Migration tool for MP?

[Grayda]

I recently upgraded from 0.2.1.0 to 0.2.2.0 and was disappointed to learn that I had to uninstall my old MP to install the new one. That would mean I had lost all my settings. Then I got thinking, what if MP had a migration tool (much like Windows XP) where you could back up settings like MyPrograms settings, TV Channel listings and stuff into a single file, and transfer that across MediaPortal installations? I'd get a bit of use out of it, as I just got MyPrograms set up the way I wanted it, then had to remove it (well I backed up my MP folder just in case).

What do you think? Feasible? Useful? I'm all ears!

[Maschine]

You normally WON'T loose your settings if you uninstall MP. If you leave the folder there (and esspecially the mediaportal.xml and the database dir) your settings will be taken to the new install (if you again chose the same folder for installing as the old installation was in).

Though it is sometimes recommended to start from scratch with an all new setup run to avoid problems.

But of course, If you would start working on such a migration tool it will be taken by the community with pleasure. So just go for it

Maschine

[ciaran00]

Yeah, but SVN leaves a bunch of garbage, even after uninstall. What files should be preserved? Mediaportal.xml and the database dir?

[Marcusb]

and the thumbs directory along with any customised plugins and skins.


As Maschine said, I usually just do an install over the top. If I find any issues then I do a clean install and copy these files back in one by one to see where the issue lies.

[Grayda]

Originally Posted by Maschine

You normally WON'T loose your settings if you uninstall MP. If you leave the folder there (and esspecially the mediaportal.xml and the database dir) your settings will be taken to the new install (if you again chose the same folder for installing as the old installation was in).

Though it is sometimes recommended to start from scratch with an all new setup run to avoid problems.

But of course, If you would start working on such a migration tool it will be taken by the community with pleasure. So just go for it

Maschine

I didn't realise it left stuff in the folder. But I do know now for next time. It'd be good if there was a notice in the installer telling you that your stuff was safe, or better yet, configuring the installer to not require uninstallation, instead just replacing files as needed, like the SVN builds do..

Originally Posted by Marcusb

As Maschine said, I usually just do an install over the top. If I find any issues then I do a clean install and copy these files back in one by one to see where the issue lies.

Well MP 0.2.2.0 wouldn't let me do an overlay installation. It told me it couldn't continue because of an existing version of MP on my machine. It's not like the SVN builds that just glide over the top and everything is good to go..

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by Grayda

Well MP 0.2.2.0 wouldn't let me do an overlay installation. It told me it couldn't continue because of an existing version of MP on my machine.

You have to uninstall your current version of MP first and then install MP 0.2.2.0 - but all your configuration files will remain after the uninstall, so you can then continue with your current configuration.

These are the steps:-

Make a backup copy of your current MP directory, just incase you need to revert.

Uninstall MediaPortal.

You will notice that there are a lot of files and folders left behind after the uninstall - they are the ones you want to keep.

Install MP 0.2.2.0 into the same MP directory as your previous version.

Start MediaPortal and all (or most) of your setup should be intact ....

The caveat is that if you encounter a problem (bug?) you should then do a completely fresh install (deleting the MediaPortal folder) to ensure that the problem was not due to something left behind from the previous version.