Hello!
I have my Infuse library on an SMB volume connected to my Raspberry Pi server. It’s working beautifully.
In the near future, I’ll be upgrading my server to a new machine. My current plan is to leave the library on the same drive, connect it to the new server, and then give the new server the same name as the old one. If I do this, will Infuse just keep humming along…or am I going to need to re-add my library and re-do all of my custom metadata, etc.?
Thank you in advance!
When I moved some videos from one server to another I first duplicated the original files on the new drive and then I added the new drive in Infuse along with the old one and let Infuse scan it and get all the info for the new drive. Doing it that way made duplicates of all the files on infuse but it did get the watched status and custom metadata recognized on the new drive.
Once everything looked correct and Infuse had completed it’s sync with iCloud I removed the original drive share from Infuse and everything was back to normal with only one video per title.
This beats having to try to re-enter all of the changes and it didn’t take long to let Infuse do the heavy lifting on the change over.
That’s good to know!
In my case, though, I’m not changing drives. It’s literally the same physical drive being connected to a new server. And that new server will have the same name as the old one.
I guess what I’m asking is, Will Infuse “notice” the switch?
Yup it will and it will see it as new content.
Is this an external drive you’re moving from one computer to another?
Is there a reason other than trying to get Infuse to not see a difference that you are going to name the new server the same as the old?
I have some other services running on the server and it will just make my life easier if it has the same hostname. Thanks so much for your advice — looks like I’ll have to do a little work (and sign up for Pro!), but nothing arduous.
Well, it may work if you leave the original server share in Infuse and then add the new one even with the same name. Infuse will squawk that it can’t scan the original but it should scan the new one and show doubles after it finishes but I think it will still maintain the watched status and metadata changes for the new one. Then you can delete the original non existent server which will eliminate the doubles.
I’ll give it a shot when the new hardware gets here!
I think it’s much better to use a dedicated server app like Jellyfin rather than relying on SMB, as it gives you more control and functionality. With Jellyfin, I have the option to download artwork directly into media folders, and to protect this artwork, I can use a backup app like Arq. Arq allows me to back up media folder contents while excluding video and subtitle formats, so only posters and media art are saved. What’s great about Arq is that it lets me restore files to their original location, overwriting any existing ones, which is perfect if Jellyfin replaces the artwork by mistake. Additionally, I back up the Jellyfin directories to preserve my custom library and settings. With all these backups, I can easily transfer the Jellyfin directories to a new device, making it feel like I never switched computers. Trakt is also useful since I can delete watched episodes from Jellyfin to save space, but still track where I left off in any series.
I believe you can do what you want. First, make sure the raspberry pi is set with a dedicated ip address and the Infuse SMB is pointed to that ip. Once done and you’ve made sure Infuse is working correctly you can proceed with the next step. Stop Infuse. Unplug the drive on the PI. Make note of the dedicated ip then change the PI’s ip. Now, set the new server’s ip to the same dedicated ip you made note of, then plug in the drive. Turn on Infuse and since it’s looking for the SMB with the same ip address it all should be working.
I don’t doubt that you’re right, but honestly I just don’t have the bandwidth to implement something like Jellyfin on top of everything else I’m juggling on this server. But thank you for your very detailed answer – I’m sure it will come in handy if/when I decide to make those sorts of changes.
Thanks! That’s what I’m gonna try!
I’d recommend strongly against that unless it’s not a problem to rebuild your watch status and library corrections.
It’s not just the IP that Infuse sees. I’ve tried both ways and the way I said above works. Duplicating the IP didn’t.
Gotcha.
I’ve had to put off the whole thing for a couple of months anyway, so I’ll revisit when I get back to it. Thanks!
That may be specific to your setup/case. Agreed regarding the watch status etc., however I did give my server the same ip (but only after changing the original server to a diff ip) and Infuse kept right on working.