Yes, it’s just a server I added into Plex. I don’t think it’s a Plex server on its own. It’s just two 14TB HDs with the media located there. Folders/files are located on Synology and I added those music/video folders to my Plex account. I did this after I had added/setup the initial computer PC. Does that make sense? There’s a Plex app within Synology that I can launch Plex or I can log into Plex via a browser (plex.tv).
I’ll repeat my mantra that my #1 “must” is that the NAS setup in my current plex account is not altered. I may not even add this new PC to Plex as a second server on my Plex account - same as my Old PC was and I could select which one I wanted within Plex.
I’ve been doing a lot of research on this but still can’t seem to find a concrete - positive - answer (at least to my brain, sorry).
In answer to your post above, in a sense I DO want to make a clone of one server to the other? That way I’ll have everything exactly as it was on the other computer? At that point, I would like to delete the old PC server. I would want to then add the new PC as a server in the newly installed Plex software. How would I discover the new PC at that point, or is that not possible? The steps 1-7 above from Otto are meant for a fresh new install of Plex, no? I am so sorry if I am getting anyone frustrated in explanation or redundancy in asking my questions.
I do sincerely appreciate the effort. I thought I might just make a short/quick Y/N list here after reading all the input from everyone.
Y/N - If I install PMS on my new PC it will not keep my current PMS data (which would be my old PC and my NAS - including any music/media/metadata/playlists etc)
Y/N - If I install PMS on the new PC and log into my account, my old PC and NAS and all my data (music/media/metadata/playlists, etc) will be there?
Y/N - If I copy my %localappdata% Plex folder from my old PC, then after Plex installs on new machine, copy that over the folders made when Plex installs and it will allow that data to reside on Plex (as it currently does in Plex for both old PC and NAS)?
Y/N - After doing that, merge the registry with regedit file which would carry over that data as well? (I assume these would be in tandem?)
Maybe put it another way; what’s the best way to ensure I keep all my NAS media/playlists etc on Plex when I install it on my new PC? Should I just install PMS on the new server - and as long as the port forwarding and private IP still are correct, would that work? (I’ve already made an additional port forwarding for the new PC with a different External Port and internal address (same internal port).
If I can just keep my NAS intact after installing PMS, I’m good. That’s really the only thing I’m most concerned about. The old PC (and new PC) do not have playlists, or other elements crucial to me. But I would like to add the new PC but am still confused about the sequence to make sure I don’t lose any of my NAS elements in Plex.
I know I’ve beaten it to death so please forgive. Forums are meant to help to everyone from newbies (me) to those extremely experienced so I hope you’ll be patient with me. I just don’t want any mistakes made by me through misinterpretation. I’ve learned that lesson to many times.
One more note - I forget who asked me but it dawned on me that yes, Plex is on my NAS since Synology includes the Plex app which I installed from their available apps from the Package Center. I do update the app their from time to time if I see that there’s an update available. I also installed Plex on Windows.
I hope that answers that. Not sure how it affects our exchange here.
Adding a new server will not change anything about your current Plex servers.
Please clarify a few things. I want to make sure I provide the correct answers to your questions, so things will proceed as straightforward as possible.
Q1: Based on your earlier screenshot, you currently have two Plex Media Servers, DS720 and OldPC, correct?
Q2: You want to add a new Plex Media Server, “NewPC” (or whatever it will be named), correct?
Q3: Which server is currently your primary Plex server, the one with the libraries you access, the music playlists, etc. Is it DS720 or OldPC?
NOTE: I am NOT asking where the media physically resides. I am asking which Plex Media Server you access.
Q4: You want “NewPC” to have the same libraries, playlists, etc as your current primary Plex server, correct?
Adding a new server will not change anything about your current Plex servers.
Please clarify a few things. I want to make sure I provide the correct answers to your questions, so things will proceed as straightforward as possible.
Q1: Based on your earlier screenshot, you currently have two Plex Media Servers, DS720 and OldPC, correct? YES, THAT IS CORRECT. What slightly confuses me here (that I’m learning now) is that the Plex app itself (whether launched from Synology’s Plex app, or via Plex.tv) is just the app that you can use to view and manage the different servers you’ve added.
Q2: You want to add a new Plex Media Server, “NewPC” (or whatever it will be named), correct? YES, THAT IS CORRECT.
Q3: Which server is currently your primary Plex server, the one with the libraries you access, the music playlists, etc. Is it DS720 or OldPC? IT IS THE DS720.
NOTE: I am NOT asking where the media physically resides. I am asking which Plex Media Server you access. UNDERSTOOD. The most important server is the DS720 as it has the playlists, metadata, etc. In fact, if I just removed the “Old PC” and was left with the DS720 and all was intact with the playlists, etc., that would be okay.
Q4: You want “NewPC” to have the same libraries, playlists, etc as your current primary Plex server, correct? NO, THAT WOULD BE INCORRECT. *The “New PC” would just have some hi-res music files that I don’t have on the DS720. And the only reason I don’t have those on the DS720 is that - when I had the hi-res music on the DS720, and would search music (e.g.) by Tom Petty -
it would bring up multiple instances of the same album (the regular album and the hi-res album) and I found it messy. That’s really the only reason for the “Old PC”. It serves no other function. So again, I could almost do away with needing the “New PC” and could delete the “Old PC” on Plex and just have the one server.*
I have two questions:
Where does all the data for my DS720 reside? (playlists, metadata, etc.). I’d like to back those files up regularly. I do regularly back up my DS720 for the music files but nothing specific to Plex that I’m aware of. I can see the PMS folders on my PC under the AppData but don’t know where that same info resides on my Synology (which is where all the music files - other than hi-res ones - reside. Do you know where that information resides?
My last question is what I posted already, let’s say I want to add the “New PC” to Plex. I’ve not yet installed the PMS software on that computer. Would I need any of the information from the PMS stored in %localappdata% for PMS on the “Old PC” to set up the “new PC?” And is any of that information related to the DS720?
If I just install PMS on my “new PC” and don’t need any of the info from the “old PC”, I would just “claim” this PC when I log into Plex after installing, correct? And I would then add the hi-res music files I want and the DS720 would remain untouched as my other server, correct? I have the port forwarding and external port and proper internal port already made in my router for this new PC.
And if I need the information from the “old PC” and copy that over the files Plex makes when it installs on my “new PC”, would I still be able to “claim” this new server (new PC)?
Finally, I appreciate your patience with me. I’m a newbie at all this. I’ve gotten this far and it’s been working great. But it was time for an upgrade so I built the new W10 PC (not sure if I’ll upgrade to W11 yet), so that’s why I’m at this moment and seeking the guidance of experts. I’m clearly not that.
I just can’t screw up the DS720 in any way. It is set up exactly as I want.
So again, thank you SO very much for your feedback. I’ll await your reply. THANKS!
Do not copy any of the registry information. The playlists, etc are in the Plex Data Folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server), not in the Windows registry.
When copying info from OldPC to NewPC, do not sign out of Plex Media Server on OldPC. You still need to stop Plex Media Server on OldPC before copying the information (so the Plex database files will be closed).
Note: The first step, Disable Emptying of Trash, is important. Do not skip it. You can re-enable it after you’ve copied the info to NewPC.
Plex Web Interface
There are two versions of Plex Web: (1) the local version bundled with Plex Media Server; and (2) the hosted version at app.plex.tv.
Use the local version to initially claim your server, http://server_ip_address:32400/web. If you are running the browser on the server, you can also use http://localhost:32400/23b or http://127.0.0.1:32400/web.
Once your server is claimed, you can use either to manage the server.
The bundled version is always a few releases behind the hosted version, but that will not matter for server administration (current bundled version: 4.76.1; current hosted version: 4.80.0; Differences: Plex Web Announcement Thread).
Now to answer questions:
Yes. Plex Web is the primary way to manage your Plex Media Server installations. It can also be used as a client to play your media, just like any other Plex client.
Use the local version when initially claiming your server. Afterwards you can use either the local or hosted version (as mentioned above).
The desktop app, Plex for Windows/Mac, can also be used to manage a Plex server after the server is claimed. Download, Documentation
DSM 6: /volume1/Plex/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/
DSM 7: /volume1/PlexMediaServer/AppData/Plex Media Server
Note: In Plex Media Server Settings → Scheduled Tasks, check the box for Backup database every three days. The system will keep three or four backups of the database. This provides a recovery point in case the database becomes corrupted for some reason (power fail, system crash, etc). Set this on all your Plex Media Servers if it is not enabled by default.
On my DS918+, I’ve a HyperBackup task that backs up /volume1/PlexMediaServer to a local USB drive once/week.
The information on DS720 is completely separate from the information on any other server. You do not need to copy any info from DS720 to OldPC or NewPC.
Regarding copying info from OldPC to NewPC, I addressed that with Option 1 and Option2 above.
You said: Note: In Settings → Scheduled Tasks, check the box for Backup database every three days . *I looked on my NAS and don’t see “Settings/Scheduled Tasks”. Are you specifically speaking about Synology DS720 or just a NAS in general?
This overview is one of the easiest to understand I’ve received in a long time. I am finally grasping how this all works. I don’t need my old computer for anything really so I’ll delete that from PMS after setting up my new PC.
This was excellent. Thank you so much. All I need is a few points of clarity and I’m good!
There is a version installed on your system when you install Plex Media Server. It is generally referred to as the “local” version on the forum.
There is also an online version at app.plex.tv. The online version is generally referred to as the “hosted” version on the forum.
When you point a browser directly at your Plex server (ex: http://192.168.1.50:32400/web), the browser loads the web app from your server.
When you point a browser at app.plex.tv, the browser loads the version from that host.
For managing your Plex Media Server, it does not matter if you use the local or the hosted (online) version (Caveat: As previously mentioned, you must use the local version to initially claim your Plex Media Server).
When you are playing your media in a web browser, you generally want to use the online/hosted version as it will be the most up to date version.
The local version always lags the online version. The local version is updated only when you update Plex Media Server. The online version will always be the up to date version, since Plex can update it as needed.
Yes. It is a Windows and Mac application. It has a layout similar to Plex Web. You can access the Plex server settings just like you can with Plex Web.
The Plex desktop app is a more capable Plex client than Plex Web. It direct plays more media formats than Plex Web.
Plex Web is limited by the web browser itself. In general, H.264 video and AAC audio direct play, but other formats are transcoded (this varies a bit based on whether you’re using Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc).
The Plex desktop app uses mpv.io as the underlying engine. It can direct play many more video and audio formats than Plex Web, including scaling 4K video to 1080p displays and tonemapping HDR video to SDR display. In short, most everything direct plays, so there is less transcoding by your server.
That is a Plex Media Server setting. I’ve edited my post to add that info.
Enable it on all your Plex Media Servers (it may be enabled by default).
Hello, I am in the process of installing Plex onto my new PC. I installed the latest version of Plex for my NAS as well as downloaded the latest Plex for Windows so they’ll be the same, and most recent versions. It has been installing now after launching it for well over 10 minutes. That seems unusually long for software to install. Is that normal? How long should I expect it to take? And if it doesn’t finish after “x” amount of time, should I close the browser and try again? I always hate to break the chain of a fresh install for fear of problems arising. I did set a restore point before I installed just in case. Let me know if you (or others viewing this exchange) happen to notice this and can let me know. I’ll give it up to a half-hour and will close the browser and start over if that happens. I installed it in Firefox so I hope that’s a friendly browser for such an install. Should I pause my anti-virus protection perhaps? When I went to pause protection, I did notice the Plex icon in the bottom right-hand corner.
Please advise. Thank you.
The Windows installer has already finished and you’re using the web browser to claim and configure, correct?
If so, the software has already been installed. Closing the web browser won’t hurt anything.
You might try refreshing the screen first.
Firefox and Chrome work fine with Plex. I haven’t tried Brave or other browsers.
Plex does set cookies, so disable any cookie/ad blockers during the initial setup of Plex Media Server. You’ll need to whitelist the plex.tv domain and the IP address of your local server as well.
Also, check the PC’s network interface. Make sure it is a Private, not Public network. In Windows 10: Settings → Network & Internet → Status. Click on Properties if you need to change from public to private.
I refreshed the browser that was spinning for almost 50 minutes and when I did it took me right through the setup. It saw my new PC (and the name I gave it). I already had Private set in network settings. I didn’t add any libraries and I clicked off (the red X option) to remove the two default folders it showed me (C: music and C: photos) (those aren’t the exact details but I removed them as I can add music later. The old PC is still showing and the NAS is as well. And all the music, movies and playlists are all there as you said they would be (that nothing would change on the NAS).
Wow, I sure made that harder than it had to be didn’t I? I didn’t realize that Plex back-up was split between the computer (in my case) and the NAS. I was so worried because I thought all the playlists, etc. were stored in the computer under the %localappdata%/Plex because that’s what every article I ended up on had said. This was a great exercise though as I learned a lot, plus I backed up my Plex on the NAS (though it has been routinely backed up with my Music folder (checked box it and Plex on my NAS).
I added one hi-res album from the new PC but it won’t play. No does it show on the left navigation as it did on the old PC (I just added albums one-at-a-time instead of by artist (which I should probably have done). It does show on the right. I waited for a reasonable amount of time for the album to update in Plex and now at least I can see the songs under the album but, when I click to play, it doesn’t play. Do I need to “Grant access” (an option I see if I click the three dots on the right where it also as option to scan library and manage server). I’ve never had to grant access before.
So I added new media from my new PC and now it’s showing both as not being found.
And BTW, when I think back a short time ago, I never did claim the server because it never asked me. I never saw it when I went to plex. Perhaps this is because I had set up the port forwarding and so forth already?
One final question is should I click the box for the “manually specify port” - it’s showing 32400. It’s grayed out now. Should I check that (as I did with the Old PC and NAS)?
And my new PC is an authorized device so this should be working, right? Perhaps I did something during installation? I screen captured my install just so I could refer back to it if need be. But I don’t think I did anything wrong (the only thing I did was remove the two previously mentioned Music and Photo folders on the C drive which I didn’t want to add).
An update - I went ahead and clicked the 34200 box and a message came up with a spinning icon that said “connecting to server”. When it completed, I was able to play the music and the folders are showing underneath now as they should. So that’s all it was.
I appear to be all set!! I can’t thank you enough for you help - and anyone who contributed (you know who you are!).
One last thing; I noticed now that my Old PC server is missing. It’s on a different IP and port so I’m not sure why it would have been removed. I don’t see it in authorized devices either. When I first set up my new PC, I could see both PCs and my NAS. Strange. Not a concern as I was going to delete it anyway, but I would like to know just to increase my knowledge about all this. And also might want to compare a few things. It’s totally gone. I absolutely did not delete this Old PC from Plex. I logged out and closed everything and rebooted but it’s still missing. Very strange. And way to get it back?
You can see it was there before I got the new one going.
I think I answered my own question; when my first PC was set up, it had the internal and external ports both set as 34200 so when I clicked that box on the new PC that was grayed out - which allowed me to play music I added on the new PC a short time ago, it probably wiped out the connection to the old PC. So let me ask; if I simply go in and change the External port on the old PC to something other than 34200, would it show up?
I noticed in this capture that when I created the stuff for the new PC, I entered 34002 instead of 34202. Everything works so I guess it doesn’t matter. But for consistency, if I changed it back to 34202 instead, would Plex just pick it up or would I be creating a problem? I guess a number in external port doesn’t really matter?
If you are local to all three Plex servers and all three are running, they should all appear as Nearby in your list of servers. All three should appear in the list of Authorized Devices as well.
If you signed out of the Plex Server on OldPC (Settings → Server_Name → General), it will be in an unclaimed state and not appear in your list of Authorized Devices.
You can re-claim it by the normal claiming process - point a browser at http://oldpc_ip_address:32400/web. Once it is claimed it will appear in the list of Authorized Devices.
Port forwarding in the router is required for remote access. It has no effect on local access.
The internal port number is always 32400.
The external port number must be unique for each Plex server.
You can change the external port number if you want. When you change the port number in Settings → Remote Access, the server will re-register with the servers at Plex.
Plex uses TCP, you can leave the rule to forward both TCP & UDP. It does not matter to Plex if the rule forwards TCP or both TCP & UDP.
You can check remote access connectivity via canyouseeme.org.
From a system on the same network as the Plex server, go to canyouseeme.org.
Substitute your remote access port number (32400, etc) for the default port 80.
Click Check Port.
The website will tell you if it can make contact with your Plex Server.
Hi, I’ve been trying to figure this out so as to not have to reach out again but several things have come up. And I clearly don’t know the relation between these router settings for protocol, external and internal ports. Yesterday I successfully added the new PC. I never “claimed” it as it never came up. I theorized that perhaps it was because I had made settings (protocol, ext./int. ports). While it was seen and could be seen outside my network, when I added an album, it wouldn’t play. I noticed that the checkbox for “manually specific port/32400” wasn’t checked. After checking it and applying it, the songs would play.
Time period A-yesterday
Installed Plex software on new PC
I never did claim it. It did show up though
I could now see all three servers: NAS, Old PC and New PC
Music I added on new PC wouldn’t play but cover art was there.
On the new PC, I noticed in Remote access that it was unchecked so I checked it and the music then played. However, the Old PC went away. I realized today that the old PC Ext. port was 34200, which is what I clicked/applied for the new PC so I figure it took over that port?
As best I could tell, the Plex app could be launched out of Synology (which was a problem starting yesterday). Now today, the Plex app won’t launch.
Time period B-today
The new PC is now showing up.
The old PC is showing but remote access says it isn’t available outside my network.
I changed the “manually specify port” for the old PC to 34203 - which is its ext. port on the router and now it can be seen outside my network.
Plex is not starting from the NAS. I have to log in via plex.tv.
I am going to restart my Windows machine and see if that brings up the new PC now that I changed the manual port specify from 34200 to 34203. The Ext. port for the new PC is 34002 but I can’t change that in Plex as the new PC is not showing up.
I did the “canyouseeme.org” thing so I tried that. I clicked check port but it’s not seeing it. I get an error message. And the only IP it’s seeing is for the old PC. And i checked the port before I changed the old PC “manual specify port” as well as after and both time it reported this:
I’m a bit lost. I’m SO sorry to trouble you with this. Here are my settings for the Synology as well as Plex.
Another update. All 3 servers (Old PC, New PC, NAS) are all showing up and are available outside my network. All play media fine.
I checked the canyouseeme on the Old PC which does have the .129 IP and it also reported the error.
And Plex still isn’t launching out of Synology. I have called them twice (yesterday and today) and they can’t tell, plus they don’t really support Plex. And a side note to say that I got a rude awakening when he told me that their new version 7 (synology) doesn’t include Plex. That’s where are my metadata/music/movies/playlists etc reside. He did say that he felt Plex has a solution to keep that working on my NAS. Are you aware of such details? I told him that really sucks because the idea of a NAS versus a PC (for me) is that I don’t have to leave my computer running all day.
Anyway, I digress. Good news: All three servers are being seen outside my network and playing music fine. Bad news: Plex isn’t launching out of my Synology. I use that method 99% of the time versus typing in plex.tv. I’d sure like to know what happened to cause it to stop launching.
I believe it was yesterday (or day before) when it stopped launching. Then yesterday it wouldn’t launch still. I changed the setting for manual port for one of the PCs and then discovered Plex launched again out of the NAS. Then I came in this morning and it wouldn’t launch again and still isn’t. I’m 99% sure it has to do with my router settings and what’s in Plex. I’ve made zero changes to the Plex NAS server, it’s all been the PCs.
Maybe I’m not doing this right as I think about it. When you say “from a system on the same network as the Plex server”, which system would that be? And how would I go there? You mean like go to Google.com on my new PC for example? I’m not sure how this works. I was just clicking this canyouseeme from within this forum.
Help.
