[mythtv-users] Moving frontend/backend to a new machine

[Rich West]

On 12/19/2013 12:52 PM, Matthias Thyroff wrote:
> On 19.12.2013 18:01, Jon N wrote:
>> On Thu, Dec 19, 2013 at 11:56 AM, Jon N <jdnandroid at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> I am planning on moving my MythTV frontend/backend (it's the only
>>> backend I have) to a new machine.  I have been reading backend
>>> migration page on the wiki on Mythtv.org, but still have at least one
>>> question about passwords.
>>>
>>> I set up Mythtv so long ago I don't remember much about it, but I do
>>> seem to remember there is a password associated with it, I think it'
>> ...oops, somehow I managed to send that before it was done.  Picking
>> up where I left off...
>>
>> was for access to the mysql database.  Is this a factor in moving
>> things to the new computer?  I don't see it mentioned on the database
>> migration page, but I admit moving this makes me a little nervous (I
>> am not what I would call a power user), so I  would just like to
>> verify before I start.
>>
>> BTW, if anyone knows of an alternate guide to doing this please pass
>> it along.  I often find having more than one perspective on doing
>> something helps.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Jon
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> Hello Jon,
>
> I have moved my backend many times already from one machine to the
> next one... starting on a PII, Athlon, Athlon X2, and now I am on an
> ivy bridge celeron, I think, always complete with the underlaying
> linux installation, either just taking the hard disk to the new
> computer or copying the whole system to to a new disk (there are
> instructions on the internet to do that, you might have to boot from a
> CD to reconfigure grub). This saved me from reconfiguring, not only
> myth, but also the web server, the mail system, the users, the cloud,
> the pbx (at that time)...
>
> This is also why I am still running 32bit on 64bit hardware, but I do
> not see the need to change to 64bit at all (maybe a tiny little
> technology itch, but I can live in peace with that.)
>
> That is one of the great things about linux: Changing the platform
> does not mean automatically that you have to reinstall. It is quite
> cool to see the old installation booting the first time on new hardware.
>
> It sometimes needs some tweaking, removing old network adaptors,
> tweaking powersaving, minor things that you have to tweak manually
> anyway.
>
> And when everything is running, you still should go and recover your
> passwords, maybe.
>
> Good luck and fun for your holidays project!
>
> Matthias

Honestly, if you plan on a completely new linux install, the only thing
you really need is the database.  If you are currently running your
backend as the "root" user, then you will want to preserve (at a
minimum) /root/.mythtv/config.xml.  If you are running as the "mythtv"
user, look in the .mythtv directory of that user's home directory.  That
contains the information for the system to talk to the database.

Like Matthias, I've moved equipment around a few times over the years
(although not as many times.. but bigger (and more painful) jumps.. I'm
at 64bit. :) ).  I've copied the entire /root/.mythtv directory and the
entire /var/lib/mysql directory over (perhaps not the best practice, but
it has worked well) to the remote host.  You could always do a mysqldump
mythconverg > mythconverg.sql, copy the file over to the new host and
run mysql < /root/mythconverg, and then set up the proper permissions
for the user (from your config.xml file) in mysql to allow it to have
full access to the mythconverg database.

-Rich