Can't reach emby server via Alexa

[rbjtech 5005]

Hi,

 

I thought I'd have a dabble at using Alexa to control emby but can't get it to connect to my server.

 

All Alexa says is -

 

"I can't reach your emby server, make sure your emby server is available blah blah"

 

If I use an emby app, via emby connect (same account used to link the Amazon skill) then it connects to the remote server just fine - logs show the https external connection, valid remote WAN IP.

 

My emby dashboard shows the same WAN IP (fqdn) - so I believe remote connects via emby connect appear to all be fine.

 

Tried unlinking and re-linking account - relinks fine (shows my local emby server name - I presume this is correct) but it won't connect.

 

There is no evidence in the log that it is trying to connect - I'm presuming it should show the same as a normal 'remote' connection but coming from AWS ?

 

ps - account used is called 'rbjconnect' if that helps.

 

Thanks for any help.

Edited March 1, 2020 by rbjtech

[Luke 40144]

 

 

I'm presuming it should show the same as a normal 'remote' connection but coming from AWS ?

 

Yes but you'll also need to make sure you're using an https certificate that alexa will trust.

[rbjtech 5005]

Thanks Luke - it's a standard 'Lets Encrypt' cert - so presumably should be ok.  

 

Looking at my firewall logs in real-time, I see other remote connections using emby connect just fine - but nothing at all when I'm attempting to use Alexa to invoke, so it's not getting to my server somehow.

 

Hmm - are there logs your side which show the connection attempt ?  Perhaps you could PM me (user rbjconnect) to see if they make sense ?

 

Many Thanks.

[Luke 40144]

I wouldn't assume that certificate will be ok. In fact I doubt it.

 

I don't know what ip address the Alexa requests are coming from but I would check your server log for any ip addresses you don't recognize. I don't think you'll find anything though because it's probably just rejecting the certificate.

[Luke 40144]

Maybe this will help:

https://community.letsencrypt.org/t/problem-creating-an-alexa-skill-maybe-https-issue/112474/7

[kinsham 0]

I have the same issue and symptoms as rbjtech. My configuration might be different though. Emby server runs on a Debian box that connects permanently to the internet via a VPN client and service provider. The instructions I've managed to find assume that I can get into the DDNS provider to create records but that is not possible for my VPN service provider. The VPN service provides me with a domain name and a port forward rule so I can access Emby as http://domain:port. This works fine but https does not of course.

 

Can anyone point me to a guide that would allow me to install a certficate?

[Luke 40144]

What I was trying to say is that I don't believe Lets Encrypt will work with Alexa. Where does your ssl certificate come from?