backup&restore(question)

[zlhyh 27]

Due to a hardware change (switching NAS brands), I intend to migrate to the Docker version. I would like to know the proper procedure to transfer all Emby data and metadata to the new server while preserving all settings. Please note that the directory structure on the new NAS is different.

[Luke 42414]

hi, have you taken a look at this?

Backup & Restore

[zlhyh 27]

10 hours ago, Luke said:

hi, have you taken a look at this?

Backup & Restore

yes，I use this。but:

First, I changed the media storage directory on the new server. Also, I have a lot of custom actors, movie covers, and other metadata in Emby on the old server. I wonder if I can migrate them over?

[zlhyh 27]

I also don't know what steps to follow. I want to do it this way and wonder if it will work:
Back up all data using Emby's Backup & Restore on the old server.
Install Emby (Docker) on the new server and set up the admin account.
Copy all media files (videos, TV shows, music, e-books, etc.) to the new server.
Restore the data using Backup & Restore in the new Emby (Docker) instance.
Reconfigure the media library directories accordingly.

[Luke 42414]

1 hour ago, zlhyh said:

yes，I use this。but:

First, I changed the media storage directory on the new server. Also, I have a lot of custom actors, movie covers, and other metadata in Emby on the old server. I wonder if I can migrate them over?

Hi, do you have nfo files next to your media?

[Luke 42414]

1 hour ago, zlhyh said:

I also don't know what steps to follow. I want to do it this way and wonder if it will work:
Back up all data using Emby's Backup & Restore on the old server.
Install Emby (Docker) on the new server and set up the admin account.
Copy all media files (videos, TV shows, music, e-books, etc.) to the new server.
Restore the data using Backup & Restore in the new Emby (Docker) instance.
Reconfigure the media library directories accordingly.

Hopefully the document covers all of that. If not, then @sa2000can work with you to improve it. Thanks.

[zlhyh 27]

6 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, do you have nfo files next to your media?

Yes，have .nfo

[sa2000 731]

On 15/04/2026 at 01:48, zlhyh said:

Please note that the directory structure on the new NAS is different.

 

16 hours ago, zlhyh said:

Copy all media files (videos, TV shows, music, e-books, etc.) to the new server.

 

16 hours ago, zlhyh said:

Reconfigure the media library directories accordingly.

This last step has not been tried by me and is not covered by the Backup amd Restore support article. The current documentation assumes that the new machine will have the same media files paths

See the first sentence in the document in this paragraph

Quote

• Ensure all media is in place on the new server in the same media filesystem paths as before. Any that were within the emby server program data eg the default Camera Upload folder and Live TV Recordings folders need to be copied to within the program data path for the new server.

Your proposed method may well work.

For your metadata you will need to select all the options for backing these up (See "Include Metadata subfolders in Backup)

Go through the document and taking note of the special instructions for the camera upload and live tv recordings default folders 

Let us know if changing the media root folder paths for the libraries after the restore succeeds without losing any of the media. You mentioned you .nfo's beside the media files, these would be included in your manual backup / copy of the media to the new paths

 

 

 

 

Edited April 16 by sa2000

[sa2000 731]

2 hours ago, sa2000 said:

Your proposed method may well work.

Actually if images are stored alongside the media then the paths to the images that are held within the database will still be referring to the old filesystem paths. So you may end up with issues for images - which may require refresh metadata for all libraries and updating images  

Do you have any custom image files stored alongside the media files ? You need to be careful not to refresh metadata with replace images option selected as they would get removed.

Let us know how it goes

 

 

[zlhyh 27]

2 hours ago, sa2000 said:

Actually if images are stored alongside the media then the paths to the images that are held within the database will still be referring to the old filesystem paths. So you may end up with issues for images - which may require refresh metadata for all libraries and updating images  

Do you have any custom image files stored alongside the media files ? You need to be careful not to refresh metadata with replace images option selected as they would get removed.

Let us know how it goes

 

 

OK!

I've got a ton of media, so copying everything will take me a few days.

[sa2000 731]

On 16/04/2026 at 12:35, sa2000 said:

Actually if images are stored alongside the media then the paths to the images that are held within the database will still be referring to the old filesystem paths. So you may end up with issues for images - which may require refresh metadata for all libraries and updating images  

Do you have any custom image files stored alongside the media files ? You need to be careful not to refresh metadata with replace images option selected as they would get removed.

@zlhyhI have done some tests and images were OK

My tests were on windows but i expect similar results for other platforms

I had my media and nfo's and image files alongside the media files on the H Drive

I had options in libraries for saving nfo's and for storing images alongside media

I had also custom image files I had added myself alongside the media files

I did full backup including all 4 options for backing up metadata 

I shutdown emby serber

I then replicated my H Drive media folders onto the new paths on the C Drive

I then disconnected the H Drive - so the old media paths were no longer accessible

I then renamed the programdata folder to make sure i start with a brand new server install - it is getting rid of all cache, data, config, metadata etc contents

I launched emby server and went through new server install and added Emby Premiere and configured the backup path for the server

I then did full restore maintaining the server ID

Closed browser and relaunched browser emby web and logged in afresh to emby server

Then selected settings / library and did Add Folder for each to add the new C Drive path - so ending up with both old and new paths for each library

Then i removed the dead paths for my H Drive

The libraries were now accessing the new paths and all images are preserved

 

 

 

 

 

[zlhyh 27]

8 hours ago, sa2000 said:

@zlhyhI have done some tests and images were OK

My tests were on windows but i expect similar results for other platforms

I had my media and nfo's and image files alongside the media files on the H Drive

I had options in libraries for saving nfo's and for storing images alongside media

I had also custom image files I had added myself alongside the media files

I did full backup including all 4 options for backing up metadata 

I shutdown emby serber

I then replicated my H Drive media folders onto the new paths on the C Drive

I then disconnected the H Drive - so the old media paths were no longer accessible

I then renamed the programdata folder to make sure i start with a brand new server install - it is getting rid of all cache, data, config, metadata etc contents

I launched emby server and went through new server install and added Emby Premiere and configured the backup path for the server

I then did full restore maintaining the server ID

Closed browser and relaunched browser emby web and logged in afresh to emby server

Then selected settings / library and did Add Folder for each to add the new C Drive path - so ending up with both old and new paths for each library

Then i removed the dead paths for my H Drive

The libraries were now accessing the new paths and all images are preserved

 

 

 

 

 

thx.

I finished copying everything this morning, following your steps exactly. Everything you mentioned has been perfectly restored, but I've noticed one thing is missing for now: the actor images (the pictures I uploaded).

 

[guunter 50]

Did you change your whole file structure on the nas or is it just the top level folders?

[zlhyh 27]

Just now, guunter said:

Did you change your whole file structure on the nas or is it just the top level folders?

All folders (In New NAS)

[zlhyh 27]

I not select maintaining the server ID,I will try restore again.

[guunter 50]

4 minutes ago, zlhyh said:

All folders (In New NAS)

Oh ok nvm. If they were kept the same you couldve just pointed the docker compose to the same appdata and it would work like nothing changed.

[zlhyh 27]

10 hours ago, sa2000 said:

@zlhyhI have done some tests and images were OK

My tests were on windows but i expect similar results for other platforms

I had my media and nfo's and image files alongside the media files on the H Drive

I had options in libraries for saving nfo's and for storing images alongside media

I had also custom image files I had added myself alongside the media files

I did full backup including all 4 options for backing up metadata 

I shutdown emby serber

I then replicated my H Drive media folders onto the new paths on the C Drive

I then disconnected the H Drive - so the old media paths were no longer accessible

I then renamed the programdata folder to make sure i start with a brand new server install - it is getting rid of all cache, data, config, metadata etc contents

I launched emby server and went through new server install and added Emby Premiere and configured the backup path for the server

I then did full restore maintaining the server ID

Closed browser and relaunched browser emby web and logged in afresh to emby server

Then selected settings / library and did Add Folder for each to add the new C Drive path - so ending up with both old and new paths for each library

Then i removed the dead paths for my H Drive

The libraries were now accessing the new paths and all images are preserved

 

 

 

 

 

All right！thx. 

[sa2000 731]

6 hours ago, zlhyh said:

I finished copying everything this morning, following your steps exactly. Everything you mentioned has been perfectly restored, but I've noticed one thing is missing for now: the actor images (the pictures I uploaded).

 

Was it all actors ? It should have been backed up when selecting the 4th metadata backup option here

The backed up actor images would be in this backup folder "embyserver-backup-full\metadata\people"

could you check what images are within the folder structure below this

 

[zlhyh 27]

8 hours ago, sa2000 said:

Was it all actors ? It should have been backed up when selecting the 4th metadata backup option here

The backed up actor images would be in this backup folder "embyserver-backup-full\metadata\people"

could you check what images are within the folder structure below this

 

Everything is restored perfectly! This plugin is excellent; it can restore everything. The playlist might be due to the file.

[zlhyh 27]

On 4/21/2026 at 3:17 PM, sa2000 said:

Was it all actors ? It should have been backed up when selecting the 4th metadata backup option here

The backed up actor images would be in this backup folder "embyserver-backup-full\metadata\people"

could you check what images are within the folder structure below this

 

I have finally completed the restoration of my media library today, and all data has returned to normal. However, I am encountering an issue. The backup function on my new NAS has been running for more than an hour and still hasn’t finished. It used to take only about 12 seconds to finish a backup. I don’t know what caused this abnormality.

[zlhyh 27]

It finally finished after 1 hour and 20 minutes. Probably because it's the first full backup.

[Luke 42414]

7 minutes ago, zlhyh said:

It finally finished after 1 hour and 20 minutes. Probably because it's the first full backup.

Hi, yes that is correct.

[zlhyh 27]

4 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, yes that is correct.

The second run was super fast—just 15 seconds.