I’d like to move my PMS server from Windows Server 2016 to Ubuntu Server 16.04.
So question. Can I just copy the database files from %LOCALAPPDATA%\Plex Media Server\ to /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server/? Will this work?
Is there any procedure / best practices for moving from windows to linux?
Or is this not really worth it and I should just suck it up and rebuild the database. That wouldn’t be a huge deal but I’d hate to loose my watched list.
Also seems no matter what I do, under Linux I can’t get auto updating on detect of new media to work. Yes, it’s all checked in the config. I’ve tried it on CentOS and now Ubuntu and different versions of PMS. I’ve also upped the inotify watches list, tried it at 16384, 32768. No joy.
Any help with either issue would be most appreciated.
Take some time to go through this. Windows and Linux are not very compatible because of how path names are specified. You might be better off creating fresh. The DB itself is not the only thing needed. You’ll need all the metadata which goes with it.
@CSB001 said:
Thanks Chuck. I appreciate your help.
I’ve taken a look but it seems more like for like, and doesn’t address a platform migration. I’m going to take your advice and just start fresh.
So, is there any way just to save the watched list and move that over?
Also any idea on my not auto updating library on linux issue?
It seems you cant just move watched list etc.
In fact the way migration works with plex is a little stupid, the fact that the db requires metadata to work makes it so problematic to move it. I moved my pms about 2 weeks back, it took about 30 hours just to zip all the data required to move plex, and it took a good 15-20 hours just to unzip it again.
Not gonna move pms again, id rather just start over lol.
Most of us put the media on external drives or NAS boxes. This takes a huge part of the problem away.
As for the ‘Library’ directory (Application Support), that part, can be managed more easily than the watched status. There are threads in the forum where users have exported from the actual DB and re-imported later. This works because it attached to the Series episode ID or Movie ID. I"m not a DB guy so can’t speak further on that.
Please explain my not auto updating library on Linux issue ?
I know it’s been some time. I have made the transition to PMS on Ubuntu 16.04.3. So that’s done.
I’m still having issues with auto updating however. All my data is stored on a QNAP TS-853a. Under Windows/CIFS when new files were placed in the folders it would automatically detect and update the library. Under Ubuntu/NFS it does not detect when new files are placed in directories. The only way to update is to initiate a scan of the library. Luckily scanning is so much faster using NFS.
As I’ve mentioned I’ve tried CentOS, Mint, and Ubuntu and they all have the same issue. I suspect that this is because I’m using a NAS and perhaps the way it’s organized, a movie folder and then a folder for each movie within which contains the video file.
It’s because your files are external to the OS (kernel) PMS is running on. iNotify doesn’t reach across the network because none of those protocols support it. NFS and CIFS/SMB predate iNotify. Neither had such a provision built in. If it had been, the load on the network and remote NAS would be tremendous.
