Creating a clean CLONE of a Plex Server on Windows 10

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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I know this has been discussed a few times in this forum, but it is still unclear how best to create a perfect Win10 Clone of a Plex Server. I know how to transfer the data effectively and that has not been an issue.
The problem has been the registry entries in Windows. If I just copy the registry from source to destination and run both PCs, changes to the new PC typically impact the old PC. I have copied the registry and then deleted all the ‘Identifier’ keys. That has not worked well either.

That leads to my question. Does anyone know what I should do with each registry entry?

The following are different from source PC to destination PC. My initial thought is to use the destination values for each. In the forum, some have suggested deleting the 1st three values instead.

Does anyone know what I should do with each?
MachineIdentifier
ProcessedMachineIdentifier
AnonymousMachineIdentifier
OldestPreviousVersion
PlexOnlineToken
LastAutomaticMappedPort
CertificateUUID
PubSubServer
PubSubServerPing

The following just exist on the source PC. Assume I will copy each to the registry in the destination (including GracenoteUser):
GracenoteUser, FSEventLibraryUpdatesEnabled, CloudSyncNeedsUpdate, autoEmptyTrash, GenerateBIFBehavior, ButlerEndHour, ButlerTaskUpdateScheduled

All of the following are the same from source to destination. Assume I just leave these alone:
SetupLanguageCode, MetricsEpoch, AcceptedEULA, PublishServerOnPlexOnlineKey, PlexOnlineUsername, PlexOnlineMail, PlexOnlineHome, DlnaEnabled, DvrIncrementalEpgLoader, CertificateVersion, PubSubServerRegion, LanguageInCloud

Any help would this would be appreciated! Thanks.

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Keeping/cloning the registry keys will help creating your “perfect” clone. Their of no consequence if you keep them. However, they do pose an issue if not present or not copied over.
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201105343-advanced-hidden-server-settings/#toc-1
Not all are listed due to the fact that some settings were not meant to be user changeable.
If my memory serves me the MachineIdentifier identifies your individual server(that particular PC) to plex.tv. This is useful if you have multiple PC’s in the house running Plex. You can see how many servers plex has detected from PlexWeb.
Settings → Authorized Devices → server from drop-down.

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But nonetheless, there is no real consequence if you keep all the settings from your old PC to the new PC with the exception of maybe LocalAppDataPath or TranscoderTempDirectory but that should not be an issue if you are indeed creating a “prefect clone”

Key things to remember for “perfect clone”

  • ALWAYS copy your plex database. NEVER move your plex database.
  • Disable Empty trash automatically after every scan option.
    https://support.plex.tv/articles/200289326-emptying-library-trash/#toc-0
  • ALL paths should be the same.
    It won’t help if your old PC had your movies at M:\PlexMovies
    and the new PC has them at F:\PlexMovies
  • Copy over the registry keys.
  • Copy over your plex database.

I always imported the registry keys before installing plex. That way plex will reuse the set paths that I had before.

Sounds like two things here. You want two different servers or you cloning one to another?

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See I want to backup my Genre tags from one server and restore them onto a new server

1 Like
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Thanks NewPlaza. Ideally, I’m trying to copy Plex from PC1 to PC2 as an exact clone. When finished, both PCs will continue to run in a rack in my basement. 99% of the time I would use PC1 exclusively. If it crashes, I will have an exact clone ready (Well, near exact. Just from the last time I cloned the data).

OttoKerner link was interested and very helpful as well.

Here is what I believe are the steps (taken from both responses and other items I’ve read):

  • Disable ‘empty trash’, log out, and stop ‘Plex Update Service’ on both source (PC1) and destination (PC2)
  • Copy over my plex database
  • Copy all ‘Plex Media Server’ registry keys from PC1 to PC2 (overwrite PC2 with PC1)
  • On PC2, delete the following registry keys – AnonymousMachineIdentifier, MachineIdentifier, ProcessedMachineIdentifier, PlexOnlineToken
  • Restart everything on both PCs.

Did I capture that correctly?

Last, on the destination PC2, should I leave the CertificateUUID, PubSubServer, PubSubServerPing registry keys alone? Their values will remain as copied from the source PC1. The different PC2 values will be discarded.

Thanks again. Appreciate it.

5

Well… In that case your database is most important and maybe a reg key or two(only if you have manual set paths such as LocalAppDataPath) and/or the metadata folder. The db having the most absolute importance. This holds just about everything about plex, to libraries, recently added, watch count, custom edits, who has access to shares, everything…

In a nutshell, you could be up and running in a few minutes if you did have a catastrophic failure with just the server part and you had a very recent backup of the database.(assuming all paths are exact). Sure metadata(artwork, posters, movie & show synopsis/summary) may be missing if the metadata folder wasn’t backed up aswell but that’s small potatoes compared to a db lost.
So… IMHO, the most important.

  • Your media… No media=nothing to watch.
  • The plex database. Without it. you have to rebuild all the libraries again… You know… Create the libraries, assign all the paths, blah, blah, blah.

That looks about right.

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You can leave them as they are.

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I followed the steps exactly. This includes zipping “Plex Media Server” on PC1 and extracting it to the exact same place on PC2 (C:\Users\John\AppData\Local\Plex Media Server). Both PCs have access to the media, which is stored on my Synology NAS (same exact path from each PC).

When I open Plex, all the library titles show up right under the destination PC2 – Movies, Music, Photos, etc. But when I click on any of the libraries, I get the message “There was an unexpected error loading this library”. Any idea what I am doing wrong?

8

I did check the new destination PC2 this morning. Everything is working fine. Thanks for all your help NewPlaza and OttoKerner. Appreciate it!

I plan to move the plex database on both PC1 and PC2 (independently) to separate internal SSD drives. OttoKerner – Are you instructions from 2017 still the latest?

Thanks again!

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Yes, I have updated these just recently.

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Sorry, one more question. The database has now been cloned from PC1 to PC2. I was hoping they were completely independent. One quirk though that I can’t seem to figure out. I’ll provide the specific example.
Right after the clone was completed, if I look at “On Deck”, Vikings S6 E5 is next up. I watch the show on PC1. On PC1, Vikings S6 E6 is now “On Deck”, as you would expect. Given they are now separate instances, I would expect that on PC2, Vikings S6 E5 would be “On Deck”. On PC2, I have not played the show yet. As it turns out, on PC2, Vikings S6 E6 is on “On Deck”. Any idea how on PC2 it knew to increment?

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The only thing that comes to mind is that you did not perform the steps in here I want to backup my Genre tags from one server and restore them onto a new server after making the clone…

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Thanks OttoKerner. It looks like there are three steps mentioned in the link. The first is to make sure the source/destination have the same address/path/drive letter. This is true for me.
The second suggests the same platform/operating system. I’m going from Win10 to Win10.
The third mentioned I should removing the keys – AnonymousMachineIdentifier, MachineIdentifier, ProcessedMachineIdentifier, PlexOnlineToken. I am certain that I did this correctly.
Is there anything I missed?

13

I finally did figure this out. I had the trakt add-on installed. As I completed shows on one server, it would eventually updating the other.

The clone itself seems to be working perfectly. Thanks again OttoKerner and NewPlaza for the help.

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