Unable to activate Emby Premiere on Linux (connection to license.emby.media refused)

[SamyLa 2]

Hello everyone,

I’m running into an issue activating Emby Premiere on an Ubuntu 22.04 server (Emby v4.8.11.0). Every time I paste my license key into the dashboard and click Save, I either see:

“Emby Premiere key not found or incorrect.”

or the loading spinner just spins forever.

---

What I’ve checked:

• Network connectivity to license.emby.media

  ping license.emby.media → IPv4 (173.230.139.54) responds OK

  traceroute -T -p 443 license.emby.media → port 443 is immediately refused

  curl -4 -v https://license.emby.media/emby/License/Activate → Connection refused (errno 111)

  openssl s_client -connect license.emby.media:443 -4 → same result, connection closed

• Tests on another OS

  On a Windows server (same key), activation succeeds immediately → IPv4/443 works there

• Workarounds attempted on Linux

  Disabled IPv6 entirely via sysctl net.ipv6.conf.*.disable_ipv6=1

  Prioritized IPv4 in /etc/gai.conf

  Blocked the IPv6 address with ip6tables -A OUTPUT -d 2600:3c02::f03c:91ff:fed7:7fa8 -j DROP

  Imported the self-signed certificate (CN=mb3admin.com) into /usr/local/share/ca-certificates and ran update-ca-certificates

  Added <DisableOutgoingIPv6>true</DisableOutgoingIPv6> and <VerifyRemoteCertificates>false</VerifyRemoteCertificates> to system.xml

  Restarted Emby after every change

Despite all of that, HTTPS connections to license.emby.media:443 are still being refused on Linux. This doesn’t appear to be a local network or configuration issue, since it works flawlessly on Windows.

---

Questions:

• Is anyone else seeing this connection refusal when activating Premiere on Linux?

• Is there an official offline activation method for an Ubuntu 22.04 server?

Thanks in advance for any insights!
 

Bonjour à tous,

Je rencontre un blocage d’activation d’Emby Premiere sur un serveur Ubuntu 22.04 (Emby v4.8.11.0). À chaque tentative (collage de la clé dans le dashboard puis “Sauvegarder”), j’obtiens :

« Clé Emby Premiere introuvable ou incorrecte. »
ou la roue de chargement qui tourne indéfiniment.

Sachant que ce porblème est apparu depuis le 07/07/2025 au soir et que parfois l'activation passe et parfois non.

Ce que j’ai vérifié :

• Connectivité réseau vers license.emby.media

  ping license.emby.media → réponse IPv4 (173.230.139.54) OK

  traceroute -T -p 443 license.emby.media → le port 443 est immédiatement refusé

  curl -4 -v https://license.emby.media/emby/License/Activate → Connection refused (errno 111)

  openssl s_client -connect license.emby.media:443 -4 → idem, connexion fermée

• Tests sur un autre OS

  Sur un serveur Windows, la même clé s’active immédiatement → la connexion IPv4/443 fonctionne

• Tentatives de contournement sous Linux

  Désactivation totale de l’IPv6 (sysctl net.ipv6.conf.*.disable_ipv6=1)

  Priorisation de l’IPv4 dans /etc/gai.conf

  Blocage de l’IPv6 vers le serveur de licence (ip6tables DROP)

  Import manuel du certificat auto-signé (mb3admin.com) dans /usr/local/share/ca-certificates + update-ca-certificates

  Ajout de <VerifyRemoteCertificates>false</VerifyRemoteCertificates> et <DisableOutgoingIPv6>true</DisableOutgoingIPv6> dans system.xml

  Redémarrage complet d’Emby à chaque étape

Malgré tout, la connexion HTTPS vers license.emby.media:443 est systématiquement refusée sur Linux. Je suis certain qu’il s’agit d’un problème côté service de licence (ou de certificat mal configuré pour license.emby.media), car Windows passe sans encombre.

Questions :

• Quelqu’un d’autre rencontre-t-il ce refus de connexion sur Linux ?

• Existe-t-il un moyen officiel de réaliser une activation hors-ligne pour un serveur Ubuntu 22.04 ?

Merci par avance pour vos retours et votre aide !

Edited July 9, 2025 by SamyLa
Clarified and tranlate

[ebr 16169]

My Emby Key Says it is Invalid or Missing

Not sure where you got the url you are testing...

[SamyLa 2]

I’m not sure where I got that URL—I did so many tests yesterday that I must have grabbed it from one of the forum threads I found.

In any case, I’ve just performed a clean reinstall of Ubuntu 22.04 on a test server and installed Emby (emby-server-deb_4.8.11.0_amd64.deb). I pasted my Premiere key and I still encounter the exact same issue.

Could someone please suggest a solution, or let me know if there’s currently a problem with key activation on Linux servers?

 

[SamyLa 2]

Hi ebr,

Thanks for the pointer—you’re referring to the standard KB article, which I’ve already gone through in full:

• I’ve used the Forgot Key feature to re-retrieve and confirm the key’s validity and expiration.

• I’ve cleared out the field, re-pasted the exact key, and saved again.

• I’ve checked that no firewall, router, or network ACL is blocking access (I’ve tested ping, traceroute, mb3admin.com).

• I’ve disabled all browser add-ons and tried multiple browsers to rule out client-side blocking.

Despite all of that, on a completely fresh Ubuntu 22.04 server running Emby v4.8.11.0, activating the key still fails—either with a “connection refused” or a certificate subject name mismatch.

This seems unrelated to local key entry or browser/firewall issues, and far more likely a problem with Emby’s licensing service for Linux clients. Is there any known global issue right now with Premiere activations on Linux, or another workaround I can try? Thanks!

[SamyLa 2]

Hi ebr,

I’ve just run the same network checks against mb3admin.com you suggested, and everything is reachable over IPv4:

 

# DNS resolution
dig +short A mb3admin.com             → 173.230.139.54
dig +short AAAA mb3admin.com          → 2600:3c02::f03c:91ff:fed7:7fa8

# Ping
ping mb3admin.com                     → replies from 173.230.139.54  
ping6 mb3admin.com                    → no IPv6 route, but IPv4 works anyway  

# HTTPS connectivity
curl -4 -v https://mb3admin.com/      → connects and returns an HTTP response  
openssl s_client -connect mb3admin.com:443 -servername mb3admin.com -4  
                                      → full TLS handshake succeeds, certificate is valid  

# Traceroute to port 443
traceroute -T -p 443 mb3admin.com     → reaches 173.230.139.54 over IPv4 without issue  

 

So there’s no firewall or routing problem on my end blocking mb3admin.com:443. Everything points to the Emby licensing service itself (or its certificate configuration) being the culprit for Linux activations.

Do you know of any ongoing issues with the Linux licensing endpoint, or another workaround I can try?

[ebr 16169]

29 minutes ago, SamyLa said:

Do you know of any ongoing issues with the Linux licensing endpoint

Hi.  No, we are not aware of any current issues.  Safe to say that it wouldn't be long before there were a lot of posts out here if there were.

29 minutes ago, SamyLa said:

and everything is reachable over IPv4:

...

So there’s no firewall or routing problem on my end blocking mb3admin.com:443

Your test doesn't actually prove that as firewalls work on the basis of processes and your tests are not with the Emby process.

[SamyLa 2]

Hello @Administrators,

Thanks for your reply, but the issue still persists on my clean Ubuntu 22.04 server (Emby v4.8.11.0) even after forcing all outgoing traffic to IPv4.

I’ve also tested connectivity directly under the Emby user, to replicate exactly what the service does:

sudo runuser -u emby -- curl -4 -v -I https://mb3admin.com/admin/service/registration/validate 

This command consistently results in a connection refusal or timeout, showing that the Emby process itself cannot reach the licensing endpoint.

Could you please propose a concrete workaround or solution for Linux clients? I’m happy to share any additional log excerpts or run further diagnostics you recommend.

Thank you,
SamyLa

Network Test.txt

[Neminem 1518]

Fast fix is disable IPv6 on your server and try again.

[SamyLa 2]

it's already done and still the same problem when activating the key 

[Neminem 1518]

Are you using VPN ?

[SamyLa 2]

No
Everything was working normally. Without any changes or updates on the server, the key can no longer be validated (it loops). I got a new extended key yesterday and I can't get it to validate the same.

Edited July 9, 2025 by SamyLa
Clarified

[SamyLa 2]

Hello,

I’ve already disabled IPv6 and forced all traffic over IPv4, but the problem still persists exactly as before. Please see these two states in my dashboard:

• Old key still “validated” even after clearing the field and restarting the server:

• New valid key (just purchased, never used elsewhere) just spins indefinitely on “Save”:

No matter how I enter the new key (paste directly, clear then paste, restart Emby), it never completes. This isn’t a local firewall or IPv6 issue—Emby clearly isn’t processing the activation request for Linux clients.

Could you please provide a concrete workaround (e.g. offline activation file, alternate endpoint, config tweak) or confirm if there’s a server-side issue affecting Linux?

Thanks!

[Lessaj 467]

Working fine on my Centos and Fedora systems but the platform (linux/windows/docker) should have no bearing on validating the key since it's not specific to any platform. I don't see evidence of connection issues in the txt file you attached - don't forget that the call being made to validate the license is actually a POST. Maybe try using a VPN and please provide your server log.

[SamyLa 2]

Hi all,

Just an update: I’ve opened a ticket with OVH support because it looks like their network is actively blocking outbound connections to mb3admin.com (173.230.139.54), which is why activation works fine on other VPS providers but always fails on my OVH boxes.

It’s pretty strange that OVH would block Emby’s official licensing servers. Has anyone else on OVH seen the same issue? Any confirmation or insight would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks

[Luke 42077]

6 minutes ago, SamyLa said:

Hi all,

Just an update: I’ve opened a ticket with OVH support because it looks like their network is actively blocking outbound connections to mb3admin.com (173.230.139.54), which is why activation works fine on other VPS providers but always fails on my OVH boxes.

It’s pretty strange that OVH would block Emby’s official licensing servers. Has anyone else on OVH seen the same issue? Any confirmation or insight would be hugely appreciated!

Thanks

Please keep us posted on that. Thanks!

[SamyLa 2]

The problem seems to be resolved this morning. I was able to activate the key without any issues this morning. I think OVH had network disruptions last night, hence the problem I experienced. They kept me up all night doing things for nothing. They haven't even responded to my ticket yet

Thanks everyone, and sorry for bothering you with this.