How to back up Plex Media Server

Plex Media Server
1

Server Version#: 1.21.1.3876-3c3adfcb4
Player Version#:4.50.1

I have all my media on a NAS and it crashed the other day, I don’t know why but when I launched Plex all the metadata was gone and all the libraries were empty. Disaster!!

I coincidentally got a message saying there was a security breach on the NAS so maybe that was it, I don’t know. Anyway I restored all the libraries and have gone thru the days-long painstaking process of correcting metadata, matching files etc etc. I really don’t want this to happen again.

I understand there’s a way to back up Plex for these types of scenarios. This guy on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA4GMoUU2Zg&ab_channel=Lon.TV) and this page (https://support.plex.tv/articles/202915258-where-is-the-plex-media-server-data-directory-located/) from the support page have helped. The guidance seems to be to back up a copy of the “Plex Media Server” folder.

Do I find that folder on the NAS or my laptop? I have no idea even where to find that folder on the NAS (WD My Cloud).

I look forward to hearing from someone, thank you,

2

You’ll find that folder on the device that’s hosting your Plex Media Server. If the Plex Media Server is running on your laptop, that’s where you’ll find the server’s data directory. If the Plex Media Server is running on y WD My Cloud NAS you’ll find the server’s data directory on that NAS… however it’ll be a little more tricky to get to it on a WD My Cloud. The data directory is not accessible from one of the common shares of the NAS. Instead you’ll need to connect to the device using e.g. SSH to access /mnt/HD/HD_a2/plex_conf/Plex Media Server/ there.

3

Thanks Tom, so next dumb question is… how do I know what device is hosting the Plex Media Server?! I’ve got Plex running on a laptop, my cell, a desktop…

Thanks man, really appreciate your guidance.

4

Well… that’s a tricky one. I’m positive all but one of the devices you’re listing are actually Plex clients / player apps, while the remaining one is where you installed the Plex Media Server app. :wink:

Your media being located on the NAS hints at two major options:

  • the PMS is installed on your NAS
  • the PMS is installed on your laptop, pointing to the media share on the NAS

Maybe try this:
(a) quick and dirty
Use a browser on your laptop and try to open http://127.0.0.1:32400/web – with this the browser will attempt to load the Plex server locally from that very same machine.
If this will open your Plex libraries… your Plex Media Server is running on that laptop

(b) digging around
Open Plex in a browser as you usually do (e.g. using http://app.plex.tv/desktop), hover your mouse over one of your local library names and click ... > Manage Library > Edit.... If the editor window has no Add Folder section/tab, the Plex Media Server is running on your WD My Cloud

If none of them apply my, my 2 primary options appear to have been wrong :wink:

5

Another option for finding your server;
It’s not on your cell.
Shut down your laptop and see if Plex on your cell will play anything. If it does, PMS is not on the laptop.
Try the same test by shutting down your Desktop.
If it still plays PMS must be on your NAS.

1 Like
6

Tom, thanks for the reply. Slight hiccup with the results.

I performed both steps on the laptop and got conflicting results. Step A did indeed load the libraries. Step B however had no “Add folder” visible.

What now? Thank you so much!

7

Which of the 2 URLs did you use for the “quick and dirty” check (a)?

8

I used the one you said, http://127.0.0.1:32400/web

9

Yeah I can access PMS when the laptop and desktop and down. So… it’s on the NAS then. If that’s so how do I then go about locating / accessing the necessary folder? Tom, can you tell me how to do this pls? Thank you so much!

10

Sorry… I don’t have a WD Cloud for reference.
The NAS should have an option/setting in its control center to enable access via SSH.

Once you have established this you can install an app called PuttY on your Windows laptop (macOS and Linux should have native SSH clients). Use that to connect to the My Cloud using the credentials you established earlier. Within the shell you can navigate the My Cloud’s file system to get to the folder (create a copy, back it up otherwise…).

Some considerations:
Keep in mind this means you’ll be executing terminal commands in a Linux environment (the underlying platform of the WD MyCloud)… make sure you know what you do or you’ll ruin your NAS!!

11

If you accessed Plex on your laptop by using the URL http://127.0.0.1:32400/web and also can access Plex when the laptop is shutdown it sounds like you have PMS installed on both the laptop and your NAS.

12

This might even explain the sudden loss of your data… if you had your server setup on the NAS and then created a new one, accessing it only locally – it’ll certainly have been empty when you started over.

13

Your Plex account says that you have (or had) Plex server installed on 2 PCs and one WD NAS.
So it depends on which of these you are really using.
Each Plex client will tell you from which server a certain library is served. If you go to the bottom of the left side bar, to the MORE… link, you can see all your servers and their libraries.

14

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.