I have a plex server on my local network, gigabit ethernet and it is on the same subnet as the machine that I want to use plex on. Remote access is not working right now (I cannot forward the port on the router), but remote support is not relevant, because both the server and the web client are on the same local network.
when I sign into the plex server directly via [server ip]:32400/web/
it works, but it gives me the error message:
This application is at [IP] and is not hosted by Plex. Continue only if you recognize this server and wish to grant access.
But if I use plex.tv and launch, it can never find the server:
[servername] is currently unavailable.
Verify you have a network connection and that the server is online, or see our troubleshooting
tips for further assistance.
Troubleshooting tips don’t don’t help.
Server Version#: 1.20.1.3252
Player Version#: Version 4.34.4 web
I keep going through the documentation and keep getting annoyed at this page:
this point:
Verify that your Server is listed on your Devices page
This is completely wrong, the server is never listed in the devices page, because this is the access page for CLIENTS accessing the server. Could you please correct that? It just distracts from a real solution and is pointless.
This is not a DNS issue, as the server has no DNS name, it is inside my LAN, I don’t run a DNS there. Plex knows also about this server, when I log in it mentions that it is not managed by plex. What I can tell you for sure is that there is no remote access to the server via the external IP address, but that should not be a requirement if I just want to run this server in the LAN localy and all my clients are local, isn’t it?
Where is that web client access log that you talk about?
OK, I stand corrected on the authorized devices page.
This is a server I had in operation for years, I did not have a plex pass for a few months now and the server was not running, but it still is trying to connect to it from the web client and says it is not available, which it is, on the same network and same subnet.
It actually IS claimed, I just checked, it is listed under authorized devices, it mentions something about 3 h (probably last accessed, except that I know that must be false, because it has not worked for days)
Webclient mentions:
The server “name of plex server” is unreachable. Make sure it’s running, double check your network, and try again.
I don’t know what browser you use but in Chrome you right click on page and choose Inspect then there will be a Console tab on inspector where it will show connection tests for servers local and remote IPs. If it knows about the server but cannot connect it should have the IP it is trying to connect to. it might have other telling errors there as well.
( I’m not saying post it here like I did since it may show public IPs and access tokens which I have covered up)
It might not be able to connect due to insecure network like the Asus laptop server in my screenshot.
Hmm, I can see you did not read what I wrote before.
I mentioned before that I can get to the plex server directly, using the address 192.168.10.220:32400/web, so that works, so it is not a problem of the browser obviously.
[Connections] PLEXSERVERNAME is unavailable at https://192-168-10-220.d3a4…TOKEN…e2d.plex.direct:32400/media/providers (Status 0)
So that host address is obviously wrong, there is no DNS that would resolve it (in my local network)
Things in CAPS I cut out, the token was longer still.
What is the deal with an insecure connection? Don’t you encrypt all network traffic with SSL?
Another basic question: Can the Plex Media Server really work without being available from the public address on the local LAN? It obviously does not make sense if all traffic from one client in LAN to the server in LAN is redirected via the public IP address.
There is another error in the browser log:
Cross-Origin Request Blocked: The Same Origin Policy disallows reading the remote resource at https://192-168- A LOT CUT OUT X-Plex-Language=en. (Reason: CORS request did not succeed). So this seems something that the browser has beef with, checking the error, it says nothing much about it.
I did read what you wrote. I didn’t say it was X or Y telling you information on where to look for info. The app might have been trying to access with the public URL Of course I don’t know that cuz i am not looking at your screen. It could have been a billion things. Was just spitballing ideas to help you examine things.
AfaiK the CORS is due to the page loading from plex.tv but the content loading from your local server.
Are you using Firefox? I seem to recall it being very strict about that. But i don’t use it. Have you tried Chrome/Chromium or another browser
I will try chrome to see if it makes a difference.
I got another error in the browser log that might be telling:
[Connections] Prevented fallback to insecure connection
But the plex server is set to accept insecure connection (prefer secure)
The server logs show this:
CUT FRONT OFF…e2d.plex.direct port 32400: Connection refused)
Sep 16, 2020 19:21:09.695 [0x7fa81a0d7700] WARN - MyPlex: attempted a reachability check but we’re not yet online.
Sep 16, 2020 19:24:58.718 [0x7fa81a0d7700] WARN - MyPlex: attempted a reachability check but we’re not yet online.
Sep 16, 2020 19:25:01.242 [0x7fa803fff700] WARN - MyPlex: attempted a reachability check but we’re not yet online.
Sep 16, 2020 19:25:29.412 [0x7fa7a67fc700] WARN - NAT: PMP, got an error: Not Supported by gateway.
Sep 16, 2020 19:25:29.558 [0x7fa81b8da700] WARN - NAT: PMP, got an error: Not Supported by gateway.
Sep 16, 2020 19:25:30.965 [0x7fa803fff700] WARN - MyPlex: attempted a reachability check but we’re not yet online.
Sep 16, 2020 19:25:30.972 [0x7fa803fff700] WARN - MyPlex: attempted a reachability check but we’re not yet online.
Sep 16, 2020 19:25:43.946 [0x7fa81b8da700] WARN - NAT: PMP, got an error: Not Supported by gateway.
Sep 16, 2020 19:25:45.198 [0x7fa81a0d7700] WARN - NAT: PMP, got an error: Not Supported by gateway.
Sep 16, 2020 19:25:45.199 [0x7fa81a0d7700] ERROR - Error issuing curl_easy_perform(handle): 3
The connection refused is from it trying to using the public IP and that port is not open.
Strangely enough, on the server directly, it showed that remote access was working (which it did not) and when I reset the remote access port, it showed this:
(in the remote access page of the plex server)
Not available outside your network
Your server is signed in to Plex, but is not reachable from outside your network. [Learn more]
This seems like it may be a DNS rebinding issue as BigWheel suggested early in the thread. In order for connections via app.plex.tv to work, the client needs to be able to resolve the *.plex.direct address associated with your server, even for local connections. That 192-168-10-220.1234567890abcdefg.plex.direct FQDN you have redacted in your posts should resolve to your Plex server’s internal IP address (presumably 192.168.10.220). If it can’t be resolved, then your client won’t know where to contact the server at. When you manually specify the local IP address, you bypass this DNS lookup.
DNS rebinding protection is a feature of some routers which can prevent FQDNs from being resolved to local IP addresses. Some of these routers allow you to override this by placing certain domains on an allow list, such as *.plex.direct, so that they can bypass this protection.
Since you’re using a browser based client, an easy way to test this would be to set the client system (the one the browser is running on) to use a public DNS provider such as Google (8.8.8.8) or CloudFlare (1.1.1.1). If done correctly, this will bypass the router’s built-in DNS server; beware, some public DNS providers also enforce DNS rebinding protection, though neither Google nor CloudFlare do.
Another test would be to see if you can ping that FQDN from your client (with your current DNS setup). Use the 192-168-10-220.1234567890abcdefg.plex.direct FQDN from your logs. If it doesn’t resolve, then you have a DNS issue.
And I understand that you have your server configured to allow fallback to insecure connections. However, for connections to your server via app.plex.tv, your server’s local FQDN still has to be resolved. Otherwise it’s going fall back to trying to use the public FQDN, which is what you’re seeing in that last log snippet you posted, I believe.
Finally, here’s some information on how Plex has implemented secure connections:
There’s a section toward the bottom where it discusses some reasons why connections might not work. DNS rebinding protection is one of them.
This may or may not help. I had a plex server named “Plex” and had the same issue where I couldn’t connect. The server started no problem, it was the library that wouldn’t connect. I noticed that Plex’s own library’s name was “Plex”. I never noticed this before. I renamed my server to “Plex Server” and boom, I was able to connect to my library. My guess is Plex gets confused when it sees two servers with the same name. Give it a shot and let me know how it goes.
