# Using Plex for help in recovery

**URL:** <https://forums.plex.tv/t/using-plex-for-help-in-recovery/868617>\
**Category:** Plex Media Server\
**Tags:** server-mac\
**Created:** [February 8, 2024, 6:30am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/using-plex-for-help-in-recovery/868617 "2024-02-08T06:30:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![pcaswell909](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@pcaswell909](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pcaswell909)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 6:30am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/using-plex-for-help-in-recovery/868617/1 "2024-02-08T06:30:12Z")

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Hi folks! I recently found a chunk of audio media just gone. It was totally my fault due to an untested LFTP script. Anyway I spent years building my catalog so I am pretty bummed. Now, II know PMS wasnt the root cause, but hopefully there are bread crumbs, So, the million dollar question is through the older logs, are db file, can i find a reference to the deleted content, where do I look and how. The goal would be to write a SQL query, or simple script to parse the log to help create a list for me so I know what go find.

Thanks all. Best!

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**Author:** ![DTR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@DTR](https://forums.plex.tv/u/DTR)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 7:59am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/using-plex-for-help-in-recovery/868617/2 "2024-02-08T07:59:48Z")

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If your Plex library hasn’t updated yet (i.e. it still lists tracks that are no longer on your filesystem), you may be able to use [WebTools-NG](https://github.com/WebTools-NG/WebTools-NG)’s [FindMedia](https://github.com/WebTools-NG/WebTools-NG/wiki/Find-Media) tool to find differences between what files Plex has registered and what’s on your filesystem. If Plex doesn’t list those tracks anymore, the information might still be in a [backup database](https://support.plex.tv/articles/202485658-restore-a-database-backed-up-via-scheduled-tasks/). If so, the following query would list all file paths in the server, which could then be compared against the file paths that actually exist on your system:

```sql
SELECT file FROM media_parts WHERE length(file) > 0 ORDER BY file;

```

If you wanted to limit it to just music library file paths:

```sql
SELECT file FROM media_parts
INNER JOIN media_items ON media_parts.media_item_id=media_items.id
INNER JOIN library_sections ON media_items.library_section_id=library_sections.id
WHERE library_sections.section_type=8 AND length(file) > 0 ORDER BY file;

```

And if you want some basic metadata attached to each track:

```sql
SELECT
    sections.name AS Library,
	gitems.title || " - " || pitems.title || " - " || items.`index` || " - " || items.title AS Title,
    parts.file as FilePath
FROM metadata_items items
LEFT OUTER JOIN metadata_items pitems ON items.parent_id=pitems.id
LEFT OUTER JOIN metadata_items gitems ON pitems.parent_id=gitems.id
INNER JOIN media_items media ON media.metadata_item_id=items.id
INNER JOIN media_parts parts ON parts.media_item_id=media.id
INNER JOIN library_sections sections ON items.library_section_id=sections.id
WHERE items.metadata_type=10
ORDER BY Library, gitems.title, pitems.originally_available_at, items.`index` ASC, items.title;

```

which will output something like

| Library | Title | FilePath |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Music | Artist1 - Album1 - 1 - Track1 | /path/to/track1.mp3 |
| Music | Artist1 - Album1 - 2 - Track2 | /path/to/track2.flac |
| … | … | … |

It doesn’t do any filtering based on what actually exists on your filesystem, but if you combine it with a script outside of Plex that lists all the files that do exist, you could find what’s different between the two.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pcaswell909](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/df705f/32.png) [@pcaswell909](https://forums.plex.tv/u/pcaswell909)\
**Post date:** [February 8, 2024, 8:32am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/using-plex-for-help-in-recovery/868617/3 "2024-02-08T08:32:09Z")

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This is super helpful thank you. I have 2 mac minis that I need to look through, and to go back further, chromebox, rasberry Pii and intel nuc. I can eliminate the new mac mini, and focus on the older boxes to see what turns up. I will reply back on the weekend.

Again, thank you.

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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:** [May 8, 2024, 8:33am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/using-plex-for-help-in-recovery/868617/4 "2024-05-08T08:33:00Z")

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