Backing up and restoring metadata for the movies & tv shows

Plex Media Server Metadata & Adding Files
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Server Version#:PlexMediaServer-1.30.0.6486
Player Version#:

I’m running Plex on a DS1520+ under DSM7.

I want to backup my movie & tv shows to an eternal HDD so that I can reorganize my volumes.
This will involve uninstalling Plex, deleting and recreating the shared folders and volumes (with better planning this time around).

Where is the metadata for the movies & tv shows stored? I had to manually add jpgs for quite a few of the DVD cover art, but I don’t know where these files are stored. I know they don’t get stored with the actually movie/tv show files though.

So, how do I back up the metadata, and restore it after I redo my volumes and shared folders?

Happy Holidays!

Thanks

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On DSM 7, the process is very simple now.

  1. Install Synology “HyperBackup” app

  2. Stop Plex

  3. Now create a backup of the entire “PlexMediaServer” shared folder.
    ( I usually save the backup to another shared folder on the volume ).

  4. When it’s complete, you can save that hbkp (Hyper BacKuP) file anywhere you want.

  5. In the future, should you ever want to restore your server to this exact date/time then that file will do so for you. It’s a compressed, perfect image backup.

BEFORE you start on this, since you’re rearranging the volumes, you have some extra steps

  1. Settings - Server - Library
  2. Turn OFF - Automatic library updating
  3. Turn OFF - Partial Scan
  4. Turn OFF - Empty Trash
  5. SAVE the changes.
  6. Now stop PMS and perform the backup

When you come back after all this, there will be more work to do (tell PMS about the new locations without losing metadata )

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Thanks Chuck. Until now, I haven’t been using the HyperBackup application, I’ve just been copying the video files to an external drive.

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@cappy2112

How you backup your actual media is best for you to decide.

I am recommending HyperBackup for backing up the PlexMediaServer (metadata) shared folder because it will also backup all the unique properties and permissions required.

When it restores the backup, it will recreate the PlexMediaServer shared folder if necessary.

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Yes, I understand. I will start using Hyperbackup for the metadata folder.
Do you also recommend using Hyperbackup for the actual video files as well?

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Backing up media is touchy.

I have BluRay rips. They don’t compress. For this reason, I have a mirror-copy backups.

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How do you create the mirror copy backup? Is it does automatically via a raid mirror, or manually?

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I"ve been using the “Copy To” feature in File Station. Lately DSM7 has been telling me there isn’t enough space even though I’ve tried copying 1 small file. I have several TB available on the external drive. It’s quite frustrating.

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Question 1:
I have two big NAS machines.
This process is automated.

  1. wake up the backup machine (Wake On Lan); wait until ready
  2. NFS mount the target share locally on /tmp/backup directory
  3. RSYNC with delete to preserve everything.
  4. unmount the backup machine
  5. SSH admin@backup poweroff # go back to sleep
cd /vol/media
rsync -av --delete  .  /tmp/backup/media

Question 2:

DSM might say there isn’t enough space if the permissions are wrong too.

If you can show me a few small screenshots, I’ll try to help

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