Alexa now requiring secure connection on port 443?

[TulsaTV 4]

As of 17Nov2020 or before, I cannot get Alexa to use herself as the Emby player. It still works to set a Chrome browser as player. When I try to change player to "this device", I get this message from Alexa:

"Your server must provide a secure connection with a public https port number 443 and a valid SSL certificate to play directly on this device."

My SSL cert was working fine for remote connection when this problem started. The cert was due for renewal soon, so I just renewed it, same results,

Just for kicks, I changed https port 8920 both local and public in Emby to 443, and set a rule in the router to forward 443 external to 443 internal. Alexa was then willing to accept "this device" as the player, and accepted a request to play a song, but no music came out. So it seems she really does want a secure connection with 443. Reverted to the settings that had worked for a couple of years until just recently.

So, has Amazon made a change to require the use of port 443?

 

 

[hatharry 108]

Yes Amazon requires port 443 for playback. https://developer.amazon.com/en-US/docs/alexa/custom-skills/audioplayer-interface-reference.html#audio-stream-requirements

What format is the audio you are trying to play?

[TulsaTV 4]

Mp3. It had worked perfectly for a couple of years (as long as the SSL cert was valid), then stopped, despite no changes made in the setup.

Port 8920 is the standard https port for Emby. Not sure where 443 entered into the picture the last 2 years, since it was never included explicitly in the network settings.

Edited November 23, 2020 by TulsaTV
Clarity

[TulsaTV 4]

Is Emby on Alexa still working for anyone?

[Luke 40068]

11 hours ago, TulsaTV said:

Port 8920 is the standard https port for Emby. Not sure where 443 entered into the picture the last 2 years, since it was never included explicitly in the network settings.

Yes it is the default but now it looks like you will need to use 443 if you want to be able to play directly on your alexa device.

[ebr 15663]

Hi.  Keep in mind, you can map only the external port on your router to 443 and keep the internal Emby one at 8920 if you wish.

[TulsaTV 4]

On 11/23/2020 at 10:08 AM, ebr said:

Hi.  Keep in mind, you can map only the external port on your router to 443 and keep the internal Emby one at 8920 if you wish.

I tried having the router forward external 443 to internal 8920, keeping Emby set at 8920 local and public https. Did not work.

If I set the router to forward 443 external to 443 internal, and set Emby local and public https to 443, I do have remote access from the Dashboard, and Alexa works so far as to announce the song playing, but no sound. The Activity log shows only "has finished playing" the song rather than a "started playing' message followed by a "finished playing" one.

I don't understand what this means in the Network section:

"Public https port number:
(e.g., 8920)
The public port number that should be mapped to the local https port."

So, is it saying the mapping must occur in the router, or is it saying that it will do this?

Could you restate your advice in terms of what the the Emby local/public https ports should be, and then what the router mapping should be for that setting?

Edited February 17, 2021 by TulsaTV
Clarity

[Carlo 4552]

You should keep the LOCAL set to 8096 and 8920.

On your router forward port WAN/443 to Emby IP/8920.
Then in Emby network section use port 443 for "Public https port number:"

[TulsaTV 4]

On 2/18/2021 at 8:58 AM, cayars said:

You should keep the LOCAL set to 8096 and 8920.

On your router forward port WAN/443 to Emby IP/8920.
Then in Emby network section use port 443 for "Public https port number:"

So far, no luck with getting remote access in a way other than forwarding 8920 to 8920 and setting 8920 as public https in Emby. I set the router rule as external 443 forward to internal 8920 in the router, and Emby as 443 for public https.

Maybe I am missing something on the Windows Firewall, Tried 443 as public, 8920 as private, and each as both public and private, neither works.

Any other suggestions? I think Angelblue05 has worked on this app most recently.

Edited February 19, 2021 by TulsaTV
Clarity

[TulsaTV 4]

On 2/18/2021 at 8:58 AM, cayars said:

You should keep the LOCAL set to 8096 and 8920.

On your router forward port WAN/443 to Emby IP/8920.
Then in Emby network section use port 443 for "Public https port number:"

Here is what just worked (i.e., allows Emby remote access AND Alexa not only announces music playing, but actually plays it):

In Emby:
Local http: 8096
Local https: 443
Public http: 8096
Public https: 443

Router:
External 443 forwarded to internal 443.

Firewall:
443 allowed as both public and private.

Could this be changed in a way to make it simpler or better, and still work?

Edited February 19, 2021 by TulsaTV
Clarity

[Carlo 4552]

That's a little strange and suggests the forward rule put in place for 443 to 8920 didn't work or wasn't setup correctly but if the above setup works, call it a day, mission accomplished!

[TulsaTV 4]

6 minutes ago, cayars said:

That's a little strange and suggests the forward rule put in place for 443 to 8920 didn't work or wasn't setup correctly but if the above setup works, call it a day, mission accomplished!

Yeah, I just don't have enough experience with all this to have any hard expectations about what should, could, or would work, but it's great having Emby back on Alexa!

I am able to use Alexa with Plex the same way, but Plex' "play some music" pulls from only the music library you specify, not all of them as Emby can be set. Also, Emby seems to select more truly randomly when you ask Alexa to "play music". So, good to have them both for me.

Thanks for the help!

[jthorn 3]

I went out the Alexa developer site and created a feature request to support SSL steaming on Alexa via a port other than 443 (e.g. 8920) so people don't have to jump through these hoops in the future. If you like, please go vote for it so perhaps they will consider the change.

https://alexa.uservoice.com/forums/906892-alexa-skills-developer-voice-and-vote/suggestions/44048211-add-support-to-stream-audio-from-ssl-on-ports-othe

[chef 3808]

The guy you want to message at Amazon is Jeff Blankenburg.

If you join the YouTube "Alexa developers", every Tuesday they have a live stream where you can submit dev questions and requests.

Just as well as a thread on their user voice.

[Ninko 75]

Has there been any movement on this request from Amazon?

[Luke 40068]

On 4/12/2023 at 11:39 AM, Ninko said:

Has there been any movement on this request from Amazon?

Hi, can you please elaborate on what you’re asking? Thanks.

[Ninko 75]

Has there been any progress in allowing Alexa to use a port other then 443?

[Luke 40068]

20 minutes ago, Ninko said:

Has there been any progress in allowing Alexa to use a port other then 443?

If it's an amazon requirement then it doesn't sound like that is possible, no?

[Carlo 4552]

Something worth throwing out in general and not specific to this specific topic.

Having a reverse proxy in your home environment allows you to share "external" ports such as 443 among a whole lot of different internal programs as the proxy can "route" requests to the proper destination based on the URL name or sub-domain.

Anyone running multiple services that are exposed to the internet should at least look at and understand how much value a reverse proxy can provide.

Carlo

[ginjaninja 573]

fwiw i am sharing https over 8920 and playback is working to a point..so sharing over  port 443 is not required in all circumstances. (perhaps when ssl/https is in use)

[TulsaTV 4]

When you say "working up to a point", is there something that should work, but doesn't?

[ginjaninja 573]

i just meant that general connectivity is working and i can play a song...but im having a dufficult time making the skill fully functional eg reliably recognising/matching music titles and changing the player/transferring the stream.

[djerniehoule 23]

Can someone explain in novice terms how to make this work? I have a verizon router and my alexa keeps saying it can't connect due to a valid certificate, hmmm

[Carlo 4552]

@djerniehoule

Set Emby and your router to work for port 443 then try again using Alexa.

 

[djerniehoule 23]

Can you explain the steps? I have tried, but think I did it all all wrong