Debian update to the latest version failed

[luckyluca 3]

Hi, I manually installed the latest package over the existing one on Debian from https://emby.media/linux-server.html .

Debian X64
Download emby-server-deb_4.10.1.0_amd64.deb
dpkg -i emby-server-deb_4.10.1.0_amd64.deb
Open a web browser to http://localhost:8096

Now the server fails to start up. Any idea what I might have done wrong?

Please note that the server update-available notification pointed to a non-existent version. 4.10.2. I downloaded the latest version 4.10.1.0.

embyserver-63928194131.txt

Edited October 21 by luckyluca
aaa

[tollgate 10]

Are you starting the server with systemctl start emby-server?

[luckyluca 3]

4 minutes ago, tollgate said:

Are you starting the server with systemctl start emby-server?

yes.

the server run fine until I installed the new version over it.

 

[tollgate 10]

what does systemctl status emby-server report?

 

[luckyluca 3]

sudo systemctl status emby-server.service
○ emby-server.service - Emby Server is a personal media server with apps on just about every device
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/emby-server.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: inactive (dead) since Wed 2026-10-21 16:35:13 CEST; 25min ago
   Duration: 159ms
 Invocation: 30af6d36c05d45989aba40f7485634e0
    Process: 8152 ExecStart=/opt/emby-server/bin/emby-server (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 8152 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Mem peak: 17.7M
        CPU: 77ms

Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]: Source: System.Private.CoreLib
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]: TargetSite: Void CreateDirectory(System.String, System.IO.UnixFileMode)
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]:    at System.IO.FileSystem.CreateDirectory(String fullPath, UnixFileMode unixCreateMode)
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]:    at System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(String path)
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]:    at Emby.Server.Implementations.Logging.FileLogger..ctor(String path)
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]:    at Emby.Server.Implementations.Logging.SimpleLogManager.ReloadLogger(LogSeverity severity, Cancellation>
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]: InnerException: System.IO.IOException: Permission denied
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]: Source:
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 emby-server[8152]: TargetSite:
Oct 21 16:35:13 ser8 systemd[1]: emby-server.service: Deactivated successfully.

 

So that you're aware, at first, I installed the updated package via GUI: I double-clicked the package file and after having inserted the root password, let it install in Debian.

I subsequently also tried installing the package with  sudo dpkg -i PACKAGE.

Edited October 21 by luckyluca

[tollgate 10]

and can you do a

#systemctl start  emby-server

and then after a few moments

#systemctl status emby-server

[luckyluca 3]

 

sudo systemctl status emby-server
○ emby-server.service - Emby Server is a personal media server with apps on just about every device
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/emby-server.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: inactive (dead) since Wed 2026-10-21 18:12:10 CEST; 8s ago
   Duration: 262ms
 Invocation: 1f09cd4548894054b924c468dea93699
    Process: 8751 ExecStart=/opt/emby-server/bin/emby-server (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 8751 (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Mem peak: 55.1M
        CPU: 141ms

Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]: Source: System.Private.CoreLib
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]: TargetSite: Void CreateDirectory(System.String, System.IO.UnixFileMode)
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]:    at System.IO.FileSystem.CreateDirectory(String fullPath, UnixFileMode unixCreateMode)
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]:    at System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(String path)
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]:    at Emby.Server.Implementations.Logging.FileLogger..ctor(String path)
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]:    at Emby.Server.Implementations.Logging.SimpleLogManager.ReloadLogger(LogSeverity severity, Cancellation>
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]: InnerException: System.IO.IOException: Permission denied
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]: Source:
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 emby-server[8751]: TargetSite:
Oct 21 18:12:10 ser8 systemd[1]: emby-server.service: Deactivated successfully.
lines 1-20/20 (END)

 

Edited October 21 by luckyluca

[Luke 43542]

Does the server's data directory still belong to the emby user ?

[luckyluca 3]

5 hours ago, Luke said:

Does the server's data directory still belong to the emby user ?

Yes, except that... I originally changed the ownership of the Emby folder from 'emby' to 'conte'. This is reflected in the service file, where I originally changed the line User= to reflect 'User=conte' .

The update recreated the service file and reverted the User= line to default, which broke my permissions.

I changed the line back to reflect my user 'conte', and voila'! Emby works again.

[Unit]
Description=Emby Server is a personal media server with apps on just about ever>
After=network.target

[Service]
EnvironmentFile=/etc/emby-server.conf
WorkingDirectory=/opt/emby-server
ExecStart=/opt/emby-server/bin/emby-server
RestartForceExitStatus=3
User=conte

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Is there a more permanent way to retain the User= line after server updates?

Thanks again for pointing me to the right place, I'm glad I'm able to use Emby again!

[Q-Droid 1054]

Changes to the main systemd unit file for Emby are overwritten by updates. You should use systemd drop-in overrides to make customizations permanent.

 

[luckyluca 3]

Ok. It looks like when I change /etc/emby-server.conf and add EMBY_USER=conte to it (rather than changing the systemd config file) makes it work too, and it appears more canon.

[luckyluca 3]

ok, changing emby-server.conf didn't work. It appears that the user specified in the systemd config file takes precedence.

Anyway, it's solved.

[Luke 43542]

Thanks for following up.