After mandatory password change, can't claim back server

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: v1.42.2.10156-f737b826c
Player Version#: N/A

Sorry, recap made with AI:

Hello Plex Support,

I’m experiencing an issue with my Plex Media Server running in a Ubuntu LXC container on Proxmox. After a mandatory (Plex communication) password change on my Plex account, all sessions were logged out, and now the server appears as “Unauthorized” in the web interface.

Here is a summary of the setup and troubleshooting steps I’ve performed:

  • Plex Media Server is running on a Ubuntu 22.04 LXC container with static IP in bridge mode.

  • Network connectivity works: DNS resolves (plex.tv resolves), curl -v https://plex.tv returns HTTP 302.

  • The container has the correct CA certificates and system time is synchronized.

  • Preferences.xml has the latest claim token inserted manually and proper AllowedNetworks configured.

  • File permissions for Preferences.xml are correct (plex:plex).

  • Plex logs show repeated 401 errors when trying to access Plex.tv API:

ERROR - MyPlex: Error 401 requesting JSON from: https://plex.tv/api/v2/server/users/features
WARN - FeatureManager: Couldn’t get features. Trying again soon.

  • I’ve stopped Plex, cleared maintenance files (plexmediaserver.pid, Maintenance.db), and restarted, but the server still fails to claim.

Issue:

Despite a valid token and network connectivity, the server never completes the claim and remains “Unauthorized”. I suspect this may be related to my Plex account, but I’m not sure.

Request:

Could you help me determine if this is an account-related problem, or if there’s a known workaround for claiming a Plex server running inside an LXC container on Proxmox?

Thank you for your help!

2

@YaS

I looked at Plex.tv.

First thing I see is that the email you listed for the forum is not the same as the server

Also, I see several geographic locations, in different countries, listed in your log.

am I looking at the correct account?

3

Hi ChuckPa, I’ve aligned the email addresses for the forum account and the plex.tv too right after the opening of this post, sorry for the confusion. Usually I log-in only via username (it’s an old account). I’ve a SD-WAN configuration but the 2 providers are from the same country (Italy). Do you need some more informations? maybe the username in PM?

5

Having the same issue since changing my password, everything seems to be running fine and I can SSH into my server but I can’t see my media in the web app and can’t seem to ‘claim’ my server again. Last few lines of my logs:

Oct 09, 2025 00:32:54.427 [281472816083168] DEBUG - Request: didn't get any data from [::ffff:178.249.214.8]:59923: End of file
Oct 09, 2025 00:32:57.638 [281472773062880] DEBUG - [HCl#1d] HTTP requesting GET https://plex.tv/api/v2/features?X-Plex-Token=
Oct 09, 2025 00:32:57.944 [281472790036704] DEBUG - [HttpClient/HCl#1d] HTTP/1.1 (0.3s) 200 response from GET https://plex.tv/api/v2/features?X-Plex-Token=
Oct 09, 2025 00:32:57.945 [281472773062880] DEBUG - [HCl#1e] HTTP requesting GET https://plex.tv/api/v2/server/users/features
Oct 09, 2025 00:32:58.054 [281472790036704] DEBUG - [HttpClient/HCl#1e] HTTP/1.1 (0.1s) 401 response from GET https://plex.tv/api/v2/server/users/features (reused)
Oct 09, 2025 00:32:58.055 [281472798826720] ERROR - MyPlex: Error 401 requesting JSON from: https://plex.tv/api/v2/server/users/features
Oct 09, 2025 00:32:58.055 [281472773062880] WARN - FeatureManager: Couldn't get features. Trying again soon.

Also on 1.42.2.10156-f737b826c. Have tried deleting the stuff from the Prefences.xml file, running Plex manually with a claim token in an env variable, nothing works.

6

This worked: GitHub - ChuckPa/UserCredentialReset: User Credential Reset utility for Plex

Appreciate it! And wish it hadn’t been necessary and things worked as documented!

7

thanks, the script worked also for me <3