Reinstall Windows Results In Not Authorized Error

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 1.32.5.7349-8f4248874

During a fresh install of Windows Server 2022 - I had to reinstall Plex Media Server. Following the install I could not get PLEX to go into the create a new server flow.

After countless hours of debugging I found this reddit post which had my solution. I’m copy-pasting the thread here so it can be more easily found and queryable - but all credit goes to the OP from reddit!

https://www.reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/1470zw7/initializing_plex_media_server/

Issue: As of today, the most recent version of Plex Media Server fails to initialize on Windows Server 2016/2019/2022 environments due to the “Claim” functionality confusing things.

Symptoms: Once Plex is installed, it will hang on “Initializing Plex Media Server” for 5 minutes then go to “Something went wrong. Can’t locate server”. If you try to access it locally it will give a “Access Denied” error and link you to a FAQ on claims that does not work.

Fix:

Follow these steps (once installed and the above symptoms experienced"

  1. Right click and exit Plex
  2. Open Notepad as Administrator
  3. Paste the below into the notepad

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server\PlexOnlineHome]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server\PlexOnlineMail]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server\PlexOnlineUsername]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server\PlexOnlineToken]

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server\PreferredNetworkInterface]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Plex, Inc.\Plex Media Server]

“PublishServerOnPlexOnlineKey”=dword:00000001

“ManualPortMappingMode”=dword:00000000

“LogVerbose”=dword:00000000

“secureConnections”=dword:00000001

  1. Use notepad’s “Save As” function, change the file type to “All Files” (Not .txt), call the file “plex.reg” and it will save as a registry executable.

  2. Right-click the file you just created and select “Merge”, when prompted hit yes

  3. Once it says “Succesful”, re-open the Plex Media Server app

  4. Open a browser and navigate to https://127.0.0.1:32400/web

  5. And there you go!

2

Is this post the best way for PLEX devs to see?

This was a blocking issue. Without that random reddit post - PLEX would have been completely unusable for me.

3

The reddit post you mentioned was actually posted here as well (about a minute earlier, by the same person based on the username): Plex install fix for Windows Server (Claim issue) - Plex Media Server / Desktops & Laptops - Plex Forum

4

Woah good catch! Hopefully this will help others with the same issue. People are taking days to get a fix. It only took me 6 hours but still. This shouldn’t be happening at all.

5

Aye this was me :slight_smile: I posted it here too just in case after I developed the work around. Glad it helped you.

6

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