Migrate from Win10 Server to New Win10 Server

Plex Media Server Desktops & Laptops
1

Server Version#: Latest
Player Version#: Latest

I have a new Windows 10 server and want to move PLEX application to it. I’m unable to keep the View State of my shows and movies after the move. Here is what I’ve done and what I notice during the migration.

  1. On source:
    a) set empty trash setting,
    b) stop services
    c) zip up %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server.
    d) sqlite3.exe com.plexapp.plugins.library.db “.dump metadata_item_settings” > settings.sql

  2. On Target (New Server)
    a) Install PLEX server, do not Launch
    b) unzip Plex Media Server.zip folder to %LOCALAPPDATA%
    c) Update registry
    d) import settings.sql
    e) Move external drive from old system to new with same Drive mount
    f) Claim Server

Observations/Issues on New Server after Claimed (Need Understanding)

  1. I have no libraries defined
  2. If I add/define libraries to same path as before for movies it does a scan that is taking much time, and as the movies come in the view state shows everything as unwatched.

Have I made a mistake in my process or missed a step because I want my view state which is most important because I can always download metatdata again.

Thanks

2

There’s a support document which describes step-by-step how to accomplish this task:

It’s very similar to what you described having done yourself, but differs in a couple of key ways:

  • You don’t need to dump anything from your database; part of the migration process copies the entire database to the new system anyway (copying the entire Plex data directory).
  • Before copying anything to the new system, Plex needs to be installed, but signed out and stopped. PMS is automatically started as part of the installation, so unless you manually exited it, it was still running.

The steps in the support article are known to work, if followed exactly.

3

Make sure that all the media are accessible under the same

  • drive letters
  • folder names
  • network shares

as on the old server.

4

The link you sent was exactly what I did twice. I did it twice in case I may have missed a step along the way the first time. The second time I did to a T. Same external Drive, mount and folder paths of the physical media files. I did it a third time using the sqlite.exe to no avail.

If there is no additional steps other than in the linked document I will assume it does not always work because I’m very sure I was accurate in my steps the second time.

I will just have to deal with it I guess.

Thanks for the feedback though, really appreciate it.

5

That’s strange. Before packing it in, try just moving over the database from your old system and replace the new one here:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\Plug-in Support\Databases\com.plexapp.plugins.library.db

Delete the associated -wal and -shm files while you’re at it. This should all be done with PMS stopped. After moving the database over and deleting the files, start PMS.

All your library configuration is stored in the database; so, if the database was backed up properly, all your libraries should be shown when the old database is restored. External metadata (posters, backgrounds, other artwork) may or may not be available, but a refresh of all metadata should take care of that.

6

Most common mistake is to let the ‘source’ plex server running while doing the backup. This will result in a damaged database file.

7

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