Move Plex installation to new server - 2 questions

General Discussions
1

I have been planning to update my server to a new Windows 10 machine for several months now, but was hoping to keep the old one until after Christmas. The old machine runs Vista (the initial reason for wanting to upgrade) and has worked great until the last few months - the processor appears to be dying - so it’s going to happen sooner. I have read the support articles and it seems like a simple, straight forward process to move to a new computer. I do have a couple of questions, though

  1. I want to keep the watched/unwatched status for all users, and here is where I get confused. If I copy the files from the old computer, which seems to include the database, is it still necessary to use the method described in the support article “Move Viewstate/Ratings from One Install to Another?” I don’t mind taking the extra step if I have to, but I’m trying to make the move as seamless and easy as possible for everyone (especially me)

  2. Will I have to “re-invite” the people I share with, or does the move process take care of that automatically?

I did try searching the forums for an answer before posting, but after several hours, couldn’t find a post with my concerns. I’m sure it’s there, I just couldn’t find it. Hoping to have it all up and running by the weekend. My grandkids are probably more anxious than me to have Plex back

2

  1. no. If you move everything, the viewstate will travel along.

  2. you can keep the viewstate and the shares only on one of the servers. Either on the ‘original’ or on the ‘clone’. If you want to keep both servers operating, you need to sacrifice viewstate and shares on one of them. Which one, is your decision.
    Here are the instructions https://forums.plex.tv/discussion/comment/1238540/#Comment_1238540
    Failing to do so, will result in unpredictable behaviour if both servers are running at the same time.

Make sure to mount your media files under the same drive letters/foldernames/network addresses as you had them on the old server.

3

Thanks @OttoKerner for the quick response. That is the answer I wanted and was expecting. Just preparing for any problems that might show up.