I’d like to copy my plex server from my desktop to a server and have both online, essentially as mirrors of each other except for the name. Eventually I might split them for different purposes. I came across this article regarding moving the server:
And I gave it a quick try and while it seemed to work, I can’t seem to get both systems running at the same time. It’s possible I made a mistake in the steps somewhere, but I think there are identifiers stepping on each other by having both up and running. When I launch an app (such as the iPad app) I’ll only see one, sometimes the the other, but not both. In looking the registry settings I copied, the first key I see is MachineIdentifier, so perhaps both being the same is causing problems or another setting is conflicting.
I could just install from scratch and copy the libraries over, but have configured a number of agents some time ago (dvd order, a few others but don’t recall all the specifics). So, it would be much more convenient to be able to copy the data but leave both online.
Anyone have luck in doing so? I’d appreciate any pointers!
MachineIdentifier and ProcessedMachineIdentifier are what make the server instance unique. If you have two instances active, this will cause them to appear as one.
If you’re using Linux, the simplest method to remedy this is to stop PMS, rename Preferences.xml to Preferences.xml.old
Now start PMS, and go to http://127.0.0.1:32400/web on that machine. Step through the initial setup with one exception: Skip creating any libraries. When you complete the setup wizard and exit to the dashboard, you will find your library there for you.
As caution, to avoid ambiguity, I do recommend changing the server’s Friendly name until you can properly deconflict identities the way you want.
I belive the Machine ID and Processed Machine IDs are in the registry. Those are in the details of Moving to a new system. AFAIK, once you have moved to a new system (note move not clone) the old machine ID values must be removed.
Hey,
what I did was I copied my Plex Data to another SSD and I also have the same libraries on my backup server.
Now I login with another created user account and invited this user to my Main Server.
Now I have the backup server appearing on my main server and is accessible.
You should check Plex.tv and make sure of what you think you’re seeing locally.
Respectfully, you’re on the ‘hairy edge’ by keeping the same machine IDs. You’ve managed to change one and the tokens but that’s not a 100% guarantee of uniqueness.
Best of luck! Mixing IDs is a tricky thing. Remember, what Plex.tv sees / thinks is the right server is where a remote connection ends up. If it thinks that “A” is correct, but you meant “B”. Oh well… Cool?
Were I you, I would do so. From the simple perspective of “Server A has one type of content” and “Server B has different, perhaps family-only content”. This maximizes your privacy and not accidentally sharing your family-only content with everyone you share with .
I started over by doing a clean install on machine 2, and copied the 3 reg keys with the guids and kept them aside. I then copied everything over per the article above, but used the 3 keys I just grabbed from the install. Guessing I could’ve changed the guids manually, but this was quick and worked great. Clients now see both servers. Thx for the help!
The Servers are exactly the same except the hardware.
I did copy the data because it took so long to generate thumbnails.
I didn’t think of ID’S etc,sorry for that.
The best thing I can do is to delete the server and the ssd with the data on it and start new.
Thank you for illuminate me
Didn’t know that.
If you don’t copy the registry keys, but take everything else, replicate the paths (drive mappings), it will, by default be a whole new server. It’ll write new machine ID information. This gives you the identity change you need automatically. All the metadata will be fully intact. We do the same on linux by deleting the “Preferences.xml” file (which contains the machine IDs). The reason metadata will be intact is because PMS will see all the pathnames are intact.
You’ll have your full setup, except for what you’ve shared or sync’d, with all the metadata and watched status information. The reason shares and sync doesn’t transfer is because the sync info is linked to the old server, not this new one. The new server will have everything needed but the client will download again when it connects up. You’ll have to delete any previous sync’d files from the ‘old instance’.
Ok. That´s nice.
Then I
shut down PMS
search and delete the Machine ID and Processed Machine IDs in the registry
Start PMS and it should be ok so far? (Or delete the “Preferences.xml” also?)
