Server Version#: 1.21.1.3766
Player Version#: Various
Due to some security concerns I had to rebuild the Windows box my Plex server was running on. I backed up the db files and even the PMS data folder, so the reinstallation went pretty smoothly on the server side. The client side however, was another story.
I named the new server instance the same as the old, hoping the clients would seamlessly find it. Apparently there is an additional guid or similar that differentiates the instances such that both servers with the same name show up even though only 1 is active.
Every client errored out after the change. Most showed the little triangle exclamation next to the libraries that were unavailable, but the experience varied based on the client. After some forum searches, I found that resetting home customizations resolved this issue in most cases, and allowed the clients to select the correct server instance. I walked around and did this on the 15 devices (TVs, tablets, phones) that are in my house, but I’ve had many conversations with folks I’m sharing libraries with. Dealing with all this has been quite a chore.
My question to the community is to ask if I could’ve done anything differently to smooth out the client connection process? Is there a way to decommission an old server instance (server-side) so that it doesn’t show for existing clients? Or force them to connect to the new instance without having to do anything on their end?
I appreciate any feedback/advice the community has to offer!
You should have backed up the registry contents and restored them on the new machine.
If you then also had given the new machine the same local IP address of the old server, all clients (local and remote) would not notice that anything is different. https://support.plex.tv/articles/201539237-backing-up-plex-media-server-data/
If you cannot acccess the Windows registry of the old server machine anymore, you’ll indeed have to reset all clients:
@OttoKerner
Thank you for the quick reply. The registry backup/restore is the step I missed. I named the instance the same and it has the same IP address, but there is obviously more stored info in the reg keys. I have the dbs set to backup to an external location under the “scheduled tasks” section of the server config. I restored these as part of my reinstall process. I assume the reg keys are not part of this backup? Is there a way to automate this backup or would I have to manually export and then restore the reg keys whenever the server is rebuilt?
I don’t have access to the old machine so I’ll continue with the client reset process. Appreciate the help!
I’m afraid so. They typically don’t change that often, so you should be good by backing them up just once – after successfully setting up the server, connecting it to your account, and verifying that everything is in working order.
Or maybe once per year, to be perfectly safe.
