I will soon migrate my Plex server and data from one Synology to a new one. The old Synology will keep the existing drives, while the new will have entirely new drives.
I’ve read this support article, and the process makes sense. My question is at what point in those steps do I migrate the raw data (the actual media files) from the source to the destination.
Thanks.
Because of how Synology structures the drives for you, you can take all your drives and put them in the new unit.
This works because:
When you want to move all the drives, as they are, to the new unit,
Synology Assistant will connect you to the internal tool which will reinstall DSM for you (without harming your data). It only takes a few minutes.
When the new DSM is installed, you’ll open the NAS by its LAN IP address
Next, you’ll restore your saved configuration data (these are all your network settings)
While there, you can open FileStation again and see all your shared folders and content are still there.
The last thing you’ll do is reinstall your applications.
All the applications, including Plex, will start on this new NAS as if nothing happened.
When it comes to moving Plex, there are some more details but it’s not difficult. It just takes time (lot of small files)
Thanks for the info. However I will keep the existing drives in the old Synology and repurpose it after the migration. The new one will have entirely new drives.
Do you have DSM 7 on the existing NAS?
That’s correct.
This is going to be very easy.
Setup the new NAS (your media) however you want but presume you’ll have the same shared folders ? If you have the same shared folder names and media in those shared folders, there will be an additional step but, for now, I will write as if keeping the same shared folder names and media in those shares.
On the source (existing),
– Settings - Server - Library - Show advanced
– Turn off all the automatic functions and Empty Trash.
– Now make a HyperBackup Local backup of your “PlexMediaServer” shared folder to some arbitrary folder . It’s just a place to hold the backup file.
When you get the new NAS ready,
– Install PMS but don’t setup
– Stop PMS
– Delete the contents of that new PlexMediaServer shared folder (you’re about to overwrite it)
– Copy the HyperBackup backup file from the old to the new NAS in a temporary shared folder.
– Restore the backup back to “PlexMediaServer” on the new NAS
– When it completes, it will have restored all your metadata back into the PlexMediaServer shared folder (you can double check this before starting PMS)
Go to each of your shared folders and again make certain System Internal User PlexMediaServer has access to them.
When you now start Plex on the new NAS, it will assume the identity of the old (Don’t turn the PMS back on without erasing the Preferences.xml file first)
After it’s started and running,
– check each library section to make certain all your content is found.
– Fix shared folder permissions as appropriate
When all media is found
– Enable the automatic functions you previously disabled in Settings - Server - Library
– Make a final Scan Files
– Empty Trash
– Clean Bundles
The FAQ are here if you need any help.
Wow, thanks for taking the time to write such detailed instructions. Yes, each shared folder will have the same name. A few clarifying questions:
-Should I migrate the media data in the shared folders prior to restoring the PMS metadata, or after?
-You say to not enable PMS on the destination NAS without deleting the Preferences.xml file. Where is this file located?
-Does restoring the HyperBackup of PMS restore the Preferences file? If yes, I need to delete it and let PMS create a new one when it launches on the destination NAS? In other words, after step 4 but before step 5, I’m deleting this xml file?
Yes, Migrate the data before installing PMS.
When you install PMS on the new NAS, it won’t be claimed. It will be completely uninitialized.
Hyperbackup makes a perfect clone of your old(existing) NAS.
The new will assume the identity of the old.
As long as you don’t try to run both at the same time (with the same Preferences.xml file) , you’ll be ok. Plex.tv uses the “MachineIdentifier” value in Preferences.xml to uniquely identify that machine. This is why we need at least one of them to change… It’s usually easier to give the old NAS a new ID than the new one
To give the old NAS a new identity is :
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