Now, if only there was a simple, built-in way to backup/export and restore/import all settings and other data, so that all platforms could do this easily, without having to search the internet for which folders to back up...

FYI, this is the best we have atm (which is pretty terrible). Please correct me if there is a better way:

How to backup a JF instance?

Jellyfin Docs: Migrating

[–] kakes@sh.itjust.works 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I run JF in a docker container, and although I don't have backups of my config files yet (because I don't really care about setting up from scratch if need be), it would be trivial to simply backup the mounted config volumes. Makes upgrading safe and easy, too.

That's probably how I would recommend going about this, personally.

[–] RootBeerGuy@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 months ago

Yes, it works that easy. I had to move hard drives, last time I did that without docker somehow it didn't recognize the library, might have been a mistake from my end though.

Now I did it again just a few weeks ago with a docker setup, all folders are on the hard drive. Could just mirror the drive, set it up at same mount point and there was no difference in the library, just worked.

[–] deweydecibel@lemmy.world -1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I believe they're suggesting just doing a full backup up of your system/Docker container. Which isn't ideal, but I think they're trusting people who can run a Jellyfin server to be able to use the scripts.

[–] original_reader@lemm.ee 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

Sure. But what if Docker is not available on a machine? What if the import should happen on a Linux machine coming from Windows? What if I want to sync two installations on different OSs?

I know it's all doable, but not easy, let alone foolproof. It's so easy to install, but genuinely not easy to keep safe without tech knowledge.

[–] exu@feditown.com -1 points 4 months ago

Syncing two instances sounds like a fun challenge. I think there's some project to replicate an sqlite db over the network. Similarly, you could use ceph or other distributed storage for the media.

I built something like this for Nextcloud a few years back, fun times.