Unable to Access Emby while connected via VPN

[Lordbob75 0]

I connect my phone to my home network via OpenVPN while not home.  I can access Emby no problem while on wi-fi at home, but I cannot access it while the VPN is connected.

 

I've verified that the network settings are the same as my Plex container.  I can access Plex no problem over the VPN.  Why can't I access Emby that way?  I couldn't find anything searching the internet for this issue.

 

Happy to post whatever settings you need to see to assist, but the fact that it works fine for Plex (and ALL of my other containers) but not Emby means the issue is probably in Emby.

[Luke 37252]

Hi there, perhaps to have to configure the VPN to allow the traffic?

[Lordbob75 0]

Hi there, perhaps to have to configure the VPN to allow the traffic?

I don't believe I do.  I can access the rest of my containers as well as my server.  Plex is setup the same as emby, both available on the LAN.

 

When trying to access the WebGUI for Emby, the page just says "forbidden".  Literally all whitespace with that plaintext word in the upper left corner.  Plex loads up fine.

 

In case it wasn't clear, I'm connecting to my home network (my LAN that has plex and emby) with the VPN, I'm not trying to run Emby through the VPN or outside.  Since I can access everything else, I'm pretty sure the VPN is setup correctly.

[Luke 37252]

But the emby server log will tell you if the traffic is even reaching emby server, and that will help tell us if the problem is within or external.

[Lordbob75 0]

But the emby server log will tell you if the traffic is even reaching emby server, and that will help tell us if the problem is within or external.

Right, I did not see the internal logs in the Emby server.

 

I believe this would be what we are looking for, correct?

2019-11-05 20:27:58.350 Info HttpServer: HTTP Response 403 to 10.0.0.2. Time: 0ms. http://MYIP:8096/emby/system/info/public

I'm not really seeing much else in that log besides the GET to the server from my phone.

[Luke 37252]

Does the phone's ip address show up in the server log?

[Lordbob75 0]

Does the phone's ip address show up in the server log?

10.0.0.2 is the phone's Virtual IP over the VPN in the above log, so yes.

[Luke 37252]

can you please attach the emby server log? thanks.

[Lordbob75 0]

can you please attach the emby server log? thanks.

Here you go.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Lordbob75

[Happy2Play 8356]

To me the server is rejecting the network connection from 10.0.0.2.

HTTP Response 403 to 10.0.0.2

Do you have any Advance Hosting settings enable (Dashboard-Advanced)?  Do you have "Allow remote connections to this Emby Server." enabled?

[Luke 37252]

Do you have any Advance Hosting settings enable (Dashboard-Advanced)?  Do you have "Allow remote connections to this Emby Server." enabled?

 

Ding ding ding, that's probably it.

[Lordbob75 0]

To me the server is rejecting the network connection from 10.0.0.2.

HTTP Response 403 to 10.0.0.2

Do you have any Advance Hosting settings enable (Dashboard-Advanced)?  Do you have "Allow remote connections to this Emby Server." enabled?

 

 

Ding ding ding, that's probably it.

 

Yep, you are correct.  I guess it was obvious in retrospect, but I have a bunch of other containers that I didn't need to do this for.

 

Well alright.  Thanks for the help!

[Luke 37252]

Thanks for the feedback.

[Lordbob75 0]

Thanks for the feedback.

Thanks for the very speedy assist.

[Tsch3ns 14]

I would like to enable Emby access from external via a VPN connection, but NO normal acces from external. Am I Right that as Long as I only activate „Allow remote connections to this Emby Server." nobody can reach my Emby from external as long as he has no VPN connection because I would have to open the port at the router as well?

Question: How can Emby even realize that I have a VPN connection? I get an IP address from my home network when connected via VPN, but nevertheless, without "Allow remote connections to this Emby Server." I cannot connect.

[Spaceboy 2505]

1. as long as the only ports you have on your router are for the vpn, thats the only way anyone outside your home network will be able to get into it.

2. allow external connections refers to opening the firewall on the device you have emby installed on. definitely needed if you plan to access via a vpn.

 

[GrimReaper 3330]

4 hours ago, Tsch3ns said:

I would like to enable Emby access from external via a VPN connection, but NO normal acces from external. Am I Right that as Long as I only activate „Allow remote connections to this Emby Server." nobody can reach my Emby from external as long as he has no VPN connection because I would have to open the port at the router as well?

Question: How can Emby even realize that I have a VPN connection? I get an IP address from my home network when connected via VPN, but nevertheless, without "Allow remote connections to this Emby Server." I cannot connect.

Your VPN needs to support Port forwarding - not all do. And NO ports need to be open in that case as it is creating a tunnel. Made same for a friend with AirVPN few months ago.

 

[Spaceboy 2505]

4 hours ago, GrimReaper said:

Your VPN needs to support Port forwarding - not all do. And NO ports need to be open in that case as it is creating a tunnel. Made same for a friend with AirVPN few months ago.

 

depends on what he means by VPN, i assumed he meant a private VPN into his network hosted on a router. but could be a public vpn hosted on PC

[Tsch3ns 14]

I am working with a private VPN either to my router or to by Synology Disk Station. Emby Server is installed on the Synology. I just wondered why I have to activate „Allow remote connections to this Emby Server“ even with a VPN connection. I thought this is only necessary for access from external without VPN. Can Emby differentiate between a local connection and a VPN connection?

[Luke 37252]

5 hours ago, Tsch3ns said:

Can Emby differentiate between a local connection and a VPN connection?

Emby doesn't really need to know if a connection is from a vpn, it's really local vs. remote that it needs to know about, and yes it can differentiate between these two.

In the event that it is not, you have Emby Server network settings at your disposal to help with that. Please let us know if this helps. Thanks.