Managing Emby Windows Server (updates/service)

[FredrikT 24]

I'm running Emby server both on a Windows server and in a container. I'm migrating to one new server, but I'm having some problems with a solution running both HW accelerated Emby with iGPU and VMs. So for now I'll use Windows Server.

The problem is that I don't want to manage Emby on this Windows server manually - I want it hands off with automatic updates for Emby and plugins. Is this possible?

On my Windows server/workstation, I've installed Emby running as a service according to the guides. However, this doesn't work. Whenever Windows gets restarted, the Emby service won't start (even with delayed start on the service). If I start it manually after I've logged on it works. Unless... there has been an update to Emby (I'm running the beta version). If there is an available update to Emby, the executables are gone and I have to manually download and install Emby server again. Thankfully all settings are retained.

Does anyone have a better experience/solution for managing Emby in Windows?

Ps. all the libraries are mounted over UNC paths with a specific user, so that shouldn't be the problem why the service doesn't load.

[rbjtech 5284]

Are you sure you do not have emby selected to start with your login (ie a normal non service install ?)  - as there is no way emby will update itself unless it is running - and if the service has not started, then it won't update itself.

Are you running the service with a service account with suitable permissions to access both the UNC shares and local permissions to write to the emby local folders ?

Not updating when using emby as a service is actually a blessing - as you maintain control of WHEN it updates as you need to schedule your own updates

For plugins and extensions, then a scheduled restart via the API is the best way to go, but you can also restart the service if needs be - but for core upgrades, then a service shutdown (again, via API is clean/best), followed by one of two methods is needed.  1) download and extract the zip over the top of your current install and start emby service or 2) Run emby as a logged in user (non service), let it auto update, and then shut it down again - then start the service.

I think there is a script somewhere on the forums to do this automatically - maybe try a search.

[FredrikT 24]

21 hours ago, rbjtech said:

Are you sure you do not have emby selected to start with your login (ie a normal non service install ?)  - as there is no way emby will update itself unless it is running - and if the service has not started, then it won't update itself.

Are you running the service with a service account with suitable permissions to access both the UNC shares and local permissions to write to the emby local folders ?

Not updating when using emby as a service is actually a blessing - as you maintain control of WHEN it updates as you need to schedule your own updates

For plugins and extensions, then a scheduled restart via the API is the best way to go, but you can also restart the service if needs be - but for core upgrades, then a service shutdown (again, via API is clean/best), followed by one of two methods is needed.  1) download and extract the zip over the top of your current install and start emby service or 2) Run emby as a logged in user (non service), let it auto update, and then shut it down again - then start the service.

I think there is a script somewhere on the forums to do this automatically - maybe try a search.

Thanks for the reply!

Are you sure you do not have emby selected to start with your login (ie a normal non service install ?)  - as there is no way emby will update itself unless it is running - and if the service has not started, then it won't update itself.
It's running as a service using the nssm guide.

Are you running the service with a service account with suitable permissions to access both the UNC shares and local permissions to write to the emby local folders ?
Yes, it works perfectly when I start the service manually.

Not updating when using emby as a service is actually a blessing - as you maintain control of WHEN it updates as you need to schedule your own updates
Not sure I agree on this - I prefer to always update and fix whatever might break, instead of trying to fix stuff because you didn't upgrade
But, as I'm running the beta build there are a lot of updates. If there is a Emby server update waiting/ready, and the server gets rebooted because of a restart/patches, or actually, I just restart the service, the executable is gone, and I need to download Emby server again. If I do a Emby restart from the Emby GUI, then it works. But then I need to shut it down, and start the service again.

For plugins and extensions, then a scheduled restart via the API is the best way to go, but you can also restart the service if needs be - but for core upgrades, then a service shutdown (again, via API is clean/best), followed by one of two methods is needed.  1) download and extract the zip over the top of your current install and start emby service or 2) Run emby as a logged in user (non service), let it auto update, and then shut it down again - then start the service.
As I mentioned, I can't just restart the service if there is an update waiting/ready

I think there is a script somewhere on the forums to do this automatically - maybe try a search.
Thanks, I'll give that a try!

 

 

[FredrikT 24]

FYI: I've ended up doing something I hate; running Emby as a normal application and auto logging in into my server.
For those wondering; Emby 4.8 works great with Windows Server 2025 Insider Build.

Ideally I'll be going for a container solution for Emby in the future, just have to figure out which host OS I'll be going for, once I figure out how to authenticate from the container to a NAS (and the iGPU VM problem).