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+#+title: Migrating Plex to a New Server (& Nvidia Transcoding)
+#+date: 2022-03-08
+#+description: A retrospective on migrating Plex between servers and enabling Nvidia GPU transcoding.
+#+filetags: :selfhosting:
+
+* Migration Phases
+I recently decided to migrate my server from an old OptiPlex desktop
+machine to a custom-built tower with better hardware in every category.
+In order to do this, I would need to properly migrate a full Plex
+installation.
+
+The second part of this migration is that the new server uses an Nvidia
+GPU and does not have any integrated graphics, which requires extra work
+for installation, but provides much better hardware transcoding options
+for Plex.
+
+Therefore, I have broken this migration down into three phases:
+
+1. Configure the New Server
+2. Migrate Plex Data & Devices
+3. Configure GPU Transcoding
+
+* Phase 1: Configure the New Server
+** Choosing an OS
+In order to migrate Plex to my new server, I first needed to choose an
+appropriate operating system (OS) and install it on the machine. Given
+that I have encountered numerous issues installing other Linux
+distributions properly with Nvidia graphics, I chose
+[[https://ubuntu.com/download/server][Ubuntu Server]].
+
+The first step is to create a bootable USB with Ubuntu Server. This is
+easy with [[https://www.balena.io/etcher/][Etcher]], an app that runs on
+many different platforms. Just download the Ubuntu Server =.iso= image,
+launch Etcher, and install the =.iso= on the USB.
+
+Once the USB is created, insert it into my server, reboot, and click
+=Esc= (or any of the =F1-12= keys) until the BIOS menu appears. Finally,
+launch the USB boot drive.
+
+** Booting with Nvidia
+In order to install Ubuntu Server with an Nvidia Graphics card (and no
+integrated graphics on this device for some reason), you'll have to
+configure the boot menu to allow different graphics drivers to be
+loaded.
+
+When booting from the USB, the machine will launch the initial
+installation menu. From this menu, type =e= to view the default command
+options that come with the device - it's a good idea to take a photo of
+this screen, so you can enter these commands on the next screen (along
+with adding support for Nvidia).
+
+Finally, type =Ctrl + C= to enter the command line. From this command
+line, enter the commands found on the =e= screen. *Remember to add
+=nomodeset= to the =linux ...= line so that your Nvidia device will
+display the installation screens properly!*
+
+Here's an example of the commands I pulled from the =e= screen and
+entered on the command line.
+
+#+begin_src sh
+setparams 'Install Ubuntu Server'
+setgfxpayload=keep
+linux /casper/vmlinuz quiet nomodeset ---
+initrd /casper/initrd
+boot
+#+end_src
+
+#+caption: Ubuntu Server Installation 01
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220308-plex-media-server-migration/ubuntu_server_installation_01.png]]
+
+#+caption: Ubuntu Server Installation 02
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220308-plex-media-server-migration/ubuntu_server_installation_02.png]]
+
+Once the machine is rebooted, enter the =e= screen again and add
+=nomodeset= to the =linux ...= line again and press =Ctrl + X= to save
+the boot options.
+
+The machine is now fully installed and can properly display on an
+external display using the Nvidia GPU.
+
+Always remember to update and upgrade on a new installation:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo apt update; sudo apt upgrade -y; sudo apt autoremove -y
+#+end_src
+
+* Phase 2: Migrate Plex Data & Devices
+This phase uses the great Plex article on migrations
+([[https://support.plex.tv/articles/201370363-move-an-install-to-another-system/][Move
+an Installation to Another System]]) and adds a bit more information to
+help with commands and context.
+
+** Terminology
+*Source:** The original server that is being replaced.\\
+*Destination:** The new server.\\
+*Client:** Any application that can be used to modify settings for both
+source/destination.
+
+** Step 01: [Client] Update Settings
+Open up a Plex app and /disable/ the =Account= > =Library= >
+=Empty trash automatically after every scan= preference for the source
+server.
+
+** Step 02: [Destination] Install Plex
+Open up the [[https://www.plex.tv/media-server-downloads/][Plex Media
+Server download page]] and copy the link for the appropriate platform.
+
+Execute the following commands on the destination server to install
+Plex:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+wget <url>
+sudo dpkg -i <filename>
+sudo systemctl stop plexmediaserver.service
+#+end_src
+
+** Step 03: [Source] Stop Plex & Migrate Data
+First, stop the Plex service so that no data is created or modified
+during the migration.
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo systemctl stop plexmediaserver.service
+#+end_src
+
+Next, copy the data to the new server. To find where the Plex data
+directory is located, Plex has another excellent article available:
+[[https://support.plex.tv/articles/202915258-where-is-the-plex-media-server-data-directory-located/][Where
+is the Plex Media Server data directory located?]].
+
+There are many ways to copy the data to the new server and will largely
+depend on the size of the folder being copied. Personally, my data
+folder was ~23GB and I opted to simply use the =scp= command to copy the
+files over SSH.
+
+This process was throttled by the old server's slow HDD and ports and
+took approximately 90 minutes to complete. In comparison, moving the
+data from the new server's =home/user/= directory to the
+=/var/.../Plex Media Server= directory took 2-3 minutes.
+
+#+begin_src sh
+scp -r "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server" your_user@xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:"'/path/to/destination/'"
+#+end_src
+
+** Step 04: [Destination] Update File Permissions
+In case you move the data directory to a common area on the new server,
+it will have to be moved to the proper location before Plex can function
+properly:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+mv "Plex Media Server" /var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/
+#+end_src
+
+To ensure permissions were retained properly, the server will need to
+show that all files and folders in the data directory are owned by
+=plex:plex= (or whichever user is running the Plex application).
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo chown -R plex:plex "/var/lib/plexmediaserver/Library/Application Support/Plex Media Server"
+#+end_src
+
+Finally, start the service and check the status.
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo systemctl start plexmediaserver.service
+sudo systemctl status plexmediaserver.service
+#+end_src
+
+** Step 05: [Client] Update Libraries & Metadata
+The first step - now that the new server is up and running - is to sign
+out of the client and sign back in. Once this is done, update any
+library locations, if necessary. This was unnecessary in my case since I
+simply moved my storage drives from the source server to the destination
+server.
+
+Next, perform the following actions in the client:
+
+1. On the left sidebar, click =More= > Three-Dot Menu >
+   =Scan Library Files=
+2. /Enable/ the =Account= > =Library= >
+   =Empty trash automatically after every scan= preference for the
+   source server.
+3. On the left sidebar, click =More= > Three-Dot Menu > =Manage Server=
+   > =Empty Trash=
+4. On the left sidebar, click =More= > Three-Dot Menu > =Manage Server=
+   > =Clean Bundles=
+5. On the left sidebar, click =More= > Three-Dot Menu > =Manage Server=
+   > =Optimize Database=
+
+Finally, double-check the Remote Access settings to make sure no changes
+have caused issues with accessing the server from outside the network.
+
+In my case, I use a single port forwarding rule in my router and needed
+to update the Local LAN IP Address to the new server IP address.
+
+#+caption: Router port forwarding
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220308-plex-media-server-migration/port_forwarding.png]]
+
+* Phase 3: Configure GPU Transcoding
+The final piece to the migration is enabling hardware transcoding so
+that Plex can fully utilize the new Nvidia GPU available in the server.
+The first step is to install Nvidia graphics drivers. This process may
+take a few minutes, but the commands are pretty simple:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
+sudo apt update
+sudo apt-get install ubuntu-drivers-common
+sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
+#+end_src
+
+Finally, reboot so that the changes are loaded:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo reboot now
+#+end_src
+
+To ensure that the Nvidia graphics drivers are working properly, run the
+following command to view the available GPUs, statistics, and processes:
+
+#+begin_src sh
+sudo nvidia-smi
+#+end_src
+
+#+caption: nvidia-smi
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220308-plex-media-server-migration/nvidia_smi.png]]
+
+Finally, enable hardware transcoding settings in the Plex application:
+
+#+caption: Plex transcoding settings
+[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20220308-plex-media-server-migration/plex_transcoding.png]]