Duplicated server install?

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: Version 1.42.2.10156
Player Version#: Version 4.147.1
On Linux Leap 15.6 and the OS crashed after a peripheral drive failed.
Not too daunting, yanked the failed disc drive (a backup path) and the system balked.

So I had to reinstall the OS but failed to back up the PMS files.
All the data, is safe. Just not the installation.
So I reinstalled PMS but I couldn’t claim my old server.

Somehow I ended up with a server called localhostdomain. ugh.
I’ve tried to disengage that and make it go away to no avail.

Been doing reviews of ChuckPA’s always helpful stuff but nothing I’ve done yet has worked.

HOWEVER I seem to have noted that I have 2 paths with a PMS on it somehow.

I’m not sure it’s WRONG but I think so. The file tree under this path:

/var/lib/plexmediaserver/

seems exactly the same file tree as here:

/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

Thinking I should just wipe them both out and then reinstall PMS which should kill the unwanted server localhostdomain and THEN try to claim the old server.

Advice?

2

/var/lib/plexmediaserver is user plex’s home directory

Because the Linux implementation came from the MacOS days,
the subdirectory structure Library/Application Support came with it.

The Environment variable PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR tells us where Plex Media Server will be.

On workstation/desktop Linux installations , we include the $HOME value in the APP_SUPP_DIR and get

/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server

As for the cleanup, You can find all the servers here:

https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/devices/pms

Here is where you can delete the weird duplicate(s)

3

Greetings and good to hear from you again.

Went through the steps and opened in a Private Browswer :: https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/devices/pms

Message up that the credentials are invalid, please sign in again.
Just clicked OK and I’m logged into the home screen.

Nothing under the General tab, indeed nothing under the settings shows any servers.

Authorized devices shows only the browser I’m now using.

I couldn’t “download" logs” from there so I started the local PMS.

I downloaded the logs and noted that now I see the errant server shown as UNclaimed.

I do not see my original server name.

Plex Media Server Logs_2025-12-31_11-02-56.zip (275.4 KB)