Plex server missing?

Hey guys,

Just bought my hetzner server, followed the tut here to have it set raid0 with only / partition, all went ok.
Now I installed plex, everything seems ok, but when I launch it and log in to my plex account, I don’t see a new server.

All I see are my local nas plex and the other plex on an online.net server.
Isn’t that weird? I should see a new plex server, right?

Please help me out with this.

So, you have installed Plex and logged in via http://_yourserver_ip:32400/web/ and found that it is not reading your seedbox’s Plex Media Server. This can be frustrating but is an easy remedy with a little bit of work.

The Problem

After installing, you login to your fresh new Plex only to find that your pre-existing Home Media Server is there, but your new Seedbox Plex Server is not listed (Drats!)…
This is where it is time to set a simple SSH Tunnel. What is an SSH Tunnel exactly?

Port forwarding via SSH (SSH tunneling) creates a secure connection between a local computer and a remote machine through which services can be relayed. Because the connection is encrypted, SSH tunneling is useful for transmitting information that uses an unencrypted protocol, such as IMAP, VNC, IRC and you guessed it… Plex.


The Solution

Setup time should only be around 10 minutes (tops)

This needs to be done from your local computer.

  1. Open PuTTY, enter your server IP address in the hostname and SSH port. Or, if you already have your server session setup and saved, just load the existing session.
  2. Go to “Connection > SSH > Tunnels”.
  3. Fill in “Source port” as "8888 and “Destination” as localhost:32400.
  4. Press the “Add” button.
  5. Now navigate back to the session homepage and press the “Save” button and then “Open” to connect to your server.
  • Open a web browser from your local computer and navigate to http://localhost:8888/webtype this is your browser exactly.

You will see a notice such as this appear when you first go to your plex localhost link:


  • Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup and add your media library.

Now you can access your media libraries from all of your devices at YOUR_SERVER_IP:32400.



###:warning: Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! MotherF&*$#!!!
In some cases, it is reported that some still have issues connecting… if this is you then do the following:

You will probably see a message informing you to claim the server after you login:

Let us now work on claiming it!

Additionnel notes : maybe you need to connect / disconnect repeatedly from the server before the claim is authorized.

Enable Remote Access

You may see that Remote Access is disabled. If this is the case, Navigate to ‘Settings’ > ‘Server’ > ‘Remote Access’ and be sure to sign in if you haven’t already.

Now click the checkbox labeled “Manually specify public port”. Keep the port set to 32400 and press the ‘APPLY’ button.

If you have done everything correctly, your tunnel is now connected to your server from your local computer.

Check your Seedbox’s Plex Media Server for your new Connection

If all has been done properly, you should see the following:
Where Quickbox-Dev would be the name you gave your server



Allow insecure connections

:speaking_head: This step is not necessary in most cases and only needs to be set as a final attempt.

Towards the bottom of ‘Settings’ > ‘Web’ > ‘General’, you will see a dropdown labeled “Allow Fallback To Insecure Connections” Select ‘Always’ from the dropdown and press the ‘Save’ button



Still having problems connecting?

Don’t hesitate to open a support thread asking for help, a friendly member or myself may be available to walk you through the process.

2 Likes

Thanks for your explanation my friend!

I was about to do this with ssh tunnel, when I noticed my plex server shows in red.
I tried refreshing (restart) to no avail.

I uninstalled it, then reinstalled it, same, it is red giving a 503 Service Unavailable Error.
I tried installing in via ssh with QBPM command, same result. Plex service is red, same error.

Sorry to bother you with this, but perhaps there could be something to solve this issue.
With much thanks!

Can you do

systemctl status plexmediaserver.service

and put the result here?

Newest PLex install is borked from the ppa itself so atm it will create issues for most people but have a read trough some of the latest plex issues listed inhere to try out a solution that may help you out!

May have a look here:

or here:

But some of the friendly coding gurus inhere might help you out when they have gotten some sleep - its early morning at some of their places atm :wink:

1 Like

I had forgotten this problem lol

thanks guys, will read up your links.
Meanwhile, here is my output:

[terra@daccorum]:(16.5kb)~$ systemctl status plexmediaserver.service
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server for Linux
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor
   Active: inactive (dead) (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2016-08-01 14:37:21 CES
  Process: 2969 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_AP
lines 1-4/4 (END)...skipping...
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server for Linux
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: inactive (dead) (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2016-08-01 14:37:21 CEST; 4min 21s ago
  Process: 2969 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mkdir -p "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" (code
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
~
lines 1-4/4 (END)...skipping...
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server for Linux
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: inactive (dead) (Result: exit-code) since Mon 2016-08-01 14:37:21 CEST; 4min 21s ago
  Process: 2969 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mkdir -p "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" (code=exited, status=1/FAILURE)

Thanks!

and also:

daccorum:~# journalctl -xe
Aug 01 14:46:58 daccorum sudo[8874]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Aug 01 14:46:58 daccorum systemd[1]: Starting Plex Media Server for Linux...
-- Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has begun start-up
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
--
-- Unit plexmediaserver.service has begun starting up.
Aug 01 14:46:58 daccorum sh[8873]: /bin/mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/var/lib/plexmediaserver’: Permission denied
Aug 01 14:46:58 daccorum systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Control process exited, code=exited status=1
Aug 01 14:46:58 daccorum systemd[1]: Failed to start Plex Media Server for Linux.
-- Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
--
-- Unit plexmediaserver.service has failed.
--
-- The result is failed.
Aug 01 14:46:58 daccorum systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Unit entered failed state.
Aug 01 14:46:58 daccorum systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Aug 01 14:46:58 daccorum sudo[8874]: pam_unix(sudo:session): session closed for user root
Aug 01 14:47:01 daccorum CRON[8911]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root by (uid=0)
Aug 01 14:47:01 daccorum CRON[8912]: (root) CMD (bash /usr/local/bin/quickbox/system/set_interface)
Aug 01 14:47:01 daccorum CRON[8911]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root
Aug 01 14:47:03 daccorum systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Service hold-off time over, scheduling restart.
Aug 01 14:47:03 daccorum systemd[1]: Stopped Plex Media Server for Linux.
-- Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished shutting down
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
--
-- Unit plexmediaserver.service has finished shutting down.
Aug 01 14:47:03 daccorum systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Aug 01 14:47:03 daccorum systemd[1]: Failed to start Plex Media Server for Linux.
-- Subject: Unit plexmediaserver.service has failed
-- Defined-By: systemd
-- Support: http://lists.freedesktop.org/mailman/listinfo/systemd-devel
--
-- Unit plexmediaserver.service has failed.
--
-- The result is failed.
lines 1113-1151/1151 (END)

After further reading, should I uninstall plex and use the Archived Version posted by @JMSolo to avoid this bugs?
Thanks!

wget -q https://downloads.plex.tv/plex-media-server/0.9.12.19.1537-f38ac80/plexmediaserver_0.9.12.19.1537-f38ac80_amd64.deb
mkdir -p plex-tmp
mv plexmediaserver_*.deb plex-tmp/plexmediaserver_*.deb
cd plex-tmp
dpkg -i plexmediaserver_*.deb
..
rm -rf plex-tmp
service plexmediaserver restart

JM is like a guru so if he suggests it don´t even hesitate :slight_smile:

Yep, tried that, it errors out.

Errors were encountered while processing:
 plexmediaserver
daccorum:/home/terra/plex-tmp# rm -rf plex-tmp
daccorum:/home/terra/plex-tmp# service plexmediaserver restart
Job for plexmediaserver.service failed because the control process exited with error code. See "systemctl status plexmediaserver.service" and "journalctl -xe" for details.

More than likely you do not have a created /var/lib/plexmediaserver directory. This is one of those things that is happening with the ppa. It’s permissions are all wack.

Can you confirm that directory exists or not… then we’ll move on from there.

1 Like

Thanks for your reply, the folder is not present indeed.

K, so… here’s what you can do.

mkdir -p /var/lib/plexmediaserver
chown -R plex:plex /var/lib/plexmediaserver

Then try those steps above to see if it installs the archived version.

1 Like

Thanks, on it!

Yay, it works!

Next question is: should I configure remote access using the ssh tunnel method?
Many thanks!

If you are installing the archive version then you are in luck! No ssh tunnel required. I know that version is very much out-dated, but it does remain stable and will hold us over until the Plex team comes up with a fix.

Whooray! Just signed out, and then again in, and remote access is available!
Yep, it seems a bit updated, but if it works, it’s fine with me.

Thanks again!

1 Like

Just a quick update here guys.
I installed quickbox on a new online.net ssd server, I followed the ssh 8888 advice and managed to install latest plex without issues.

I also want to add that I’ve been using quickbox project since early beta days when liara tuned my box, and the product now looks amazingly polished! Kudos to you guys and all who helped bringing this to life and constantly improved it! Should you have bits of time to add an openvpn, it would be complete from my pov. Well done!
Thanks!

1 Like

Fancy you say that… OpenVPN is coming very very soon. :slight_smile:

Also, thanks for the kind words, that means a lot to us all… everyone involved. This project and the community we have around it never stops amazing me. :heart_eyes:

1 Like