[mythtv-users] Moving MythTV backend to another computer

[Michael Watson]

On 12/03/2014 1:54 AM, Peter Carlsson wrote:
> Hello!
>
> My current setup (0.27) has a dedicated BE/FE where I have the tuners. This is powered off whenever it is not recording or when we a watching a recording.
>
> I also have a desktop/server which is a FE and is running 24/7.
>
> To make it easier to update the recording schedule etc. I would like to move the BE and the database to the desktop/server but still have the tuners in the current BE/FE. The hostnames will be kept for the different systems.
>
> Is this possible without too much trouble and should I follow the instructions at http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Backend_migration ?
>
> Are there any pros/cons I might have to consider?
>
> Best regards,
> Peter Carlsson
>
MythBuntu patches the mythtv code to allow use of a tunerless backend, 
but you will hit a wall on this mailing list if you mention that you are 
running a BE without a tuner.  The simple workaround is to add a 
Demo/Test tuner to the BE, it requires a MPEG-2 TS file, which you can 
easily find on the web (and I'm guessing not to hard to create yourself 
but never tried).

Its really a matter of following the backup / restore procedure 
described here: http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Database_Backup_and_Restore
Then this procedure 
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Database_Backup_and_Restore#Change_the_hostname_of_a_MythTV_frontend_or_backend
You will need to use an intermediate name to swap the BE/FE and FE over.

mythconverg_restore.pl --change_hostname --old_hostname="MBEFE" 
--new_hostname="TempName"
mythconverg_restore.pl --change_hostname --old_hostname="FE" 
--new_hostname="MBEFE"
mythconverg_restore.pl --change_hostname --old_hostname="TempName" 
--new_hostname="FE"

Then, change the config.xml on both machines to point at the new MBE 
(Old FE), setup the Demo/Test Tuner on the MBE, run mythtv-setup on the 
FE machine to promote it to a SBE.

If paths to recordings / video / picture / music directories have 
changed in the changeover, you will have to adjust these paths where 
appropriate.

I know MTD is opposed to this sort of setup.  I ran this sort of setup 
for a while.  Although a setup as you described will work, running any 
sort of "critical" server service on a machine that is also used as a 
desktop will likely cause you grief at some point: You need to reboot 
because XXX service wont run, which causes you to lose / interrupt / 
miss a recording or interrupt somebodies viewing pleasure

Regards,
Michael