I have done a number of searches and cannot find any references to how Plex Server stores authorization data for shared libraries.
Long story short, I had to do some database repair all seemed good. Today a new server update came through, I applied. Then to my shock I realized access had been removed from all of my friends who had access. Some older relatives struggle with the whole accept invite and re-pin menu items. I would really like to find a way to restore all the shares.
So you mean they’re no longer listed as „Friends“ at all or did they just loose the configuration which friend had access to which library?
Friends are established on the account level and not configured in your server/library settings or your local database. If that’s gone… did you possibly use a different Plex account when at some point when restoring your server?
If they’re still listed as friends but lost their individual access configuration… did you possibly create new libraries / a new server setup when you attempted to restore your setup? If Plex considers these are new libraries, you’ll need to grant access to those — however there should be no need to re-invite your family members/friends as they’re still friends.
They are still friends but none of them have access to any of my libraries. Plex claims I have zero shared libraries. I restored a backup of my database from yesterday, did a database repair, but no new libraries.
I see in the preferences.xlm file I see
ProcessedMachineIdentifier=
MachineIdentifier=
AnonymousMachineIdentifier=
PlexOnlineToken=
Does plex use these parameters to know when a server is new for shares?
I did have a big issue with changing my password and then difficulty reclaiming the server due to being remote and using VPN to get into the server. So a new token I imagine = a new server.
All my friends at first still had access but it was a new token and the server kept crashing.
Maybe plex finally realized new token/new server and severed the access. They still had access for up to a week with a lot of issues in server stability.
While that’s not fixing your immediate issue… the bright side is you don’t have to re-invite your relatives/friends… you just need to re-share the libraries they used to have access to.
