Can I get my carefully thought-out previous settings back after HD crash?

[mtnest]

Server Version#: 1.16.0.1226

I’d made many, MANY changes and adjustments to my Plex library over the last couple years…custom poster art, refined descriptions for different versions of the same films (Director’s Cuts, extended versions, black & white vs. color versions).

You name it, I adjusted it.

Then last week, my external media hard drive (attached to my Mac Mini server) crashed, taking with it all my photos, home videos, films, tv shows.

Today, I’m up and running again with new hard drive and a (thankfully) completely restored backup of my all my media.

However…in the interim, Plex server seems to have done an update, and saw zero files. When I connected the new media hard drive with all my restored media and re-started Plex server, it began a Library Update (which has been running for ~10 hours now).

A quick peek at things in Plex Media Player shows me that ALL of the customizations I made are, of course, gone. However…

…my Mac Mini server is constantly backed-up locally via Time Machine.

SO HERE’S THE QUESTION: Is there a Plex settings / preference / data file I can pull off of my Mac Mini’s server TM backup from before the hard drive crash, and IMPLANT it (somewhere) in my Mini, which will bring back all of my carefully-wrought settings and customizations?

I know it’s a longshot, but I felt I had to ask.

Thank you!

[cblevins321]

I use Windows for Plex, but long as Time Machine backed up your entire user profile, you should be able to get everything back

Move an Install to Another System | Plex Support

Substitute the Time Machine backup for the “source system.” You might have to do something special in Mac OS to display hidden files/folders.

[mtnest]

It didn’t occur to me that the process of MOVING a Plex install from one system to another would be pretty much the same idea as what I was trying to do.

I think this is exactly what I was looking for…thanks!

[rbeatse]

Although this does not help with other configurations on the server aspect, the carefully curated data for your media can be saved off using LAMBDA.

[REL] Lambda (Local Assets-Metadata Double Agent) for Plex Metadata export)

Link: https://github.com/ZeroQI/Lambda.bundle Features: Takes Plex metadata and save it locally alongside media files, including collections ‘Local Media Assets’ imports back local metadata exported, and what isn’t supported will be imported back with this agent: collection summary (not yet supported for upload: collection poster, fanart, and not yet supported for upload/download: metadata text fields in NFO file) It supports the export of following Plex metadata: Series: (*)Poster, F…

[mtnest]

Thanks…I’m generally an install-an-app and configure-an-app type of user. I’ll tweak and burrow into menus and settings with the best of them…

…but when I looked at that Github link, my eyes glazed over.

If I’m understanding LAMBDA correctly, I download a .zip, unzip and implant it in a Plex folder, rename it…and then it just magically works?

Do I need to restart/reboot anything?

And then, all the metadata and poster/fanart/etc. that I add to Plex will then be saved back alongside the actual media files themselves?

Is that pretty much it?

Thanks…

[rbeatse]

That is pretty much it. Once you have it in place and reboot your server, you go into the “Agents” section and make sure it is checked/turned on and then you can click the gear and turn on the pieces you want to keep (artwork, nfo files, thumbnails, collection data, etc.).
Then, it just works. You will have to do a refresh metadata to get all of the current data since it only runs when the metadata agents run, but new stuff happens as you add it.
The developer is very responsive if anything comes up.
If you ever need to take your data and send it to the Plex server, then it is just a flag within the config.

[mtnest]

Gotcha…until that last sentence:

@rbeatse

If you ever need to take your data and send it to the Plex server, then it is just a flag within the config.

Not sure what that means. Could you please amplify?

This actually sounds like something I might be technically capable of doing, and it would certainly save me a lot of agony in the (hopefully unlikely) event of a future media HD crash.

Thanks…

[rbeatse]

The idea here is that there is a setting that says to take the data within the database and place it on your computer in the file system (basically, the server “wins” in a test of which direction it saves). The other setting says to take what is on your file system and feeds it into the database.
Start here in the Lambda post to see some discussion about the settings and what the do.

[REL] Lambda (Local Assets-Metadata Double Agent) for Plex Metadata export)

OK, when LAMBDA runs it uses this setting to determine which side “wins” when the data in the server does not match what data you have in an already created NFO file. You want to keep it as “Plex” unless you are trying to update your Plex server because you lost data. @ZeroQI’s comment when I asked him: “one of the last fields is the source in case of conflicts. I had ignore to not update any side until plex or local is choosen. if the nfo and plex information differs, it indicates which s…

[mtnest]

This actually sounds pretty cool. I was pretty taken aback to find that my ~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/ folder was 30.4 GB.

Seems to me, if Plex is storing THAT large a database, there should be an option (at the very least) to store it along with the media it refers to…especially when they’re on different drives. In my case, the boot drive of my Mac Mini that runs Plex Server is relatively small, while the external drive that holds my media files has 5 TB free.

30 gigs of data will go relatively unnoticed. That’s the equivalent of a few hi-resolution, hi-def movies.

Sounds like LAMBDA does the equivalent of that…except it sounds like it’s still gonna keep that 30.4 GB hit on my boot drive.

I’ll check it out, thanks!

[mtnest]

Thanks for this tip…I just followed it, and it worked PERFECTLY.

All my customized, curated data is back, and I couldn’t be happier.

THANK YOU!

[rbeatse]

@ZeroQI Another happy customer!!

[cblevins321]

You can move your metadata folder. There’s an option in the settings. I wouldn’t move it to a network location (like a NAS) because that would slow things down. A directly-attached USB drive would be fine, though.

[HowTo] An extended guide on how to move the Plex data folder on Windows

By default, Plex server stores all its own data on the system drive, in the AppData path of the Windows user. You might want to change that location, if your system drive is a small SSD or you are simply having capacity issues. Moving Plex data to a dedicated drive also makes it easier to retain your Plex server data when changing machines or re-installing Windows from scratch. For larger servers/collections, I recommend a dedicated, internal SSD drive. Exit/End/Quit/Close plex, using the t…

That’s how to do it on Windows, but the procedure is the same (don’t worry about the external drive format; the MacOS default one is perfectly fine).

[OttoKerner]

@cblevins321

That’s how to do it on Windows, but the procedure is the same

No, the setting where you are defining the location of the metadata folder doesn’t exist in the Mac plex server. You’ll have to use a SymLink instead.