Local server unavailable

Plex Media Server
1

Hello,

I am trying to watch plex locally (server and player are on the same device), but it seems like the server is not running. It was fine a few days ago and I am not sure what changed.

On the image below, you can see the error message I am getting :

i02
i02921×646 42.7 KB

I have tried to follow the instructions on the troubleshooting page, but I am not sure I understand them fully.

The server is the latest version, I believe : 1.43.2.10687.

How can I ensure that Plex Media Server is actually actively running ? If it is not, how can I start it ? It used to start automatically when I started my computer.

Any help is appreciated. Thank you !

Server Version#: 1.43.2.10687
Player Version#: 1.43.2.10687
OS : Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS

2

For a “bare metal” install (no Docker, VM, etc.):

Status:
$ sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver.service

Start:
$ sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver.service

Stop:
$ sudo systemctl stop plexmediaserver.service

Run at startup:
$ sudo systemctl enable plexmediaserver.service

Do not run at startup:
$ sudo systemctl disable plexmediaserver.service

Example:

$ sudo systemctl enable plexmediaserver.service
Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/plexmediaserver.service → /usr/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service.

$ sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver.service


$ sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver.service
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
    Drop-In: /etc/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service.d
             └─override.conf
     Active: active (running) since Thu 2026-05-21 15:19:52 CDT; 10s ago
    Process: 15039 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mkdi>
   Main PID: 15042 (Plex Media Serv)
      Tasks: 74 (limit: 18499)
     Memory: 96.7M (peak: 96.9M)
        CPU: 4.004s
     CGroup: /system.slice/plexmediaserver.service
             ├─15042 "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Server"
             ├─15066 "Plex Plug-in [com.plexapp.system]" /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Plug-ins-563d026ea/Framewor>
             ├─15110 "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Tuner Service" /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Tuner/Private /us>
             └─15149 "Plex Plug-in [com.plexapp.agents.imdb]" /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Plug-ins-563d026ea/Fra>

May 21 15:19:52 seminole systemd[1]: Starting plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server...
May 21 15:19:52 seminole systemd[1]: Started plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server.
$
3

Thank you very much for your answer.

Thanks to your help, I checked the server status. It is active and running :

polobnj@kino:~$ sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver.service
● plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Fri 2026-05-22 14:13:18 CEST; 2h 19min ago
    Process: 1900 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_D>
   Main PID: 1908 (Plex Media Serv)
      Tasks: 56 (limit: 9359)
     Memory: 137.2M (peak: 165.2M)
        CPU: 32.971s
     CGroup: /system.slice/plexmediaserver.service
             ├─1908 "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Media Server"
             ├─2446 "Plex Plug-in [com.plexapp.system]" /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/Plug-ins-5>
             ├─2518 "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex DLNA Server"
             └─2528 "/usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Plex Tuner Service" /usr/lib/plexmediaserver/Resources/>

Mai 22 14:13:18 kino systemd[1]: Starting plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server...
Mai 22 14:13:18 kino systemd[1]: Started plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server.

I tried stopping it and starting it again. Nothing changed.
Besides one thing : when the server is stopped, the page shown in the picture above simply does not load. So how can the server be running and be “unavailable” on the same machine ?

Do you have any suggestion as to what I should do / check ?

Thank you so much.

4

That looks like a problem connecting to plex Auth servers as I gues you’re in Russia. Try using VPN to establish connection and then you can turn VPN off. At least it helps me…

It would be great if plex officials would give us a list of IP’s that are needed for server to operate that we can try to de’DPI or give to Ethernet providers to whitelist them.

5

Hello Fanatic228,

Thank you for your reply. No, I am not in Russia. I am in Switzerland.

I tried logging out and logging in again, just in case. I don’t see any problem there. So I don’t think there is an authentication problem. Or maybe I don’t understand what you are writing.

6

By the way, when I click on Settings, I see two servers with the same name. One appears to be available and running, the other one seems not. See screenshot below.

Is this normal ?

Screenshot from 2026-05-24 19-10-15
Screenshot from 2026-05-24 19-10-15239×897 35.8 KB

7

I would delete the one that is unavailable. I am guessing that is making the plex web client confused.

You can also check if plex is running with “ps -ef | grep plexmedia”

Do you have anything else that has a plex client? fire stick, phone? I expect they will have the same problem until the double server problem is resolved.

8

Hi,

Thank you for your response. I followed your advise and removed the server that is unavailable.

At least I had no errors anymore. But my libraries were gone. I recreated them and now it works fine.

So why did it all happen ? I guess I’ll never know. But again, now it works. So thank you guys for your help.

As to your other question : yes, I have other plex clients, and yes, they had the same problem ; and yes also, they now work fine.