If you’re following our Complete Guide to creating a Headless Plex Server with Plexamp endpoints using a Raspberry Pi you should already be familiar with Raspberry Pi Imager.

If you need a refresher on what Raspberry Pi Imager is and how to use it you should revisit the guide A Beginner’s Guide to Installing Raspberry Pi OS Lite.

For this guide I’m using Raspberry Pi OS Lite (64-bit)

In the advanced settings fill out all the necessary information. To keep things simple your username for this project should be pi. If your username is different there will just be an additional step to take.

After Raspberry Pi OS has been installed on your Micro-SD card you can insert it into your Raspberry Pi and power it on.

With Raspberry Pi OS installed on your Micro-SD card and your Raspberry Pi powered on you’ll want to make sure you can SSH into the Pi.

If you’re following our Complete Guide to creating a Headless Plex Server with Plexamp endpoints using a Raspberry Pi you should already be familiar with how to SSH into your Raspberry Pi, but if you need a refresh you can visit the guide How To SSH or Secure Shell into your Raspberry Pi

On your computer launch your command-line interface app (Terminal, in my case) and enter the following command, where username is the SSH username and hostname is the hostname you created in Raspberry Pi Imager:

ssh username@hostname.local

Then hit Enter and follow the prompts as you normally would.

Run the following command to switch to Root user

sudo -i

OdinB keeps their Plexamp installer on GitHub, but it’s not necessary to have a GitHub account to install Headless Plexamp using the script.

Just run this command to install the script:

bash <(wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/odinb/bash-plexamp-installer/main/install_Plexamp_pi.sh)

• odinb / bash-plexamp-installer

The OdinB script will present a series of prompts for you to set up your Raspberry Pi to run Plexamp Headless. There are quite a few prompts. I’ll outline them here and note what settings I’ve used.

• Do you want to change hostname? – This is optional. It’s simpler to leave the hostname as you started when you installed Raspberry Pi OS. If you change your hostname you’ll also need to change the way you log in
• Do you want to create or change user? – This step will helpfully update your username in the plexamp.service file, which might save you some config headaches later on. If your username is something other than pi, enter your new username here
• Pick a timezone – I just pick the same timezone I used when I installed my Raspberry Pi OS. I’m not sure if there would be any conflict if you don’t update here. I suggest just updating
• Enter your password – Pretty self explanatory – enter the password you set up for your Raspberry Pi
• Should you install and set VIM as your default editor? – If you don’t know what it means to install and set VIM, then just say N here. I say no to this as Terminal works just fine as is.
• Do you want to disable IPv6? – If you don’t know what it means to disable IPv6, then just say N here (I’m not sure what the benefits are of disabling this, so I say no here)
• Do you want to configure you HiFiBerry Hat? – If you’re using a HiFiberry hat then say y here, but if you’re using something else say N as some additional options for Allo DAC Hats and HDMI will be available in the next step. You can always configure a different DAC hat later (see our guides for InnoMaker RPI HIFI DAC and Inno-Maker HIFI DAC PRO)
• Do you want to prep for upgrade/reinstall of version? – If you’re installing Plexamp for the first time, you should say N here. If you’re updating to the latest version then say y
• Do you want to install/upgrade and configure Node.v20? – Say y here. Node20 is required for Plexamp Headless 4.10 and above. This is a simple way to get it installed
• Do you want to install and configure Plexamp-Linux-headless-vx.x.x? – This is why we’re here, so say y here
• Do you want to run full OS-update? – Say y here

Once you’ve run through all these prompts, proceed to the next step.

Reboot your Raspberry Pi with the following command:

sudo reboot

Hit Enter

You should now see a big PLEXAMP message indicating that Headless Plexamp is installed.

Enter the following command to launch Plexamp:

node /home/USERNAME/plexamp/js/index.js

Remember to replace USERNAME with your actual username (usually this would be pi unless you’ve changed it)

Hit Enter

Plexamp will start in the background.

In your browser navigate to https://plex.tv/claim and copy the claim code presented.

Paste the claim code into your Terminal window.

Hit Enter then follow the prompt to name your player.

Then you’ll need to find the IP address for your Raspberry Pi. To do that, enter this command in Terminal:

hostname -I

Hit Enter

You’ll need to launch Plexamp again after the last step. To do that, enter this command in Terminal:

node plexamp/js/index.js

Hit Enter

Now, copy the IP address and navigate to the following address in your web browser:

http://#.#.#.#:32500

Replace the placeholder IP address in this example with your own and you should be presented with a screen to log in to Plexamp using your Plex Username and Password.

After entering your log in credentials you’ll be presented with some source options from your Plex server. Pick one to start with, you can easily change this later.

At this point you probably just want to start streaming. I’ve noticed that each time I set up a fresh Headless Plexamp install the intial audio stream will come out garbled and distorted, or won’t play at all.

If this happens to you, you may need to check a couple settings.

First, go to Settings → Playback → Audio Output → Audio Device

If an Audio Device is already selected, de-select and re-select. I typically just select headphones here and have a quick listen to make sure music is streaming as expected.

Second, make sure you Select a Player.

In the top right corner of the browser, click on the cast icon. You should see the Player you’ve just created in addition to any other Plex endpoints. If a Player is already selected, de-select and re-select your new Player.

Now have a listen 🎧

The next thing you’ll probably want to do is to configure Plexamp to start up automatically everytime you power on your Raspberry Pi.

I’ve written a separate guide that will walk you through that process here: How to start Plexamp automatically when you power on your Raspberry Pi