# Plex Backup

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-backup/635595>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-docker\
**Created:** [September 21, 2020, 12:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-backup/635595 "2020-09-21T12:41:07Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![STUKguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@STUKguy](https://forums.plex.tv/u/STUKguy)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 12:41pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-backup/635595/1 "2020-09-21T12:41:07Z")

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Hi,

This is a quicks question, if i wanted to back up and restore my plex (setting & media locations) would i just need to copy the preferances.xml from one plex server to another?

Thanks,

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**Author:** ![bpogue99](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bpogue99/32/5019_2.png) [@bpogue99](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bpogue99)\
**Post date:** [September 21, 2020, 1:26pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-backup/635595/2 "2020-09-21T13:26:57Z")

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You also need to copy the database. The xml file alone will not be enough to recover your server.

> **[Backing Up Plex Media Server Data | Plex Support](https://support.plex.tv/articles/201539237-backing-up-plex-media-server-data/)**
>
> As conscientious computer users, we’re sure that you already make regular backups of all your data. However, there may be...

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**Author:** ![STUKguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@STUKguy](https://forums.plex.tv/u/STUKguy)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 12:17pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-backup/635595/3 "2020-09-23T12:17:51Z")

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Which data base? Looking at the post you provided i am using a linux based server.

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**Author:** ![bpogue99](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/bpogue99/32/5019_2.png) [@bpogue99](https://forums.plex.tv/u/bpogue99)\
**Post date:** [September 23, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-backup/635595/4 "2020-09-23T13:45:38Z")

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On my Ubuntu installation I use the recommended approach from @ChuckPa in this post

> [@Database backup and restore](https://forums.plex.tv/t/database-backup-and-restore/206317/4):
>
> If I may augment Peter’s reply; Regarding making a backup of your PMS metadata, in Linux, the simplest and perfect backup you can make is sudo sh cd /var/lib/plexmediaserver tar cf /where/to/save/backup/Library.tar ./Library When complete, Library.tar will have the full backup image of your files. Should you later need to restore it., you only need to stop PMS and do the following sudo sh cd /var/lib/plexmediaserver rm -rf Library # remove anything which pre-exists tar xf /pat…

```auto
#on existing system
logout of Plex
sudo bash
cd /var/lib/plexmediaserver
tar cf /path/to/folder/PlexBackup.tar ./Library

#on new system
sudo bash
cd /var/lib/plexmediaserver
rm -rf Library
tar xf /path/to/folder/PlexBackup.tar
sudo chown -R plex:plex ./Library
sudo reboot

```

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**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/plex/original/3X/2/a/2acb9765406f63293d357b4ec509ec39aa28f2ad.png) [@system](https://forums.plex.tv/u/system)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2020, 1:45pm UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/plex-backup/635595/5 "2020-12-22T13:45:39Z")

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