My friend has a 199 movie playlist of unwatched items he made. I’m building a new server and launching it this week, expiring the old one. Is there anyway for me, or him, to backup his playlist so he can have it on the new launch?
You could export the playlists using ExportTools
You can use WebTools to export and import playlists
(both of the above are still working, if you update to the latest releases of these plugins!)
The most seamless experience though, would be to copy over the Plex data folder from the old to the new server. And keeping all storage locations of media the same (if possible). This will retain all ‘watched/unwatched’ status and previous playback history and manual metadata edits etc.
Changes to the media storage locations can be made by editing the database directly (recommended only for advanced users): [HowTo] Plex database modification - Moving media the right/wrong way
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That sounds perfect. I always hate when I have done this in the past and made my friends/family lose there watched status. The drive locations will be the same, basically just wanted to upgrade the Mobo/CPU to the new Ryzen chipset and get a fresh install of Windows. I also have had some trouble with Plex dropping out lately so I thought a fresh install can’t hurt, and isolated all “extra stuff” already into VMs.
So doing the Plex Data Folder trick won’t be affected if it’s a different build of Windows 10? I’m going to an actual purchased copy of Windows for once, lol. I just really want a nice clean install and make it more of a dedicated server then an all around used PC but so sick of random fallouts. Submitted logs and was helped for a bit but it never got an answer so this is my next attempt, plus a sick 32,000 score CPU paired with a P2000 upgrade. #Overkill
Nope. Absolutely not.
Make sure to keep the exact drive letters of your media drives. I assume you know how to change these.
I recommend you to move the Plex data folder in advance to a separate drive. It must be locally attached (preferably internal and SSD).
It must be formatted with the NTFS file system.
This should make it even faster to get up and running on the new system, since you only need to install Plex server, then test it with a mini-library and then simply edit the ‘The path where local application data is stored’ to point to the drive with the old plex data folder and restart.
Here is a guide to do that: Moving Metadata on Windows - #3 by OttoKerner
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I have about 4 healthy SSDs sitting around I could use…
(1) You recommend putting ALL of Plex on it’s own “D” drive? Or would you just use it for the Plex Data Folder only. (Thinking could be smart in case I ever had to re-install O.S. but not have Plex be touched).
(2) It won’t affect anything with the Plex Data Folder not being on the “C” this time around when using the folder backup?
(3) Can I copy the Plex Data Folder while the server is running or does it have to be shut off?
Sorry for all the questions, just want to set it up perfect this time around. As for media, I have 91 TB in a DrivePool letter “E” so I will make sure that is “E” on the fresh install. That should answer all my questions then, I’ve been planning this for awhile! Thanks Otto!
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Only move the data folder. The server software can be reinstalled pretty quickly.
In fact, I urge you to keep the installation folder on drive letter C: -
Nope
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Absolutely not. You’ll end up with a damaged database. Always shut the server down before starting the backup.
And move the Plex data folder back to C after, or leave that as the only thing on it’s own D drive moving forward?
Leave it on D:
That way you can react quickly, in case you have to replace or update the C: drive.
Side note:
If D: is an SSD, but C: is still “spinning rust”, you might wanna consider moving just the “Transcoder temp folder” back to C:
Because this will be filled during ‘Transcoding’ and ‘Direct Streaming’ playbacks with lots of “chunks” of video files (each 1 to 3 minutes long) and some users have expressed concerns that this may wear out their SSD too fast. Some ppl even move it to a RAM drive, but this is only viable with lots of RAM in the system. (and only sensible on high-load servers)
New Setup thoughts:
C: (OS on 256 GB SSD)
D: (Plex Data Folder on new 512 GB SSD)
X: (Transcoding on 256GB SSD) ??
Sound like the best route? As of now I’ve always had transcoding on it’s own SSD X: drive. I did it on old SSDs that are no longer used and isolated since I was aware all the read/writes kill the drives faster and if it dies, oh well, nothing else on it. I have 32 gigs ram but eventually will order another 32. I rarely go above 16 used but spinning up more VMs now so eventually will. I also dont mind if once a year I spend $60 on new SSDs if needed. You got a paypal I can send a donation to for all your help? PM if so!
As long as you have enough free SATA ports, go ahead. 
Don’t worry, you’re welcome!
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8 on board and 2 PCI-E Sata Cards added for another 20 ports! 
Thanks so much for everything. Have a great week!
Got it all built up and almost ready to copy old data folder, start plex, update the data folder directory, and re-start the new Plex server. All the directories will be the same path as you mentioned, but does it matter when I make them?
AKA: Make the “TV Show” “Movie” “Kids Movies” directories before copying the data folder over? After copying it over when launching Plex to update the data directory path? Or after updating the data directory and restarting Plex?
With “making directories”, do you mean creating libraries in Plex?
If so: you don’t need to.
This will all be coming from the old server, once you point it to the location of the old data folder.
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Had it going for about 2.5 months now and everything overall has been very smooth. Some weird glitches lately that had me wondering if it would be safe to do this (Plex Data is on its own SSD, drive P)
1 - Remove OS SSD physically (not format)
2 - Install new blank SSD, load windows, install Plex
3 - Change Data Directory to P, reload plex
4 - Test
5 - If I don’t like it, power down and replace original SSD again
Since the Plex Data is on it’s own SSD, I don’t have to worry about swapping around O.S. drives for testing and keeping all Plex stuff in tact, correct?
That’s the idea, yes.
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