Access Links for Emby — guide

Installation

You need Emby Server 4.10.1 or newer.

Sign in to your MediaLab Works account, open Licenses and download the plugin DLL (available on an active subscription, a lifetime license within its update window, or during the free 30-day trial).
Copy the DLL into the Emby plugins folder and restart Emby Server:
- Linux (package): /var/lib/emby/plugins/
- Docker: the plugins folder inside your Emby config volume
- Windows: %AppData%\Emby-Server\programdata\plugins\
Open Access Links in the Emby dashboard menu and click License. Paste your license key and activate it, or enter your e-mail to start the free 30-day trial or buy a license. The plugin contacts the license server, binds the key to this Emby server and shows the license as Active.

The license is checked once a day (and at every Emby start). Without internet the plugin keeps working for 7 days after the last successful check; after that it is stopped until it can check again.

License

Without a valid license the plugin is stopped; only the License page keeps working (there you can start the trial, buy, enter the key or update).

With a valid license, the same page can install an update or roll back to the previous version if an update causes trouble. Restart Emby after either.

Configuration

Open Access Links in the Emby dashboard menu.

HTTPS: Access Links works with HTTPS addresses only. If the page says HTTPS is not enabled, add a certificate in Emby's network settings; until then the https:// links will not open.
Local address: leave it empty to use the server's network IP and HTTPS port automatically, type a name from your network (for example media.lan; the HTTPS port is added for you) or a full https://… address. Tip: if your certificate is issued for a name, use that name, resolved to the server in your network; a bare IP address usually makes browsers warn.
External address: type it exactly as you would in a browser outside your home, with the external port, for example https://example.com:2096. The external port may differ from the local one. If Emby already knows an external address, the page suggests it with a button. Anything pasted from the browser bar after the address (such as /web/index.html#!/home) is removed for you.
Click Save.

Daily use

The page lists every link in groups: Emby (web app, sign-in screen, admin dashboard, server address for apps) and one group for each MediaLab plugin installed on the server (Quick Connect, Registration, Cashier, Share Links, MediaLab TV, Headend). Each link shows who it is for and its local and external address.
For each address: Open, Copy or QR. Show the QR code on screen so a phone can scan it, for example the Quick Connect page or the sign-up form.
Check all links reads the certificates, confirms that the external address reaches this same server and tests every page. Warnings say exactly what is wrong: HTTPS off, certificate expired or expiring within 14 days, certificate not covering the address, or an external address that reaches another server.
Other Emby / Jellyfin servers: add a name, the type and the https:// address of another server (up to 50). Its links are built for you; Check shows its name, version, real type and which plugin pages exist on it (a missing page usually means the plugin is not installed there).

What it sends where

Checks run only when you click Check all links or Check: the server connects to the addresses you entered to read their certificate, their public server information and whether each page answers. Nothing secret is sent.
QR codes are generated on your server; no address goes to an outside service.
Nothing goes to medialab.works except the license check.

Troubleshooting

"HTTPS is not enabled on this server": add a certificate in Emby's network settings, then restart Emby.
"The certificate does not cover the local address": the local address is an IP address or a name missing from the certificate. Use a name the certificate covers, resolved to the server in your network.
"The external address does not answer from the server": many routers cannot reach their own external address from inside ("hairpin NAT"). Open the external link from a phone on mobile data to check it.
"The external address reaches ANOTHER server": the port forwarding or the reverse proxy sends that address to a different Emby or Jellyfin server; fix the forwarding, or the external address.