# Database Transfer between old and new server **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Suggestions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2021, 11:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325 "2021-01-27T11:09:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bharro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/59ef9b/32.png) [@bharro](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bharro)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:09am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/1 "2021-01-27T11:09:52Z")
Hello Devs, I have already looked through similar requests to this and they seem to be for users wishing to sync two different servers running at the same time. Such as these articles > [@PLEX watched list sync between servers (same user)](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-watched-list-sync-between-servers-same-user/307370): > > I run 2 servers on my network, sounds wierd, but, one is my nas, with all the storage but, not much horsepower, the other is my gateway linux box. with quite a bit more. great when i watch media away from home. but, if i watch a movie on one server, i’d like it to show as watched on both. > [@Sync/recognize played episodes across servers](https://forums.plex.tv/t/sync-recognize-played-episodes-across-servers/289173): > > The idea is that if I have a show on three different servers, I can watch an episode on one server and have it marked as watched on all of the others. It wouldn’t be easy to make this work for series that weren’t matched with TVDB, but I think it could work for those that are matched without too much trouble. But what I wish to be able to do is different. I wish to be able to take the database from one and send to a new server when upgrading from an old to new server. Currently there is no way to sync your watched status between different plex servers without using a plugin. If using these plugins they only provide the ability to sync at a user level (trakt.tv plugin) and not system level or are complicated to setup for people without coding knowledge. There is currently a way to download the database through the troubleshooting section of the settings. ![Download Database](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/a/9/a9fd8a88dad704195f4df6312776bece8aa260e0.png) When upgrading to a new server I had a look at the options for moving the database from the old to the new to sync mine and users I share the library with watched status of videos. I was only able to find ways of copying the database between server’s setup on the same operating system. When I moved from a QNAP NAS running plex to a new Server running TrueNAS Core I was unable to move the database. My suggestion for a feature would be a way to download the old database from the old server which would include all of the watched/ not watched states of all videos on the server for all users (even the ones the library is shared with) and then upload them to the new one. This would of course need to be able to be done between different operating systems. If it could even be setup as a single button to for instance “Sync database to” and then you select the server which you wish to sync the database to. This would stream line upgrading servers and make it easier for not so tech savvy users to upgrade their plex server without losing watched state of videos. ---
**Author:** ![bharro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/59ef9b/32.png) [@bharro](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bharro)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:10am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/2 "2021-01-27T11:10:39Z")
@OttoKerner please read before closing as the topics you suggested are different. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:14am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/3 "2021-01-27T11:14:14Z")
No, it’s not really different. First you say you want to transfer the whole database – which includes all libraries, all items in those libraries and their metadata. But then you emphasize the watched status in particlar. Either way, what you are requesting has already been requested before. Multiple times actually. The rules in this subforum state that you must not create duplicate requests. > [@Make transferring server to new machine simple and easy](https://forums.plex.tv/t/make-transferring-server-to-new-machine-simple-and-easy/509672/1): > > I suggest a simple solution to moving your library to a new machine. I don’t understand why it has to be so difficult. Plex needs an option for users to easily bundle their necessary files and then install them on the new machine. I’ve tried multiple times with multiple machines and never had any luck moving my server to a new machine without having to build my metadata back up from scratch. I’ve read the instructions but it never works. Instructions are unclear or incomplete. Would it be so ha… ---
**Author:** ![bharro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/59ef9b/32.png) [@bharro](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bharro)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:19am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/4 "2021-01-27T11:19:19Z")
Thanks for the reply, again this suggestion you have provided is good but does’t give the detail of the feature required for upgrading to a new server going to a new OS. I have at least listed a feature here. The suggestion you listed mentions being able to bundle the files which is a good idea and I would be willing to modify mine to have a button on the old plex server in the web ui that allows to you to transfer watched status and other nessecary files to new server. If you have a suggestion on more of these type of requests can you please send to me so I can compile them in to a better suggestion request for the other users as well. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:21am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/5 "2021-01-27T11:21:49Z")
> [@bharro](#): > > but does’t give the detail of the feature required for upgrading to a new server going to a new OS It simply doesn’t matter _why_ you are transferring the metadata. Whether it is a move to a different server machine, server operating system, or any other reason it doesn’t change anything about the need to take the metadata/library from the old installation and move it to the new. And that is already covered by the existing request(s). ---
**Author:** ![bharro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/59ef9b/32.png) [@bharro](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bharro)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:25am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/6 "2021-01-27T11:25:05Z")
> [@OttoKerner](#): > > It simply doesn’t matter _why_ you are transferring the metadata. > Whether it is a move to a different server machine, server operating system, or any other reason > it doesn’t change anything about the need to take the metadata/library from the old installation and move it to the new. This adds context of why the feature would be usefull. I have been looking through different sections of the forums and have found lots of others having the same / similar issue as me when upgrading servers. It shows that there is a clear demand for this feature from the plex community. ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:26am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/7 "2021-01-27T11:26:57Z")
The added context doesn’t change _what_ you are requesting. It has already been requested before. And so creating another thread requesting the same thing is not allowed in this subforum. Hence why it is closed as a duplicate request. ---
**Author:** ![bharro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/59ef9b/32.png) [@bharro](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bharro)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:29am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/8 "2021-01-27T11:29:00Z")
If all these people are asking for the same thing or help with the issue why not merge these into one request then? ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:31am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/9 "2021-01-27T11:31:35Z")
The merge process is not really possble to undo, that’s why. As this case shows, it often causes discussion. ---
**Author:** ![bharro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/59ef9b/32.png) [@bharro](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bharro)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:33am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/10 "2021-01-27T11:33:20Z")
Discussion is good and helps build on the feature idea. If I was to combine them all into one detailed feature suggestion and remove the others I have created would you be happy with that? ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:36am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/11 "2021-01-27T11:36:18Z")
No, because what you are requesting has already been requested. So new threads will be closed. You are free to add to any of the open request threads I have linked. ---
**Author:** ![bharro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/59ef9b/32.png) [@bharro](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bharro)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 11:39am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/12 "2021-01-27T11:39:56Z")
Okay I will contribute to those. This is what I am trying to do if you can help me at all. > [@Looking for help syncing or moving database between old and new server](https://forums.plex.tv/t/looking-for-help-syncing-or-moving-database-between-old-and-new-server/682729): > > QNAP NAS TVS-1282 Server Version#: 4.5.1.1540 Player Version#: 1.21.1.3876 Custom Server Build Server Version#: TrueNAS-12.0-U1.1 Player Version#: 1.21.2.3918 Looking for help copying my plex watched status from my old QNAP NAS to my new custom server build running TrueNas Core. I have access to the old database on the QNAP server and can copy files from it but have no idea how to migrate it to the TrueNas server. Have family members I share my library with so using trakt isn’t an option f… ---
**Author:** ![OttoKerner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/ottokerner/32/10079_2.png) [@OttoKerner](https://forums.plex.tv/u/OttoKerner)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/13 "2021-01-27T12:52:04Z")
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**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-transfer-between-old-and-new-server/683325/14 "2021-06-19T14:21:41Z")
2021 clean-up: duplicate > [@Sync/recognize played episodes across servers](https://forums.plex.tv/t/sync-recognize-played-episodes-across-servers/289173): > > The idea is that if I have a show on three different servers, I can watch an episode on one server and have it marked as watched on all of the others. It wouldn’t be easy to make this work for series that weren’t matched with TVDB, but I think it could work for those that are matched without too much trouble.