How to set up your new (or old) Apple Mac mini as a headless Plex media server
Use your mac mini as an excellent Plex media server for the whole household. This guide will get you through the simple basics to set this up.
Did you get a new Mac mini for Christmas? Or picked up a second hand Mac? One of the best uses for a Mac mini (or any other Mac) is to run it in headless mode as a media server and file share server. The media server can run Plex and provide access to all your media to every phone, tablet, laptop or smart tv device in the house. Some configurations will even enable you to access your media over the internet while you’re away from home.
This guide will take you through the steps to take to set up a media server for your household on any Mac you have.
Requirements:
- A Mac (to be made headless server)
- A keyboard and mouse, to be used for initial setup
- Monitor or TV for initial setup
- A second pc/Mac to access the headless server (for maintenance and other use cases)
- Spare external hdd (optional)
Software:
- macOS/OSX 10.13 High Sierra or later
- Plex media server
- Infuse video player for your clientele devices (Optional)
Remote access setup
Step 1 — Initial setup of your Mac
This step assumes that your Mac is not already been through initial setup when you take the new Mac out of a box or factory reset an old one. If you already have it setup, please move to step 2.
You will need to connect the keyboard and mouse for this step and connect the Mac mini to a monitor or TV. This is one limitation of setting up that it doesn’t come enabled for headless mode out of the box.
Pro-tip — If you happen to have a standard Windows keyboard for this step. The Windows key on the keyboard can be used as the Cmd key.
Set up your Mac as per instruction on the screen including selecting your time zone, signing in to iCloud, signing in to the Wi-Fi and creating the initial user profile. Once it has been through the initial setup and you arrive at the desktop, it is recommended to update to the latest macOS version by clicking on the Apple symbol on the top left → About this Mac → System update.
Step 1a — Setup static IP for remote Mac(Optional)
This is completely optional but is a recommended tip. Although most of the functionality listed in this guide will work without setting up a Static IP for the remote Mac. But there are some use-cases like the setup of a local wiki site, access for non-Mac VNC clients, using remote mac for remote computing, SMB shares etc were giving the remote Mac a static IP will be convenient.
This guide will not cover this step as this has to be done on the network router and will need the help of whoever has set up the home/small office network. Please refer to the router guide on how to do this.
Again, emphasising, you do not need to complete this step for the remote Mac to be a media server, but it may help for some other use-cases as mentioned above.
Step 2 — Turn on screen sharing
This step will enable you to screen-share and access the mac from your MacBook or another Mac at home. To do this go to System Preferences > Sharing. Under the Computer Name change the computer name as desired. This is the name that will show up on the network for this Mac when you try to access it via vnc. In this list, enable Screen sharing (While there, also turn on File sharing and Media sharing. More explained below) as shown in the photo.
Pro-tip — Screen sharing vs Remote management. Screen sharing enables the accessing computer to start a session on the remote computer as if it was being used locally. You can do all activities that are allowed as per user permissions including restart, update, install apps etc as if you were working on it directly. Remote management offers the same and some additional options which are more appropriate to system administrators managing a number of computers in the network. For home use, screen sharing is more appropriate for the majority of use cases.
Step 2a — Enable access for non-MacOS/OSX computers and limiting user access (optional)
If it is a possibility that you will be using a non-Apple/Mac PC to access the remote Mac, some additional steps need to be taken.
To enable non-Mac PC to access, under Screen sharing, goto Computer settings and enable VNC users may control screen with a password and set a password. This will enable for non-Mac PCs to connect to the remote Mac via any VNC client using the computer name/IP address for access.
To limit access to the remote Mac for specific users (both Mac or Non-Mac), change the Allow access for: to Only these users and add the specific users you want to be able to access the remote Mac with appropriate permissions.
Step 3 — Test remote access and use
On another Mac computer on the same network, go to Finder. In the sidebar, look for Network, you should be able to see the newly listed remote Mac computer name in that list. If not, please ensure that you are on the same network as the remote Mac and have followed the steps above to set up.
When selecting it, you should see a button option Screen sharing. Clicking it may prompt for a username and password for the user you set up on remote Mac (depending on user setup). After successfully entering the information, you should see the remote Mac screen pop up as a VNC session. Congratulations, you can now access the Mac remotely.
For access using a non-Mac PC, download a VNC client of choice and follow the instructions on the VNC client to connect to the remote Mac.
Pro-tip — Please note that this is only applicable for a home network. To access the Mac externally, more network setup and local network VPN is required for an external device to log onto your local network and then access the local Mac. You can also look at some cloud-based remote access solutions if you need to do this.
Once you can access the Mac remotely and have tested it, you should now be able to disconnect the mouse, keyboard and monitor from the remote Mac as you don’t need them any more and the Mac will be running in “headless” mode. All setups and other configs now can be done by logging in remotely.
File server setup
Above I asked you to turn on File sharing as well while on the Sharing tab in System Preferences. This enables the remote Mac to act similar to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) where a central file sharing functionality is available to the whole household whoever can access the remote Mac.
Pro Tip — This file-sharing functionality also extends to external HDDs. So, I connect all of my external USB HDDs which are not being used elsewhere in the house to this Mac, and it is then available centrally and remotely without me having to carry the HDD along with my laptop.
Plex media server setup
Step 1 — Download and install Plex media server
Download Plex and follow the instructions to install it on your Mac.
Step 2 — Configure Plex
When Plex starts for the first time, it will go through a setup wizard where the system will set up the server, open Plex account and go through the process of adding libraries. Specify the location(s) (Drive folder) where your media is stored.
Pro Tip — Plex has a whole series of settings which can be accessed by opening Plex and going to settings on the top right of the browser screen that is opened. Use this to fine-tune Plex media server to your particular setup needs.
Step 3 — Download apps on other devices to access Plex media
The next step is to install the Plex app on any device you intend to consume Plex content from. Mobile phone (iOS and Android), Apple TV, Chromecast etc. The app should automatically find the Plex server (on the same network) and you should be able to start the streaming process.
If you are using standard Plex setup, to access Plex web app from another PC or Mac on the local network, open http://IP ADDRESS OF remote Mac:32400/web. This is where making the IP address of the remote Mac running Plex server is beneficial as it will always keep the address of the remote Mac the same on the local network.
If you followed all the guidance above, you should have a fully working central media server setup for your household. You can now transfer all your media to the central remote Mac. Let Plex pick it up by point the library to it and enjoy!.
Bonus — Infuse player
Infuse player is a free modern multi-format media player with a beautiful interface. It has built-in functionality to be able to work with Plex media server as the backbone and is available on multiple Apple platforms.
The Plex own player is an excellent player just to be clear, but Infuse dials the functionality up a notch as a player while taking full advantage of Plex strength of being a media server. Combined, this is my goto platform now to consume any of my media content.
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