plex-prerolls/README.md

# Plex Prerolls

<img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nwithan8/plex-prerolls/master/documentation/images/logo.png" alt="logo">

A script to automate management of Plex pre-rolls.

Define when you want different pre-rolls to play throughout the year. For example:

- Holiday pre-roll rotations
- Special occasions
- Seasonal rotations
- Breaking up the monotony
- Keeping your family on their toes!

---

## Installation and Usage

### Run Script Directly

#### Requirements

- Python 3.8+

Clone the repo:

```sh
git clone https://github.com/nwithan8/plex-prerolls.git
```

Install Python requirements:

```sh
pip install -r requirements.txt
```

Copy `config.yaml.example` to `config.yaml`, provide your `plex` details and [edit your schedule](#schedule-rules).

Run the script:

```sh
python run.py
```

#### Advanced Usage

```sh
$ python run.py -h

usage: run.py [-h] [-c CONFIG] [-l LOG] [-d]

Plex Prerolls - A tool to manage prerolls for Plex

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -c CONFIG, --config CONFIG
                        Path to config file. Defaults to 'config.yaml'
  -l LOG, --log LOG     Log file directory. Defaults to 'logs/'
  -d, --dry-run         Dry run, no real changes made
```

##### Example

```sh
python run.py -c path/to/custom/config.yaml -l path/to/custom/log/directory/ # Trailing slash required
```

### Run as Docker Container

#### Requirements

- Docker

#### Docker Compose

Complete the provided `docker-compose.yml` file and run:

```sh
docker-compose up -d
```

#### Docker CLI

```sh
docker run -d \
  --name=plex_prerolls \
  -e PUID=1000 \
  -e PGID=1000 \
  -e TZ=Etc/UTC \
  -e CRON_SCHEDULE="0 0 * * *" \
  -v /path/to/config:/ \
  -v /path/to/logs:/logs \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  nwithan8/plex_prerolls:latest
```

#### Paths and Environment Variables

| Path                     | Description                                                                                   |
|--------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `/config`                | Path to config directory (`config.yaml` should be in this directory)                          |
| `/logs`                  | Path to log directory (`Plex Prerolls.log` will be in this directory)                         |
| `/path/to/preroll/files` | Path to the root directory of all preroll files (for [Path Globbing](#path-globbing) feature) |

| Environment Variable | Description                                                       |
|----------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
| `PUID`               | UID of user to run as                                             |
| `PGID`               | GID of user to run as                                             |
| `TZ`                 | Timezone to use for cron schedule                                 |
| `CRON_SCHEDULE`      | Cron schedule to run script (see <https://crontab.guru> for help) |

---

## Schedule Rules

Any entry whose schedule falls within the current date/time at the time of execution will be added to the preroll.

You can define as many schedules as you want, in the following categories (order does not matter):

1. **always**: Items listed here will always be included (appended) to the preroll list
    - If you have a large set of prerolls, you can provide all paths and use `random_count` to randomly select a smaller
      subset of the list to use on each run.

2. **date_range**: Schedule based on a specific date/time range (including [wildcards](#date-range-section-scheduling))

3. **weekly**: Schedule based on a specific week of the year

4. **monthly**: Schedule based on a specific month of the year

### Advanced Scheduling

#### Weight

All schedule entries accept an optional `weight` value that can be used to adjust the emphasis of this entry over
others by adding the listed paths multiple times. Since Plex selects a random preroll from the list of paths, having the
same path listed multiple times increases its chances of being selected over paths that only appear once. This allows
you to combine, e.g. a `date_range` entry with an `always` entry, but place more weight/emphasis on the `date_range`
entry.

```yaml
date_range:
  enabled: true
  ranges:
    - start_date: 2020-01-01 # Jan 1st, 2020
      end_date: 2020-01-02 # Jan 2nd, 2020
      paths:
        - /path/to/video.mp4
        - /path/to/another/video.mp4
      weight: 2 # Add these paths to the list twice (make up greater percentage of prerolls - more likely to be selected)
```

#### Disable Always

Any schedule entry (except for the `always` section) can disable the inclusion of the `always` section by setting the
`disable_always` value to `true`. This can be useful if you want to make one specific, i.e. `date_range` entry for a
holiday,
and you don't want to include the `always` section for this specific holiday, but you still want to include the `always`
section
for other holidays.

```yaml
date_range:
  enabled: true
  ranges:
    - start_date: 2020-01-01 # Jan 1st, 2020
      end_date: 2020-01-02 # Jan 2nd, 2020
      paths:
        - /path/to/video.mp4
        - /path/to/another/video.mp4
      disable_always: true # Disable the inclusion of the `always` section when this entry is active
```

#### Date Range Section Scheduling

`date_range` entries can accept both dates (`yyyy-mm-dd`) and datetimes (`yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss`, 24-hour time).

`date_range` entries can also accept wildcards for any of the date/time fields. This can be useful for scheduling
recurring events, such as annual events, "first-of-the-month" events, or even hourly events.

```yaml
date_range:
  enabled: true
  ranges:
    # Each entry requires start_date, end_date, path values
    - start_date: 2020-01-01 # Jan 1st, 2020
      end_date: 2020-01-02 # Jan 2nd, 2020
      paths:
        - /path/to/video.mp4
        - /path/to/another/video.mp4
    - start_date: xxxx-07-04 # Every year on July 4th
      end_date: xxxx-07-04 # Every year on July 4th
      paths:
        - /path/to/video.mp4
        - /path/to/another/video.mp4
    - name: "My Schedule" # Optional name for logging purposes
      start_date: xxxx-xx-02 # Every year on the 2nd of every month
      end_date: xxxx-xx-03 # Every year on the 3rd of every month
      paths:
        - /path/to/video.mp4
        - /path/to/another/video.mp4
    - start_date: xxxx-xx-xx 08:00:00 # Every day at 8am
      end_date: xxxx-xx-xx 09:30:00 # Every day at 9:30am
      paths:
        - /path/to/video.mp4
        - /path/to/another/video.mp4
```

You should [adjust your cron schedule](#scheduling-script) to run the script more frequently if you use this feature.

`date_range` entries also accept an optional `name` value that can be used to identify the schedule in the logs.

---

## Advanced Configuration

### Path Globbing

**NOTE**: This feature will only work if you are running the script/Docker container on the same machine as your Plex
server.

Instead of listing out each individual preroll file, you can use glob (wildcard) patterns to match multiple files in a
specific directory.
The application will search for all files on your local filesystem that match the pattern(s) and automatically translate
them to Plex-compatible remote paths.

#### Setup

Enable the feature under the advanced section of the config file, and specify the path to the root directory of your
preroll files, as well as the path to the same directory as seen by Plex.

```yaml
advanced:
  path_globbing:
    enabled: true
    root_path: /path/to/preroll/directory/in/relation/to/application
    plex_path: /path/to/same/directory/as/seen/by/plex
```

For example, if your prerolls on your file system are located at `/mnt/user/media/prerolls` and Plex sees them
at `/media/prerolls`, you would set the `root_path` to `/mnt/user/media/prerolls` and the `plex_path`
to `/media/prerolls`.

If you are using the Docker container, you can mount the preroll directory to the container at any location you would
prefer (recommended: `/files`) and set the `root_path` accordingly.

If you are using the Unraid version of this container, the "Files Path" path is mapped to `/files` by default; you
should set `root_path` to `/files` and `plex_path` to the same directory as seen by Plex.

#### Usage

In any schedule section, you can use the `path_globs` key to specify a list of glob patterns to match files.

```yaml
always:
  enabled: true
  paths:
    - /remote/path/1.mp4
    - /remote/path/2.mp4
    - /remote/path/3.mp4
  path_globs:
    - "*.mp4"
```

The above example will match all `.mp4` files in the `root_path` directory and append them to the list of prerolls.

If you have organized your prerolls into subdirectories, you can specify specific subdirectories to match, or use `**`
to match all subdirectories.

```yaml
always:
  enabled: true
  paths:
    - /remote/path/1.mp4
    - /remote/path/2.mp4
    - /remote/path/3.mp4
  path_globs:
    - "subdir1/*.mp4"
    - "subdir2/*.mp4"
    - "subdir3/**/*.mp4"
```

You can use both `paths` and `path_globs` in the same section, allowing you to mix and match specific files with glob
patterns.
Please note that `paths` entries must be fully-qualified **remote** paths (as seen by Plex), while `path_globs` entries
are relative to the **local** `root_path` directory.

---

## Scheduling Script

**NOTE:** Scheduling is handled automatically in the Docker version of this script via the `CRON_SCHEDULE` environment
variable.

### Linux

Add to system scheduler:

```sh
crontab -e
```

Place desired schedule (example below for every day at midnight)

```sh
0 0 * * * python /path/to/run.py >/dev/null 2>&1
```

You can also wrap the execution in a shell script (useful if running other scripts/commands, using venv encapsulation,
customizing arguments, etc.)

```sh
0 0 * * * /path/to/run_prerolls.sh >/dev/null 2>&1
```

Schedule as frequently as needed for your schedule (ex: hourly, daily, weekly, etc.)

---

## Shout out to places to get Pre-Roll

- <a href="https://prerolls.video" target="_blank"><https://prerolls.video></a>