Looking for a sanity check here.
I host PMS on a domain joined W11 PC. I want to rename the computer in Windows.
Is there anything I need to be worried about concerning PMS? I don’t want to break anything.
I already “rename” my server with a custom name in PMS. Clients do not see the default Windows host name.
The name of your Windows installation does not affect Plex in any way.
The only thing that changes would be the default name of servers (unless changed in the Plex server settings) and clients running on that station. They should update silently (after the next playback, I think). https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/devices/all
Rename successful. Thanks !!
I spoke too soon. Looks like I’m locked out of Plex Web 
Is this the proper procedure to claim back the server ??
Why am I locked out of Server Settings and how do I get in? | Plex Support
This method was developed specifically for Windows servers, based on the above linked generic procedure: You need to reclaim your server, but don't dare to touch the Windows Registry
Don’t forget to claim your server again, after you did the Registry import: https://forums.plex.tv/t/new-claiming-requirement-for-windows/839096/1
So, proactive follow-up question from my last experience doing this for the data breach reset.
I ended up with an orphaned “server” link on the Plex side, and my clients started seeing 2 servers with the same name but only one was accessible.
is that likely to happen this time
can I just respond here and have you clean it up on your end again, or is there a procedure for me to do it through my account?
I’m trying to document this procedure for next it’s required.
If you reset your password and tick the checkbox, all devices (i.e. all clients and servers) are removed from your account.
This is expected, and also required in order to create actual safety of your account.
There is nothing to fix about it.
Refer to my last post, about what to do after such an event.
I don’t want to reset my password, or reset any client authorization. I think I just need to reclaim the server because of the host machine name change. Right now the only symptom is I cannot access the server as owner through plex web. I’m checking with a couple remote users to see/verify if they have lost their remote access due to me apparently losing server “ownership”. I suspect they have, but have not confirmed.
I suspect the machine name change broke my server “claim”, and I just need to reclaim it. The remote users to whom I have granted access are authorized through my plex account, not the server directly, so once I “own” my server again, their acess is restored. Again, I have not even verified they have lost any access, but I suspect they have.
My concern is an orphaned server claim they they will “see”, but that no longer exists. We’ll see, but I want to be ahead of that cleanup.
Just trying to confirm expectations before I wack those registry settings.
Sorry if I’m not explaining this well.
As I told you above, a host name change in the Windows network has no effect on Plex.
That is not exactly right. You have granted them access to your server. So you need to ensure that your server never loses its identity.
The identity is stored in the registry. As long as you don’t delete it from there, your sharees will retain their access permissions. (i.e. that should become only important if you swap the physical hardware of your server.)
Another action that can make your server become unclaimed, is if you delete it from here: https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/devices/pms
So be careful to only remove old, unused tokens. But never the one that is currently used by your active server.
I didn’t delete anything, I simply renamed the machine.
I see two servers on the link you sent. One was last accessed 3 days ago and it’s the old server machine name. The other was accessed 16 hours ago and it’s the new machine name.
In full disclosure I set a “display name” several days ago that is the same as the actual machine name now. Curious if that is part of the issue.
What do I do to clean this up? Do I juat delete the OLD reference from plex web app? Is the issue that it’s just a conflicting name?
Sorry, but I want to be sure before I go scorched earth and start deleting things. Appreciate your help very much.
That means that inbetween something happened, which made your old server’s identity invalid or deleted.
No, setting a server “display name” won’t cause that.
There is no such thing as a conflicting name. The server’s identity is not defined its name, but a very long hexadecimal number. i.e. you can have several servers which all have the same name and nothing bad would happen (except you getting confused about which server you are actually interacting with).
Just restore access to your server for now.
Side question: did you change the Windows user account that you were using to login for daily work?
No, no usernames were changed. I changed the computer name with powershell and rebooted. Everything seemed ok.
I have a subnet on my internal network set as trusted in PMS and does not require login. 99% of my work is done withing that subnet and with Plex Dash.
I tried logging onto Plex Web using the internal network server ip and port, and that is when I got the “reclaim” error.
I do see 2 servers on Plex App Web. Hmm. Not sure I fully understand how that happened.
So what steps do I take now?
delete old server in Plex App and try again?
Perform registry update and reclaim server locally?
something else?
What I wrote here: Rename Windows Computer - #5 by OttoKerner
I really do not understand what just happened.
I ran the REG file to clean up the serverauth/token keys. Expectation was that I would have to log in and claim the server again.
Logged in, and everything seems normal. Did not need to reclaim.
I guess it’s all working normally. Not certain I understand how, but thanks !!
The most likely explanation is that your server got started under a different Windows user account than your regular one. Maybe the Administrator account.
When that happens, it will use a registry branch and a data folder of that Windows user.
So, everything seems OK for me on local clients. They are either logged in as me, and/or they are on the local subnet that does not require auth. So internally I appear back to somewhat normal.
However, remote clients have all lost access. Had one log out and back in and still cannot access.
I relaxed the firewall further and even I cannot log in externally. Something is definitely wrong still.
Testing with a remote user. He can get in via my.wan.ip:32400 but not on apps that were previously connected. He logged out and back in with no luck. We he signs in through the web directly through my server everything works ok.
So… the permissions seem ok…
It appears that some relationship on the Plex side is corrupted or missing so his app cannot find my server ip.
Thoughts on that?
Go here https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/manage-library-access
Click on each of your sharee’s names and verify that they have been granted access to the server.
More testing and I have … I think… narrowed it down to a “Remote Access” issue. I have no idea how all these things are related other than sheer coincidence.
My “Remote Connection” does not seem to want to establish. I have opened the firewall up completely to eliminate DPI issues and such. It will intermittently show connected for a few seconds, and the remote client can connect… then it will show the red X and they can no longer see content and lose the server connection. At one point he got a message saying he was no longer “directly connected”.
Completely at a loss here. This has all worked flawlessly for years.
Yes I checked the remote user access earlier and all good. I just re-checked with the link you sent and good as well.
