Urgent: Data Loss in Plex Docker Container (Ubuntu Server)

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Hi everyone,

I’m reaching out for help with a critical data loss issue I’m experiencing with my Plex Media Server running in a Docker container on Ubuntu server.

The Problem:
I recently discovered that all my media files (around 5 TB of movies and TV shows) are missing from the Plex server.
The media files were stored on two separate mounted disks within the Docker container, on of them in RAID 1.
While the Plex server appears to have reset to a new installation state, other Docker containers on the server seem unaffected (no data loss).

Clues and Questions:
Reviewing Docker container logs indicates a restart on May 18th, 2024 (possibly due to a power outage or server reboot).
Plex now shows as “unclaimed” and requires a new setup process.
The directory structure for the mounted disks remains, but the actual media files are gone.

My primary questions are:
What could have caused this data loss specifically within the Plex container?
Are there any potential recovery options for my media files?

I’ve searched for similar issues but haven’t found anything conclusive. Any insights or suggestions from the community would be greatly appreciated.

Additional Information:
Ubuntu Server version: Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS
Docker image used for Plex: Linuxserver.io version:- 1.32.8.7639-fb6452ebf-ls201 Build-date:- 2024-01-22T09:20:52+00:00
Docker version: Docker Engine - Community Version: 25.0.0

Thank you in advance for your time and assistance.
I’ve attached container logs. Line 2538 shows the message I mentioned (**** Server is unclaimed, but no claim token has been set ****).
plex_logs.txt (398.8 KB)

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  1. You’re assuming this happened within the container, just because you are mounting the directories within the container doesn’t mean the container has exclusive access to them
  2. You’ll need to restore from your backups.

Plex doesn’t allow data to be deleted by default, either you or the linuxserver.io’s docker packager would have needed to turn this on. When it does delete, it also removes the directory structure. Plex being the cause of the missing files is highly unlikely.

Was your server shared with anyone on the internet? Sounds like someone or something has blanked your server out. What’s your docker-compose/run details?

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