How to Move Plex server to new Windows PC

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
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Server Version#: 1.23.3.4707
Player Version#: Various

My existing Plex server hardware is getting a bit long in the tooth & I have a brand new Windows 10 PC here that I want to have take over as the Plex server, however I can’t find anything in the support section to show me an official Plex recommended way to move to a new Plex Server, & I don’t want to lose track of everything watched/unwatched over various shared accounts.

Does anyone know of a way or a walkthrough that perhaps I’m just not finding?

I’d honestly rather not clone the hard drive over to this new PC as my existing server has upgraded over the years from Windows 7 all the way up to current Windows 10 build 21H1 & I’d rather start fresh without all the baggage that Windows leaves behind.

Any ideas?

Thank you in advance.

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Amazing! Your Google-Fu seems to have beaten mine Otto!

Thank you so much, I’m going to try this out later today, but at a quick skim of the article I think that’s exactly what I’ve been hunting for.

Thank you so much for your quick response, truly appreciated.

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On a Windows server, you want to ensure that your media are available under the same drive letter(s) and folder name(s) as they were on the old system. You better note down the drive letters which all your drives currently have. Then assign them on the new computer in exactly the same way.

Make sure to shut down the Plex server on both old and new computer before starting the copy process.

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Oh most definitely, I was considering changing the mappings to my NAS afterwords by re-adding the libraries via new mappings, let it index, & then remove the old mappings, or do you think that would screw things up?

IE: Currently
P: = \NAS1\MOVIES
Q: = \NAS2\TV
But want to change that so my NAS units are M: for Movies, T: for TV, & I’m getting ready to add in a 3rd NAS for Personal (Homes movies, music, etc…) wanted to make that P: for Personal.

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Changing drive letters may lead to Plex re-matching your media. (the older the library, the higher the likelihood.) You don’t want that.
Keep everything the same for now.
You can re-organize later, if you must.

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Perfect, it’s been working with these drive letters for years now, best not to mess with it regardless of my drive letter OCD :wink:

Thank you again Otto, I imagine this is going to go nice & smooth based on that walkthrough.

Again I truly appreciate the help, hope you have a fantastic rest of your week.

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Oh, one thought.

Do I need to name the new server the same thing as the old server?

I didn’t think on that until just now.

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If you transfer the registry branch, the new machine will take the identity of the old one.
Name and all.
Which also means that you should never start the Plex server on the old machine again.
(If want to do that nonetheless, we’ll deal with it separately.)
I propose you concentrate on your new server first.

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This all worked perfectly. Thank you for all your help Otto!

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