What's the best way to move a Daminion Server database to another machine?

[cincytriguy]

Just like the title says. Currently my Daminion installation is on Machine A and I'd like to move it to a more powerful machine, Machine B. 

All of my assets are on a network share that both Machine A and Machine B can access. So I don't need to move the assets. Just the catalog.

I feel like there are 2 options but I could be wrong.

Option 1 would be to perform a clean install of Daminion on Machine B, backup the existing catalog from Machine A and restore it to Machine B.

Option 2 would be to perform a clean install of Daminion on Machine B and create a new empty catalog. From a Daminion client, connect to the catalogs on both Machine A and Machine B. Right-click the assets on Machine A's catalog and select the option to move them to Machine B's catalog.

Are those a roughly accurate assessment of my options? Is one option preferred over the other?

[Oleg.Ross]

On 9/23/2023 at 7:28 PM, cincytriguy said:

Just like the title says. Currently my Daminion installation is on Machine A and I'd like to move it to a more powerful machine, Machine B. 

All of my assets are on a network share that both Machine A and Machine B can access. So I don't need to move the assets. Just the catalog.

I feel like there are 2 options but I could be wrong.

Option 1 would be to perform a clean install of Daminion on Machine B, backup the existing catalog from Machine A and restore it to Machine B.

Option 2 would be to perform a clean install of Daminion on Machine B and create a new empty catalog. From a Daminion client, connect to the catalogs on both Machine A and Machine B. Right-click the assets on Machine A's catalog and select the option to move them to Machine B's catalog.

Are those a roughly accurate assessment of my options? Is one option preferred over the other?

The first option is the best option. You will also need to copy all your thumbnails from the old server.
The 2nd option is a bad idea, as the move is essentially an import into the catalog. If you had tags with synonyms, they will not be moved. There will also be a problem with custom tags.

[Daria Kotilainen]

Hey! we've got an article with a step-by-step instruction. Check it out here: https://daminion.net/docs/how-to-migrate-daminion-server-from-one-computer-pc1-to-a-new-computer-pc2/

[cincytriguy]

Thank you @Oleg.Ross and @Daria Kotilainen, this is very helpful!

I do have an unrelated question that I've wondered about in the past. Can I configure the folder to store uploaded files and the auto-import folder to be the same folder? I have a network share that I'd like to be my "dropbox" folder, so files copied to that folder are then auto-imported into the Daminion catalog. But I don't want or need the files to be moved; I want them to stay in the dropbox folder until a user manually decides which catalog folder the file should ultimately be moved to. 

[Oleg.Ross]

21 hours ago, cincytriguy said:

Thank you @Oleg.Ross and @Daria Kotilainen, this is very helpful!

I do have an unrelated question that I've wondered about in the past. Can I configure the folder to store uploaded files and the auto-import folder to be the same folder? I have a network share that I'd like to be my "dropbox" folder, so files copied to that folder are then auto-imported into the Daminion catalog. But I don't want or need the files to be moved; I want them to stay in the dropbox folder until a user manually decides which catalog folder the file should ultimately be moved to. 

https://daminion.net/docs/automatic-folder-rescan/

Read up on the autorescan feature, it will work for you. But you need to move the file to another folder, preferably through catalog, not a file system.

[cincytriguy]

Thank you @Oleg.Ross, that article is perfect!