to initiate a terminal window.
- For Windows 11 users, right-click on the “plex_debrid” folder on your desktop. While pressing and holding the Shift key on your keyboard, click “Show more options”. From the expanded options, select “Open PowerShell here”. This will open a terminal window.
- Once the terminal window is open, type the following command:
pip install -r requirements.txt, then press the Enter key. - To start the script within the terminal, execute the command
python ./main.py.
Congratulations! You’ve set up Plex with Real Debrid on a Windows. This powerful streaming solution harnesses the advantages of both platforms. While the initial setup may need some technical know-how, the rewards in terms of streaming experience and content availability make it well worth the effort. Enjoy your enhanced streaming experience!
