Every PMS update forces me to reconfigure plex from scratch and creates a NEW server

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: plexmediaserver-1.19.3.2831-181d9145d.x86_64
Player Version#: ALL (PC, TV, etc.)

Every time CentOS updates the plexmediaserver, the configuration COMPLETELY disappears and I have to reprogram every the settings. This is annoying in itself, but my Plex clients on 3 different TVs keep the old server info (named identically) in their settings and I can’t delete it.

Question 1: Where in Linux are the server config saved, so I can back it up and restore in case the setting is lost

Question 2: Where on the Clients can I remove a server that is no longer available AND WILL NEVER BE.

Thanks

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Would you please provide more information?

  1. Is the server native on the host, in a VM, or in a container?
  2. Would you mind stopping the plex service (systemctl stop plexmediaserver) then manually creating a tar.gz or ZIP of /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Logs

To answer your questionss:

  1. /var/lib/plexmediaserver is Plex’s home directory and where all operational data is stored on Linux unless you opt to move it elsewhere. To make a backup

a. Stop Plex (so everything is closed)
b. sudo sh
c. cd /var/lib/plexmediaserver
d. tar cf /path/some/place/safe/PlexBackup.tar ./Library

  1. To manage the devices & servers Plex knows of either open Plex/web locally or https://app.plex.tv and navigate to Settings - (upper left) Authorized Devices.

There you will see the dropdown for ALL, Servers, etc. You can REMOVE anything which is permanently gone.

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Thanks for the info on /var/lib/plexmediaserver. Should have done a better job searching for it!

To answer your questions:

Is the server native on the host, in a VM, or in a container?
It’s a VM in a KVM CentOS 8 machine. Have given it 2 CPUs and 4GB of RAM

Sure the file is attached.plexmediaserver-logs.tar.gz (1.9 MB)

On the question of missing servers, I want to emphasize that the issues are with smart TV clients and not the server (or a server in general). I could create a separate topic, but the issue is related to the fact that the server keeps being re-initialized and leaves an buggy connection on the client

Can’t find any info on how to delete a server reference from a client app on a bunch of smart TVs

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One more thing. I know I don’t need the Logs directory and probably a few other ones, in case I lose the settings. Is there a minimal set of files/dirs that would restore to a previous state? Like wondering about Cache and Media and Metadata. The Media Libraries seem to survive quite nicely.

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I have provided the simplest and most complete way to backup.
Doing it this way removes any delay when recovering.

The barest of essentials are:

  1. Plex Media Server/Preferences.xml
  2. Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support (entire tree)
1 Like
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Thanks for your help

For posterity, answered elsewhere, but the solution to changed server is to log out of the smart TVs and relink them to your account.

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