Advice on Moving Install to another location with DB

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
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1

Current Set up:
Old Desktop PC running Ubuntu Server with Plex installed directly in OS

Task:
I want to move my install to a new server I have just built but there are issues with doing a straight Migration.
In the current server is a 10TB drive that I want to use in the new server so it will be formatted as it will built into a large RAID. I am backing up all media to a NAS that I have just to keep the data whilst I build out the new Server.
When I get the new server up and running I want to copy all Media onto it from the NAS but I want to retain the watched, Date Added etc so I assume I need to restore the database somehow. Can anyone offer guidance on this?

Steps I have are:

  1. Copy Media from Ubuntu Server to NAS
  2. Pull HDD from Ubuntu Server and put it in Dell Server along with other HDD to make up a RAID.
  3. Create Ubuntu Server VM on Dell as Docker Server
  4. Install Plex via Docker on VM
  5. Copy all media from NAS onto Dell Server

I know how to do all that, it is just the retention of the meta data (watched, date added) that I don’t know to do. As the current location is a drive that will be formatted I just need advice on getting the current meta data into the new server once it is up and running.

2

The trick in all this is a combination of steps:

  1. Clone the server (trivial)
  2. Move the media to a new location UNLESS the mount paths are identical.

What is the Dell running as the base OS ?

3

Thanks for responding. I’ll be running ESXi from a USB plugged into the server, then will create VMs so it will be Ubuntu Server as a Docker server. Plex will be a Docker Container in tht VM

The issue is that the 10TB drive where it currently resides will be put in the new server and formatted.
You have a point though, maybe a clone of the server would work.

4

  1. Why abstract the PMS server further in docker when you’ve already placed it in an ESXi VM? That’s being wasteful and adding complexity. You’ll need to pass the QSV from ESXi into the VM and then again into the container. This is why I ask “Why?”

  2. Will the mount points (where media is stored) in the VM be the same as they are now on the existing machine?

INFO: Cloning.

6

I was going to create one VM for Nginx PM, then another VM that is Docker to host 2 apps, one being Plex.
I may go back to the drawing board on this though now you’ve mentioned it and plan out a better way.

7

When I ran PMS on ESXi,

  1. Ubuntu Server VM
  2. PMS native app in that VM with the QSV passed in.

Trivial & done

You don’t waste any unnecessary resources (including CPU)

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