Then you will have transferred the Plex settings and the “identity” from the old machine to the new machine.
But not the Plex library. That is what sits in the Plex data folder.
yeah I know it wont transfer the library but it should work for settings so I don’t have to go back through all the settings and reconfigure at least I think that’s how that should work
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Yes, that’ll work. You could actually add the data path to the registry now and then backup the registry key. That way everything is there when you go to restore. Just one thing to remember is to rename your computer before restoring the key, since the settings will be referring to your previous computers name. You’ll need to keep it the same.
There are very few settings stored in the registry. For instance any library- and agent-related stuff will not be transferred this way.
@OttoKerner I presume these instructions are good even 3 years later?
It might be worth adding a note to the OP that says so. Something like:
NOTE: These instructions have been kept up to date and are valid for the current Plex Release. (December, 2020)
Just a suggestion as my first thought on seeing the original date was that it can’t still be good.
That’s not clear or intuitive nor is it positive confirmation that the instructions are still good but I’m sure you know best.
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I would have to agree. I scrolled down to the bottom to look for comments saying it didn’t work anymore when I 1st read it. It might be more work but a Confirmed valid as of Server Release 1.23.456 would be ideal, but even a note saying the OP is being actively updated when things change would be great
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Another suggestion, you refence creating a new “key” in the registry but you mean string. On first glance, I clicked New > Key (despite the text that says String Value). I realized the mistake but, for clarity, you might want to replace “key” with “string” or “string value”.
I hope you don’t take this is as nit-picking. This is very valuable information and I imagine a LOT of people use it. I certainly appreciate it. I’m just hoping to make it as clear as possible.
You are absolutely right. I will change this immediately.
Thanks for mentioning it!
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Hi, thanks for this info, i reinstall 2x/year my windows and hate to remake all the metadata.
by the way, a really quick way to copy the folder if you have a good CPU is using robocopy is multithread
Open cmd and do : robocopy "%localappdata%\Plex Media Server" "H:\test\Plex Media Server" /MT:128
/MT = 128 Multithread, it has take around 20min to copy my plex folder that contain 20GB of data and 700k+ files
cpu used : amd ryzen 7 1700X
if you have a quad core, i recommand to put a lower number like 32 or 64 thread
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Hey! This was a great guide, seems to be exactly what I’m looking for, but I followed the instructions very closely, double checked everything, and now my plex server is simply saying My Home Screen is Empty, and my home Library is currently empty. Any idea what I did wrong? Happy to answer any questions that could help. My Plex media is stored on an external ssd, and I’m trying to move my Plex Media Server Data from my C drive to my other internal ssd D drive.
That’s a bit trickier since all of the libraries reference a lettered path. You’d have to go into each library and change the path from C: to D:. Even after you do that though, it’s basically going to rescan everything. Probably the only option though if you want to move your media from C to D.
I’m sorry, I should have made that clearer. I didn’t actually move any of the media (my movies and shows) off my external drives, I just moved the Metadata folders that Plex makes automatically from one internal drive to another.
Ah, got it. Did you double check the registry key to make sure it’s pointing to the new path for your Plex data folder?
yup, i double checked the path for both keys, the one in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER and the HKEY_USERS. It has it’s own drive (D in my case) but I made sure they’re in a folder and not pointing to a naked drive path. Scratching my head trying to figure out what I did wrong
And all you did was move the data folder right? You didn’t change user accounts? And you stopped and restarted the server? And if you put the data folder back to where it was does your library show up again?
If you started to copy the plex data folder while plex server was still running, your primary plex database file is very likely corrupt.
Shut down plex server, then copy these files
\Plug-in Support\Databases
com.plexapp.plugins.library.db
com.plexapp.plugins.library.db-shm (if present)
com.plexapp.plugins.library.db-wal (if present)
again from the old to the new location.
If you already deleted the old plex data location, revert to one of the backups Restore a Database Backed Up via 'Scheduled Tasks' | Plex Support
thank you folks so much for helping me diagnose this! So i went ahead and copied those files, and it still shows me the same empty homescreen. I know that Plex is using the folder on my new drive, because when i try and delete it while Plex is running it says the files are being used. Also, there’s no more Plex stuff on the C drive, like God and this forum intended. Should I just delete all the metadata and rescan my libraries? I’m ok doing that if it comes to it, I just want to know that it’s going to stay on my D: drive and not periodically switch over to my C: drive
Does it still throw the error message about not being “able to open its database”?
You can do that, if you haven’t invested too much time into manually editing your metadata, or you don’t mind losing your “watched” status.
