Plex server remote access and plex web not working

[Lextc]

Server Version#: Ubuntu LTS 18.04
Player Version#: 1.18.1.2019

For the past 2 days I have been trying to get my Plex Remote Access to work on my Ubuntu Server.
I have used plex on Ubuntu and Windows before and worked flawlessly.

I now use a headless ubuntu server.

1# At the initial setup I am unable to access the plex server at 127.0.0.1:32400 (It does work with a ssh tunnel at localhost:8888).

When I check my Netstat it seems that 32400 is not binding to the usual local 127.0.0.1 and its a IPv6 instead of a IPv4 like the rest.

I have checked many forums but none really address this issue (or slightly different).

In ufw all the ports are being allowed and IPv6 is disabled at all (I tried with IPv6 on too, no difference).

Before I thought of uploading my problem here I tested it on my own windows desktop, installed plex server, did the portforwarding (I have a upnp router but for some reason it does not pick up the 32400 TCP) and on windows it worked fine, great actually.
Retried the same on Ubuntu, portforwarded it, it stayed on available for 5 seconds, after which it defaulted back to not available.

I have tried reinstalling Plex Server on ubuntu multiple times but no luck.

Simple recap:
1# Remote access won’t work.
2# Can’t access plex web (via ip.adress.server:32400) after initial setup.

I hope someone has an idea where to begin fixing the issue.

[ChuckPa]

I learned today that the back-end of plex.tv was “flaky” (highly technical term haha)

PMS now concurrently listens on both the LAN IPv4 and IPv6 addresses on the same port.

Check the curl 'http://127.0.0.1:32400' output. It should be HTTP for ‘Permission denied’ if PMS is at all running on the host correctly.

[Lextc]

@ChuckPa

curl 'http://127.0.0.1:32400

I checked 127.0.0.1:32400, connectedand Authentication failed (I assume same as Permission Denied).

Wget

cURL

[ChuckPa]

That confirms the server is up.

To see the XML,

1. Examine the contents of Preferences.xml
2. extract the value of PlexOnlineToken from it. (copy paste value in quotes)
3. Construct a new call:

curl 'http://127.0.0.1:32400?X-Plex-Token=PASTE_TOKEN_HERE'

Now you will see all the XML of your server.

If it’s a nice big list then the only reason Plex/web locally isn’t working is because of the browser itself.

For that browser (FireFox is best):

1. Sign out of regular Plex account
2. Open incognito window
3. open http://127.0.0.1:32400/web

If this fails, then the issue is the system the browser is running on. A plug-in or something.

[Lextc]

I set up the new call and did get a long list My myPlexSigninState=“ok”

I tried connecting to http://127.0.0.1:32400/web through firefox with incognito, which failed.
I tried it from my phone, 2 other laptops and a tablet. All failed.

[Lextc]

I reinstalled Ubuntu but this time downgraded from 18.04 to 16.04.
Everything works fine now.
Perhaps a reinstall of Ubuntu 18.04 would’ve done the same, but as I have read some other users experiencing problems with Plex on 18.04 I decided to settle, for now on 16.04.