OK, I am literally about to cry here, I am so frustrated. All I want to do is move my Windows-based PMS to a new Windows-based system. Shouldn’t be hard, right?
Well, first off, there are LOTS of conflicting instructions out there. The official Plex methodology here is very different from this YouTube video and this one, too. Some ask you to log in on the destination system, some don’t. Some have you move the cache, some don’t. Some ask you to fully delete the Local App Data PMS folder, some have you overwrite it.
Regardless, those methods all seem to work for those people, but not for me.
Here is what I am doing:
On my current system, copy PMS data files from the Local App Data folder by zipping the contents (including the cache folder).
On same system, copy the registry file “Plex, Inc.”
Put the ZIP and the reg backup on a thumb drive.
On the destination system, install the latest version of PMS.
(Once again, some say to log in at this point, some don’t. I’ve tried all suggested ways.)
Shut down PMS on the destination system and then overwrite the current files with the ones from the thumb drive.
Restart destination system.
Open PMS and find…nothing. No libraries, no data at all. Log in, log out, nothing, it just says this server has no libraries.
What could I possibly be doing wrong? I literally am about to just disassemble my PC and put it back together again so I don’t need to waste any more of my life on this.
I didn’t say media, I said Libraries. There are no libraries with which to connect my media. Trust me, if I all I needed to do was find my media I would be celebrating at this point.
I can’t tell where in this process you might be creating the folders associated with the libraries on the destination. If the folders don’t already exist then I don’t think the libraries will appear. I’d also think you’d want to copy your media into those destination folders prior to starting PMS if you’re to avoid undesired re-discovery…
After the eighth time, I finally got this. The instructions Plex gives seem thorough, but there are two very important things it does not say. Here are quotes:
Install Plex Media Server on the Destination System
Install the Plex Media Server on the new computer/system. If the setup wizard in the browser launches, just exit out.
This should actually read (changes bolded):
Install Plex Media Server on the Destination System
Install the Plex Media Server on the new computer/system. Launch Plex after installing and log in. However, do not complete the setup wizard. Once you click “Got it,” you should close the browser window. Then, open the Plex Media Server. You should see your media library as you normally would (although your files are unlikely to work).
Since I wasn’t performing those steps, the transfer never worked. Once I did that, though, it worked.
Additionally, the instructions should emphasize that you absolutely cannot exit/sign out of the source system until you have completed the steps above. This is also why it wasn’t working for me. This I will take responsibility for, though, as the instructions tell you to do that AFTER you install on the new system, so I was jumping the gun. However, it seems like a very easy mistake, so it would be helpful to make sure people don’t make it with maybe a Tip! box or something.
Anyway, hopefully this helps anyone else who faces the same issues I did in the future.
