Migrating Snap install to new machine?

Plex Media Server
,
1

Hi team,
As title suggests, I have installed PlexMediaServer through Snap and now want to migrate all that lovely metadata etc. to a new machine.

I’ve tried following the official server data backup instructions and Chuckpa’s much referenced Back up/ Restore /clone your PMS metadata tutorials.
Of course, the fact my install is through Snap changes things.

May I ask:

  1. Where specifically is the folder I should be copying? “/var/snap/plexmediaserver”? Its contents seem a little weird - “77” “81” “common” and a symlink folder called “current”.

  2. What’s the procedure to migrate the metadata/library to another snap install of PMS on a different system?

Thanks!

2

The software should be under /var/snap

IIRC, go look under /var/lib/plexmediaserver. If memory serves, the data is there just as if a native installation.

If that’s the case, a tar ball of ./Library is quick, dirty, and works.

3

So I am stuck in the same boat here as well. I am moving the PMS to a rackmount finally. I was running PMS via snap on Ubuntu on the old machine. I am running Ubuntu and have PMS installed via snap on the new machine. All media has been migrated. I now want to take all the metadata/DB/User info with me to the new one. So now I have found (2) locations of the data. What do i do with each?

/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/

&

/var/snap/plexmediaserver/common/Library/Application Support

I got the /Library TAR’d and transferred. Unpacked it into the appropriate directory. All this is while BOTH PMS snap services are stopped. Upon starting the new PMS, I have nothing. I even TARd up the /current -> 108 directory and copied it over to the new one. I have no clue where to go from here.

4

Snap runs as user root.
The native package runs as user plex.

Did you change the ownership of all the files so user plex can read/write them?

5

I did figure out that the SNAP stuff only reads in the /home/whatever user directory. So I have the RAID array mounted there. If i start up the server, it can see the media. However, I still dont know what all needs to be moved over so all my users do not notice the change. I found a config file in the /var/snap directory that has the username, server name and token. I am assuming that has to go to the new server.

What i have so far is: media moved and accessible; var/lib/plexmediaserver/ moved over into the same directory on the new machine.

What am I missing before i bring it down again to try? If I was running this the manual way, it would be simple i feel like. Since I have been using snap, I am either confused or ignorant on what all needs to be migrated over.

I greatly appreciate the help as plex has really driven my linux knowledge to learn more about Linux. Not to mention providing media for my 7yr old.

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