Last updated Jun 3, 2026

Backups#

Media files are large and can be re-downloaded. What matters to back up is configuration — the settings, history, and metadata that took time to build up.

What to back up#

Docker service configs#

All Docker service configs are stored in /srv/media-stack/config/. This directory contains the application data for Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr, SABnzbd, and Overseerr.

/srv/media-stack/config/
├── sonarr/
├── radarr/
├── prowlarr/
├── sabnzbd/
└── overseerr/

Back up this entire directory. A simple tar to a network share or an external disk is enough:

tar -czf /backup/media-stack-config-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /srv/media-stack/config/

Stop the containers before backing up if you want a consistent snapshot:

docker compose stop
tar -czf /backup/media-stack-config-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /srv/media-stack/config/
docker compose start

Plex metadata#

Plex stores its metadata (thumbnails, watch history, playlists) in /var/lib/plexmediaserver/. This directory can grow large over time.

Back it up with:

systemctl stop plexmediaserver
tar -czf /backup/plex-metadata-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /var/lib/plexmediaserver/
systemctl start plexmediaserver

If you lose this and need to recover, Plex will re-scan your libraries and re-download metadata from the internet. Watch history and playlists will be gone, but everything else rebuilds automatically.

What not to bother backing up#

Media files (/mnt/media/movies, /mnt/media/tv) — re-downloadable through Sonarr/Radarr
Download staging area (/mnt/downloads) — in-progress downloads are expendable

Proxmox-level backups#

Proxmox has a built-in backup tool under Datacenter → Backup. You can schedule full backups of the Docker VM and the Plex LXC directly from there. This is the most complete option and covers everything, including the OS configuration.

Store Proxmox backups on a separate disk or NAS — not on the same ZFS pool as your media.