Plex Media Server won't start after power outage

Plex Media Server
1

The breaker for the circuit my Plex server is plugged into tripped yesterday. I restarted the computer, but now the Plex server won’t restart.

From systemctl status plexmediaserver:

× plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/plexmediaserver.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Tue 2026-01-27 21:10:52 EST; 1min 1s ago
   Duration: 105ms
    Process: 2184 ExecStartPre=/bin/sh -c /usr/bin/test -d "${PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_APPLICATION_SUPPORT_DIR}" || /bin/mkd>
    Process: 2187 ExecStart=/bin/sh -c  export PLEX_MEDIA_SERVER_INFO_VENDOR="$(grep ^NAME= /etc/os-release | awk -F=>
   Main PID: 2187 (code=exited, status=255/EXCEPTION)
        CPU: 112ms

Jan 27 21:10:52 command-center systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
Jan 27 21:10:52 command-center systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Jan 27 21:10:52 command-center systemd[1]: plexmediaserver.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Jan 27 21:10:52 command-center systemd[1]: Failed to start plexmediaserver.service - Plex Media Server.

I’ve found that I can manually start the server and then the error in systemctl status plexmediaserver goes away, but my server is still listed as ‘offline’.

Server Version#: v1.42.2.10156-f737b826c
Player Version#:
<If providing server logs please do NOT turn on verbose logging, only debug logging should be enabled>

2

Make a tar.gz of the Logs directory and append it here.
It will show why PMS won’t start

3

plex-logs.tar.gz (374.9 KB)

Attached

4 
Jan 27, 2026 21:13:41.410 [123246660139664] WARN - [CERT/OCSP] getCertInfo failed; skipping stapling
Jan 27, 2026 21:13:41.410 [123246660139664] DEBUG - HttpServer: Listening on IPv6 as well as IPv4.
Jan 27, 2026 21:13:41.410 [123246660139664] ERROR - HttpServer: Error binding acceptor: Address in use
Jan 27, 2026 21:13:41.410 [123246660139664] ERROR - HttpServer: Error opening acceptor on IPv6, falling back to IPv4: Address in use
Jan 27, 2026 21:13:41.410 [123246660139664] ERROR - HttpServer: Error binding acceptor: Address in use
Jan 27, 2026 21:13:41.410 [123246660139664] DEBUG - Exiting due to bind address already in use
  1. stop plex with systemctl
  2. now look for hung pids. Something is holding port 32400
    ps -ef | grep -i plexm
  3. kill the pid(s)
  4. systemctl reset-failed
  5. systemctl start plexmediaserver
5

This worked, but it did not persist across a reboot. Attached are the log files after the reboot.

plex-logs.tar.gz (374.9 KB)

6

see the man page for systemctl

sudo systemctl enable plexmediaserver

You have something holding up the port

com.plexapp.plugins.library.db-wal
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.644 [139359338035856] DEBUG - MyPlex: using cached data for request for https://plex.tv/api/v2/server/users/features
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] DEBUG - [CERT] Subject name is /CN=*.e2c2250135434d3086a3fcaf62eab62c.plex.direct
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] DEBUG - [CERT] Installed certificate with fingerprint 16:c7:69:d2:9c:52:9f:00:8d:60:7c:18:cf:c2:8c:80:0c:18:58:49.
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] DEBUG - [CERT/OCSP] no URL available
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] WARN - [CERT/OCSP] getCertInfo failed; skipping stapling
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] DEBUG - HttpServer: Listening on IPv6 as well as IPv4.
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] ERROR - HttpServer: Error binding acceptor: Address in use
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] ERROR - HttpServer: Error opening acceptor on IPv6, falling back to IPv4: Address in use
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] ERROR - HttpServer: Error binding acceptor: Address in use
Jan 27, 2026 23:50:17.670 [139359338035856] DEBUG - Exiting due to bind address already in use
7

I ran systemctl restart plexmediaserver and the error went away.

I ran sudo lsof -i:32400 and it said showed only Tailscale and Plex:

COMMAND    PID USER   FD   TYPE   DEVICE SIZE/OFF NODE NAME
tailscale 1260 root   42u  IPv4 12302358      0t0  TCP localhost:60750->localhost:32400 (ESTABLISHED)
tailscale 1260 root   43u  IPv4 12303684      0t0  TCP localhost:60780->localhost:32400 (ESTABLISHED)
Plex\x20M 1513 root   51u  IPv6    14271      0t0  TCP *:32400 (LISTEN)
Plex\x20M 1513 root   84u  IPv6 12303493      0t0  TCP localhost:32400->localhost:60750 (ESTABLISHED)
Plex\x20M 1513 root   85u  IPv6 12301660      0t0  TCP localhost:32400->localhost:60780 (ESTABLISHED)

For now, I’m able to access my server, even after a reboot where the error shows up again. Should I only be concerned if I can’t access my server (even if systemctl shows an error)?