Collections are pivotal for me in my use of Plex. I have many of them, primarily of you-tube video clips. Several times I have had to uninstall Plex, each time I have had to then reinstall Plex and then manually recreate these collections from zero at great cost to time. What windows folder are these collection definitions stored in?? and what procedure can I follow to backup and then, following a reinstall, recover these collections?
The info is stored in the Plex database.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201539237-backing-up-plex-media-server-data/
Thanks Fordguy61 for your reply,
Note my system is Windows 11 PC
The support article link you have provided doesn’t explicitly state where collections are stored but I am interpreting there are 2 locations I need to backup?
1/ C:\Users\mike_\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server\Metadata &
2/ The registry as referred to in the linked support article [see attached image]
[Moderator edit: NEVER post your Plex token]
Note the registry entries I have for the location specified in the support article don’t seem to refer to collections anywhere.
Can you confirm these 2 groups of files are the only file locations I need to concern myself with to be able to recover collections?
Then, do I just need to make a copy of these 2 groups of files, save in a non-plex file location & then copy back into the source folders in the event of an application re-install?
Finally, I have no experience working with the windows registry. Can you advise how I would go about making a copy of this. Is it just copy and paste to a text file and then copy and paste back in in the event of reinstall?
Many thanks Fordguy, this is a big-long standing issue for me and if you can help me establish this backup and recovery process for Plex collections it will cement Plex as my media app of choice well into the future. Many thanks, Michael.
The bare minimum is to backup the Plex database files, com.plexapp.plugins.library.blobs.db and com.plexapp.plugins.library.db.
However, you should back up the entire Plex data folder and registry settings to protect from a catastrophic failure such as the drive failing and you cannot access any data.
To restore: Move an Install to Another System (you’re effectively doing the same thing).
I run PMS on Linux, not Windows. I’ve edited the registry on my Win10 PC, but have no experience with backup or restore procedures.
The Backing Up Plex Media Server Data document has a link to a Microsoft article regarding backing up the registry.
I checked the Tips & Tricks section of the forum and found PSA: Script to back up and restore Plex app data on a Windows system. It was updated in April, so the author is keeping it current. You might reach out to him regarding support for Windows 11.
FYI, the registry entries contain the server identity and settings, not any info about content, collections, etc. If you do not have the registry info, you can still restore the server, since that info is in the Plex data folder. You will have to re-claim the server and re-share libraries with any users (just re-share, not re-invite).
Hi again FordGuy,
Thank you so much for your most recent advice.
I have found com.plexapp.plugins.library.db but the .blobs file you mention doesn’t appear to be in my folders.
In case it is relevant I attach an image of the folder structure I am seeing.
In any event, I need to be certain I have collections 100% covered. I have read through the script definitions you sent me for the backup and restore script written by Alek Davis and can see that he might have the solution but the implementation is likely to be beyond my capabilities. I have reached out to him to ask if he has a simpler solution just for collections or if he would offer a paid service to do a one time backup for me. Fingers and toes crossed i can get a solution for this.
Regards,
Michael.
Wrong location. That is the installation directory for the Plex desktop client.
You want C:\Users\mike\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server.
You can always manually backup the Plex Data Folder. Stop Plex, then copy the Plex Data Folder to an external drive. When the copy is finished, restart Plex.
Thanks FordGuy for highlighting the correct file location for Plex data.
Do you think that this folder would contain the names of my plex collections and the file locations of the underlying media files applying to each collection? If so, would copying the backed up folder back into the original source folder after a plex reinstall automatically rebuild the collections?
Kind Regards,
Michael Power
Yes. The information is stored in the Plex database, which is in the Plex Data Folder.
The Plex Data Folder contains thousands of files. Consider compressing (zipping) the folder, then copying the zip file to the backup location. Copying one large zip file will be faster than thousands of small files.
You can use Windows built-in compression (right click on folder → Send To → Compresses Folder. You could also use freeware programs such as 7-zip.
Follow Move an Install to Another System . The preparation steps are important.
The Copy Server Data From Source System section is when you restore the Plex Data Folder backup.
You can skip the “Copy Additional Server Settings…” section. It has nothing to do with collections.
Regarding the Windows Registry settings…
The Plex settings in the Windows Registry have nothing to do with collections. It is where Plex stores server settings such as which remote access port to use, if auto empty trash is enabled, etc.
If you do not restore the registry settings, the server will have default settings and you’ll have to manually put things back to their prior settings. If you are sharing libraries with others, you may have to re-share the libraries, but you will not have to re-invite the users.
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