Help With Moving All Files to New Harddrive, Losing Metadata and Playlists

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: Version 4.22.2 on Mac desktop (I think. I keep everything updated.)
Player Version#:

Hi,

I’ve been searching through the forums here, but I haven’t quite found the answer I’m looking for.

I’ve been storing my media on 2 separate drives, and one (the much newer one!) has been running erotically, so I’ve bought a big 14TB drive to take everything from both drives and have some room to grow.

I moved all of my files to the new drive, but now a lot of the metadata in the server is gone, and most of the playlists I created are either blank or missing most of the files.

I did not back up the database before I did all of this, so I may be out of luck. Is there a way to go back and back up, etc., and go through the process again? Or is there an easier way to retrieve my data?

Thanks for any guidance in advance. I’ve really only scratched the surface of Plex, and I should spend some time reading up on it.

Best,
JamesKArcher

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By default, Plex Media Server automatically make a database backup every three days and stores them here:

~/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/Plug-in Support/Databases

The main database backups are the ones your interested in:

com.plexapp.plugins.library-yyyy-mm-dd

Find the most recent one, prior to your migration, and try restoring it using the information here:
https://support.plex.tv/articles/202485658-restore-a-database-backed-up-via-scheduled-tasks/

When you next attempt your media migration, make sure to leave in all the old paths when adding the path to your new drive in your library configuration. This will cause the “new” media to be shown as duplicates of the existing, and all existing metadata to be associated with it. You can then go back and remove the old paths.

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Hi Philipsw,

That’s incredibly helpful. I’ll try this tonight or in the morning.

Thanks!

JamesKArcher

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That article will help you move your media without losing metadata, view status

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Hi Everyone,

Another question. I had kind of a busy week, and I’m looking to restore my database now. It appears that I only have database backups of the last week or so - after I migrated hard drives - in the library. Does the system automatically delete older ones? Would they be in another location?

Thanks in advance.

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