Server Version#: 1.32.3.7192
Player Version#: Version 4.100.1
After updating PMS from 1.32.3.7162 to 1.32.3.7192
The server is no longer using “LocalAppDataPath” set in the registry and has defaulted to using “C:\Windows\system32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server” which has meant that my Libraries are no longer available.
PMS is running a a SYSTEM service and the AppData sits on another internal drive. SYSTEM has the required permissions on that Folder.
I’ve tried reinstalling the update, however the result is the same. Checking through the logs doesn’t appear to reveal anything in particular, but could be looking at the wrong log.
I’ve copied across the database files and this has resolved the issue of missing libraries, however metadata files don’t appear to be picking up.
Did you change it only recently to run as a system service? Or did you recently change the Windows user account which is used to run the service?
It is very important which Windows user account is used to run Plex server. Because this is determining, in which registry branch Plex server is looking for its preferences (and therefore for the LocalAppDataPath preference).
If you run PMS regularly, it is looking into HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Plex, Inc. HKEY_CURRENT_USER is (kinda self-explanatory) a placeholder for the currently logged-in Windows user account.
Internally, it’s mapped to one of the branches inside of HKEY_USERS\
Branch names inside of there look like this \S-1-5-21-111111111-22222222-333333333-4444 Each of these endlessly long numbers corresponds to one particular Windows user account.
If you now run Plex under a different Windows user account, a different branch of the Registry will be used to lookup and store its basic settings.
I recommend you to log in to the Windows user account which is used to run the service.
Then open regedit and verify that the LocalAppDataPath preference is present and correctly set.
If you are using the user name “SYSTEM” to run the Plex server, then I’m afraid you have made a very bad decision.
Not only are you unable to log on as SYSTEM, so you can’t easily edit the preferences. But the user SYSTEM is a privileged Windows user account. It has even higher privileges than a normal Administrator user.
Which means: when there is a bug in the software which is run as SYSTEM, and someone has found a way to exploit it, then the faeces hit the fan.
And no software is without bugs. Plex is no exception. Even if the bug is found and fixed in a timely manner, it could be too late for some user(s).
Therefore: don’t use SYSTEM to run Plex server. Ever.
I don’t believe it was changed recently. I’ve set it to run with a Domain Account (Thats used to log into the server) rather than the Local System account, however it also still appears to be ignoring the Registry Key and running as a new blank Appdata folder.
If the registry value is not set, an new Plex data folder will be created in the default location for this Windows user account.
So if you have set it, it might be in the wrong part of the registry. (i.e. in the branch which is used by a different Windows user account, but not the one which is used by the Plex service.)
I have never used Windows domains, so I might be wrong about this: isn’t the user part of the registry overwritten by the data on the domain controller?
The Value is set and in the correct area (SID match) and the account logged on making the registry edit is the account used to run as a service.
The Domain Controller will overwrite some of the user portion of the registry but doesn’t touch the Software area (Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software) without setting up something like Group Policies specifically to do so.
This should only be the case for the Plex Updater Service.exe process
The rest of the Plex Media Server processes should still be using the LocalAppDataPath specified in the registry
The updater service runs under SYSTEM and allowing users to specifiy a path for the logs for it introduced a security vulnerability - so it is now fixed writing to the %LocalAppData% for SYSTEM
I would expect you to be running the Plex Service under a different user than SYSTEM. It is very unwise to run it as SYSTEM.
Yes we do now clear the LocalAppDataPath in the registry for user SYSTEM as part of the fix for the security vulnerability (See Plex Media Server - #586 by janoskk)
