Two Emby Servers on the same NAS/Local Network

[Dreakon13 143]

Hi, I have 4.8.11.0 running in a docker container.  This morning I decided to try setting up the latest beta in a different docker container, figured it would be cool to kinda be able to help beta test again while still having the stable running for myself and family.

Both are on different ports and running through my reverse proxy generally without issues (emby.domain.com and embybeta.domain.com)

However on my Samsung TV's and my iPhone (when connected to wifi)... no matter what it seems like it just picks one server via the local network and forces me onto it.  Typically forces me onto the beta server... I never added the beta server but somehow it automatically found the port I used and connected to it, replacing the stable server I've been connecting to on that TV.  If I try to manually add back the stable server running on the other port, it just disregards what I entered and clumsily forces me back onto the beta.

Am I understanding it right that the TV app is just scanning my local network for an Emby installation?  Is it supposed to just disregard any other server I try to connect to?  Is there a way to make it stop doing that?  I'm a big boy, I can enter my own server address/port lol

Thanks for any help

Edited March 16, 2025 by Dreakon13

[Luke 42078]

Hi, it doesn't force you into one server or another. You can connect to any server you wish. If you're already signed in, then try clicking your user icon in the top right and then selecting change server. Please let us know if this helps. Thanks.

[Dreakon13 143]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

Hi, it doesn't force you into one server or another. You can connect to any server you wish. If you're already signed in, then try clicking your user icon in the top right and then selecting change server. Please let us know if this helps. Thanks.

Yeah, that isn't how it's working for me.  I used the "Change Server" option and from there I can only access the beta server.

Let's say the stable server is port 8096 and the beta server is 8097.

If I turn off the beta server container, I can get into 8096 without issue.

If I turn the beta server container back on, when I open the TV app, it'll automatically change to 8097 and act like I'm logging in for the first time.  Like I'll literally see port 8097 as the only available server in the "Change Server" area even though I never added it.

If I go and try to manually add 8096 from there, it'll look like it's working and say it's my main servers name, but through the continue watching I can tell it's actually the beta server.  And if I go look at the "Change Server" area again, it'll say 8097.

I can't have both servers added at the same time, and if both servers/containers are running, it'll force me to 8097 no matter what I put in.

...

I dunno if it matters, but I set up the beta server using a backup of my stable server via the Backup & Restore feature.  Just kinda wanted to expedite the library setup (scanning, metadata, etc) since they're looking at the same libraries.  Maybe something is screwy behind the scenes and the TV/mobile apps in particular can't tell the difference between them?  Mind you... I fixed the ports and the web apps and reverse proxy are all pointing to the correct places and working fine, so I don't think there's anything wrong with my setup necessarily.

Edited March 16, 2025 by Dreakon13

[darkassassin07 652]

Delete /data/device.txt inside the data folder of the beta server, then restart.

[Luke 42078]

OK sounds like you cloned one server to the other and that's why this is happening. This causes them to appear as if they were the same server to the client devices.

[Dreakon13 143]

Thank you, deleting the device.txt did the trick.  TV apps are recognizing the two servers on their own now.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever decide to get creative with the backup and restore feature again... kinda makes me wonder if the device.txt should carry over with it.  Especially if you untick this option...

Seems more likely to lead to confusion and issues than not.