Safely updating Plex Media Server on WD MyCloud EX2 Ultra (from 1.20.3.3437 to latest)

Plex Media Server NAS & Devices
1

Server Version#: 1.20.3.3437
Player Version#: last one available on appleTV

Hi everyone,

I have a MyCloud EX2 Ultra running Plex Media Server version 1.20.3.3437, and I’d like to update it to the latest version (1.42.2.10156), mainly to get the new subtitle auto-sync feature since I often watch content in the original version.

However, I’m a bit afraid of doing the update because I don’t want to lose my database — all the information about which files I’ve already watched or started watching, and the exact playback positions.
I’ve also manually edited a lot of metadata for items that Plex didn’t recognize properly, and I really don’t want to lose that work.

A while ago, I was also prompted to update my Libraries, but I postponed it for the same reason — I’m afraid it could break or reset my existing data.

So, my questions are:

  1. Are these updates (Plex Media Server and Libraries) safe to perform without losing my data and settings?
  2. Is there a way to back up my current Plex database and metadata before updating, so I can restore everything if something goes wrong?
  3. Is the update process for the WD MyCloud EX2 Ultra straightforward, and are there any clear tutorials or guides available?

Sorry if these are basic questions — I’ve been hesitating for a while, but I think it’s time to take action and update properly.

Thanks a lot for your help!

2

Nobody that use Mycloud Ex 2 Ultra?

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A combination of it’s a question that has been asked before, fewer people have expertise running Plex on WD and one red flag:

I’ve also manually edited a lot of metadata for items that Plex didn’t recognize properly

I don’t have a WD so I can’t give you exact instructions which is what you are really asking for. Here is a summary of what you need to do.

  1. Verify database backups are being performed every 3 days.
  2. It is recommended not to upgrade straight from 1.20.3.3437 to 1.42.2.10156 because of the many database changes that have to occur. Your first upgrade should be to 1.32.8.7639 and even that is a pretty large jump.
  3. Plex released new agents for Movie and TV, it is almost guaranteed you are using the old and have naming issues: https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-movie-media-files/ for Movies and https://support.plex.tv/articles/naming-and-organizing-your-tv-show-files/ for TV. Before switching to the New Agents you should make sure to organize your media to them and for TV decide on your episode order for naming.
  4. Depending on how large your library is the upgrade at 1.40 takes 10+ minutes and you don’t want to stop Plex unless you have confirmed a failure in the Logs.
  5. Somewhere along the upgrades the Plex server stopped being marked to auto run, you will need to know how to check the service and switch it back on.

The audio auto-sync feature is heavy on the CPU for processing, depending on how large your library this may take several days to process during your scheduled tasks.

I’m not sure if your version is too old but they did introduce a feature to sync your watch status to the Plex backend for syncing across servers. If you don’t have this or don’t have it turned on it could take a few days to sync. You would have to review the “Plex Media Server.log” to know.

Some if not all clients will stop working if you don’t upgrade.

1 Like
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Thank you for your reply!

I will check all of that when I will be back home in a few days.