I got the security notice, so I changed my password. Tried to sign into my account on plex.tv and can’t because I get an error and no way to enter my login info. So I went to my Apple TV to check on Plex and sign in. I did and I can’t use any local files because I have to claim my server.
I thought, “Okay, probably one of those things I have to do with the web client instead,” so I went upstairs to my Mac and opened up the web app and logged in. Nothing there to claim the server. (Even though this page on the Plexopedia says I can, the option isn’t there.) When I try to go to my local libraries, I get this:
I click the link for “support article” and I see stuff about using Plex on my Mac.
What Plex? I don’t have a Plex app and sometime in the past 6 months told it was being phased out in favor of the web app. So I check the App Store. No app there. I Google and nothing I can find where I can just download it from Plex.
So the iOS app and Apple TV app don’t offer a way to claim a server. The web app apparently had a way to claim it, but it’s not clear where it is and the Plexopedia is wrong about that. The Plex site itself says to use an app that no longer exists. So the Plex docs offer no actual useable way to claim my server.
I should not have changed my password. Then I wouldn’t have a wife and family complaining that we can’t watch what we were going to watch tonight and my wife wouldn’t be saying, “I told you that stuff was going to be a pain. You should just be using normal streaming, like everyone else.”
(Side note: I’m starting to evaluate all my home automation, entertainment services, and so on, based on whether my wife will find it easy to use if I’m incapacitated or dead. I’m looking for stuff she or the kids or grandkids can easily use if I’m not able to fix things for them. This is just a clear reminder Plex has layers of complexity that aren’t needed and that development is not aimed at, “What’s easy for the user to do?”)
Dumb question, but did you try the suggestion in the “Not Authorized” dialog? Specifically, open the web app via the Plex chevron “Open Plex” option in the menu bar? That’s all I needed to do to reclaim my macOS-based server.
Sorry if you already mentioned it, I just didn’t see it with a quick read-through.
As I said, I clicked on the link and it says to open the app on my Mac. There is none in the App Store and I did a search and no app I could download showed up.
I don’t get why I can’t authorize it through the web app. It’s not like my computer will have any more proof of my ID or any security I won’t have by using my password or 2FA or anything else in the web app.
In your menu bar, you should see a chevron like the one in the very left of this image:
(If you don’t, Plex Media Server isn’t running, start it.)
Left click it and select “Open Plex.”
This should automatically invoke the claim process when the server isn’t already claimed (it should ask you to sign in if you aren’t already).
Edit: I may have assumed, incorrectly, that you’re on macOS for your server. If on Windows, it will be in your notification menu at the bottom-right of the screen. You may have to click the ^ to show it. The above needs to be done on the server itself.
Ah, I see. In that case, try the instructions here:
Short version, run: ssh -L 8888:127.0.0.1:32400 username@ip.address.of.server on your local system.
Browse to 127.0.0.1:8888/web on your local browser.
Follow the instructions in the linked article. Don’t worry that the initial thread is about FreeBSD. The same applies to Linux. If you have questions, ask.
It runs from the command line on the Plex server. You do need access to a web browser (phone, pc, etc.) to generate a claim token at plex.tv/claim. See ReadMe for additional details.
Ah! Tunnel to it. I didn’t think of that because I thought it was being persnickety and might find a way to rule that out as well. It works! Thanks!
I think this is an example of poor planning or not working through the issues well enough and it was very frustrating - especially when it disabled our family’s entertainment for the evening and I’m rather testy now because it frustrated everyone and came back on me. But whenever there’s something like, “Use the Mac app,” and it’s not the App Store, that page needs a link to the download page.
Also, in the pages talking about claiming the server, there is no clarity that it’s assuming you’re on the computer running the server. That needs to be clarified as well.
About 5 minutes ago someone on another board gave me a link to a later version that I tried and that version (1.42.1.10) basically directed me to a web page on my server. So somewhere between the version you linked to and the one someone else linked to, the app has changed from an actual program to run on my computer to what seems a small app to just redirect me to the web interface instead.
(And, when you do that, and it pulls up my local URL for my server, it apparently would have let me claim it, if I had not done so already. I don’t get the reasoning there - run an app on your Mac and it opens the web UI so you can claim the server, but open the web UI yourself, and it won’t let you claim it.)
1.42.1.10 is the latest version of the Plex Media Server, not the Plex desktop client. And the Plex Media Server indeed always launches the UI in the browser.
So if you installed the Media Server app on your Mac while your server is actually running on another machine you should uninstall it now. It’s useless.
I ran it from the downloaded directory and then, after I got my usual server claimed, exited it and left it in the downloads. I went on and deleted it now. Thank you for clarifying that situation.
I cannot access my plex server on shield tv pro after the password resetting. Tried removing the device and logging in again but no luck. What else can I do?
To claim a server, you MUST access the built-in web client in each server by typing [SERVER-IP]:32400/web. If you use any other client (watch.plex.tv, windows, TV, iPhone, etc) they mostly cannot connect via IP directly, and use a workaround that Plex themselves send you. This workaround does not enable you to connect directly to your server (it’s complicated), so you are unable to “claim” the server.
Secondly, you MUST be in the same subnet as the server to use the web portal. By default, your Plex server will DENY any connection to the built-in web client if your IP is in a different subnet. Be careful of servers behind virtual routers (dockers in bridge mode instead of host), or accessing the site from a wi-fi router.
I had to claim a server once when I was out of town, and my VPN connection to home dropped me in a subnet, so I couldn’t claim it that way. This is one of the reasons people suggest using SSH to connect to a server, but that shouldn’t be necessary if the server is locally hosted.
Same ■■■■… impossible to claim again my server and try so many method.
After all an give up delete my docker container and begin all from scratch, i’m still having the config folder with all data(9gb) on my backup server i want to try to restore them but i don’t know if is possible
