I have 2 NAS Servers: a Netgear RN212 (16TB), and a Netgear RN214 (30TB). Both have been running the RN2xx build loaded on the equipment since they were purchased several years ago. This was not a problem before we recently purchased a Sony 65" Smart TV, as I streamed the content through my (Linux) laptop to an NVidia box attached to the old TV.
Now it appears to be a problem. I cannot access my two NAS servers through the new TV’s streaming interface. Both servers show up on the list, but as disconnected. Several hours of frustration, searching on the internet for solutions and general diddling around, revealed to me that the Plex app installed on the severs have to have the current version of Plex installed for them to be accessible. I confirmed that by playing around with the older RN212 (my backup) server, and (finally!) figuring out how to upgrade it to the current version. Woohoo!
Before I do the same to the other server, Question #1: I’d like to know whether the upgrade wipes out the metadata database. I’m reluctant to proceed until I’m sure. I’ve had the RN214 for several years now, and in that time I’ve made literally thousands, if not tens of thousands of corrections to titles, episodes, correcting wrong Plex choices etc. and I don’t want to lose that.
That poses my second question: How do you backup and more importantly, restore the Plex database FROM A LINUX LAPTOP?? I do nightly backups of my video and audio files of my primary NAS to my backup NAS, but I don’t know how to get the metadata copied over to the backup NAS, so that I don’t lose 6 years of sweat and tears in the event of a server crash!
Server updates don’t usually wipe any of your server data.
Given how old your current install is, the update might take some time – your PMS release is pretty much 5 years old to the day… that’s ancient when it comes to software. The current versions of PMS won’t let you interact with the server while it’s updating the database (giving you an error message, that the server is currently being updated).
Keep in mind, there’s also been quite a number of changes to the Plex agents in those 5 years. Make sure to refresh the server metadata before doing the upgrade to make sure all your movies/shows are properly matched (as good as they were 5 years ago) to avoid hiccups.
Based on how old your server is, you’ll do good to do a full backup of your setup before attempting the upgrade.
On a ReadyNAS, the server’s data directory should be located in
/apps/plexmediaserver/MediaLibrary/Plex Media Server/
Next problem: On my ReadyNAS 212 and 214 servers, the bundled package Plex Media Server (for RN2xx, v.1.11.something) installs into data/.apps/plexmediaserver-annapurna/. The current version (1.31.6554) installs into data/.apps/plexmediaserver/. So now I have 2 folders, each with its own MediaLibrary folder. All I’m trying to do is upgrade to the current version of Plex so that I can access the Media server through m Smart TV, but WITHOUT losing 5 years of effing updates to my metadata database! So far, I’ve been wholly unsuccessful! Fortunately, I have a backup ReadyNAS 212 on which I’ve been doing all of my trial-and-error testing. My main device, a ReadyNAS 214 remains untouched until I can find an update procedure which will move me to the current version while retaining all of my metadata. HELP!!!
Problem fixed. Found a version of Plex ( plexmediaserver-annapurna_1.31.0.6654-02189b09f_armel.deb) which allowed me to upgrade, while retaining the metadata. Thanks for the help!
