I was wondering if this is doable and want to bring awareness to this long standing issue. I suggested awhile back that it would be nice if we had some one click buttons to backup both database/Metadata (to like a flash drive) and then have another button to restore these items. I know I can move the internal storage to external (if that works for super large databases) and maybe have everything I need to restore this to a new shield.
Let me run this down and see what you guys think.
Move internal storage to external (So I can get to the files)
Copy the database and Metadate out somewhere.
Install Plex on a new shield and set the internal Storage to external.
Go in and overwrite the database and Metadata on external storage and reboot.
One, has anyone tried this and does it work. I thought I saw where one guy was doing it but because of his very larger database it never moved to external storage. Mine is showing over 50GB of data being used for the Plex Media server (I am using a Pro with upgraded SSD storage).
Like I said, it would be REALLY nice to have a process of like put in a USB stick, click the backup button and backup everything and then go to a new shield and click restore, locate the USB drive, import and reboot and everything just work. Now that we have a new shield, this would be SUPER handy. I mean basically it works like that now so wouldn’t be too hard to do (I would think).
Lets keep this going and hopefully plex will make some progress on this long standing issue.
Thanks for the fast reply. However, have you heard anything regarding a simpler solution in the works. I feel like a backup/restore option could work very well for all platforms and not just the shield. This would take out all of the technical know how of locating all of the files, backing them up and restoring them by hand.
I actually have 3 shields and might mess around with this on my two 16GB ones. I make the mistake of starting from scratch on 1.18 when all the new music stuff came out and this has been a nightmare. When you listen to extreme metal, it only finds like 50% of my stuff so I am left of fixing it all by hand… I am about half done and it’s been a week.
No I have not heard of an alternative solution. Personally, I don’t think certain things should be made too easy. It just invites people to push buttons without knowing the consequences.
Making backing up and restoring too easy invites people to press buttons and break things?
That’s silly. People get new hardware, things break. Having to re-setup a Plex library from scratch and losing all of your metadata sucks. Honestly, there should be an option to have an encrypted automated backup to cloud storage services like Google Drive, and it should be a first party solution from Plex, not an add-on that’s not supported on a wide variety of devices.
Well I was going to do a test with my 16GB shield but clearly my music library is way too big. I basically stopped around 1000 artists when I have 4000. I guess I will move this to the 64GB external storage and play around with that.
So… I now that my 16GB has filled up I wanted to move it to external storage and did not know I had 3 options. It shows Internal (System Storage Location), Internal (User Accessible storage Location) and USB Drive.
I was unaware that you could still keep it internal but User Accessible Storage. This could be interesting on my Pro where I could have access to the database/metadata and back it up but still be on the fast internal storage (Pro upgraded to SSD).
For my 16GB Shield I am going to have to go to the USB drive cause it’s already full.
Question: Has anyone tried this Internal User Accessible Storage and can you just get to it in windows file manager?
Thanks for the fast reply again… So, other then being on the encrypted internal storage, is there any real reason to be on that. So if I move this to internal storage (User Accessible), Can I move this database to lets say into a windows machine with all the database/metadata?
In my tests, I am just going to move it right back to the shield once I am done doing a full reset.
If you mean so you can manipulate it, yes. If you want to keep the DB on the Windows machine as it’s normal location, you can, but don’t do it. The database should not be accessed by PMS over a network. This can lead to data corruption.
Ok, Scratch going to a windows machine and used it for your PMS on the windows machine. However, Should this work just fine going from and Old shield to a new shield?
I was also looking at this Post: Cannot Move Database From Internal Storage and he is basically doing the same thing I am trying to do but his failed multiple times. I am wondering if anything has changed with the new builds to make this work.
Good points… I was also thinking that when I copy out the database/metadata, I should stop the server as well. This is technically live data and I wouldn’t want the PMS trying to access out the data (or updating it) while I am trying to copy it out.
@MovieFan.Plex, When you say “previous version” can you clarify version numbers?
I’m the OP of the thread quoted above that was having trouble moving my databases to “Internal (User Acessible).
I haven’t tried doing the move again for maybe 6 weeks since it last failed, and haven’t spotted anything in Release Notes that would have lead me to believe this was fixed?
I know 1.14 was broken. I’ll have to dig up when the fix was made. I think it was 1.16. But if you are on the 1.17 or 1.18, it should be fixed. If not, let us know along with logs so we can investigate.
@anon18523487 my initial complaint about it not working was on PMS version 1.16.5.1554 back on 27 August, and I posted logs there in my original thread at:-
