Moving and sharing
Moving to a New Machine Without Re-downloading
Most of Aurral's state is in one config directory, so migration is mostly a matter of copying it and telling the new machine where the media lives. The order matters more than it looks.
What has to move
The config directory holds your settings, database, users, job history and cached discovery data. Without it Aurral comes back as a fresh install with no accounts and no configuration.
The media itself does not need to move if the new machine can reach it. That is often the cheaper option, since a large library is expensive to copy and trivial to remount.
- Config directory: required. Without it you lose everything.
- Media files: only if the storage is changing.
- Download client configuration: on the client, not in Aurral.
- Play server configuration: on the server, not in Aurral.
The order that avoids problems
Bring the media path up first, then copy the config, then start Aurral. Starting before the media is reachable means the first scan sees an empty library, which is harmless but makes the first result confusing.
- Stop Aurral cleanly so the database is not mid-write.
- Bring the media path up on the new machine with the same container path.
- Copy the config directory to the new location.
- Start Aurral and confirm the library index is intact.
- Re-point the download client and playback server URLs if hosts changed.
- Run the storage checks before assuming anything is wrong.
Same paths versus different paths
If the new host mounts the media at the same container path, nothing else is needed. If it does not, either change the mount to match or add a remote path mapping.
The mapping is the cleaner answer when the host path genuinely differs, which is common when moving between a NAS and a workstation.
| Situation | Action |
|---|---|
| Same host path, same container path | Nothing |
| Different host path, same container path | Change the volume mapping |
| Different container path | Remote path mapping with the right Applies to |
| OS changed, e.g. Linux to Windows | Both a path mapping and PUID/PGID check |
Between operating systems
Cross-OS moves are fine. The config is portable; file ownership is not. On Linux or macOS, set PUID and PGID to the new user and change ownership of the files that Aurral wrote, since the old numeric IDs mean something different on the new host.
On Windows the ownership problem does not arise, and the usual friction is path separators and case sensitivity instead.
Verifying afterwards
Check three things in order: does the library index still list your artists, does the storage health panel pass, and does a Flow run produce downloads. If the first passes and the second passes, the migration worked and any remaining issue is client configuration.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to re-download my library?
No. Aurral reads files from wherever they are. As long as the new machine can reach the media, nothing is re-downloaded.
What is in the config directory?
Settings, the database, users, job history and cached discovery data. Treat it as the whole installation.
Moving from Linux to Windows, what breaks?
File ownership. The numeric user and group IDs from the old host mean nothing on Windows, and on Linux you need to change ownership of files Aurral wrote.
Do I need to reinstall the download client?
Only if the client itself moved. Aurral stores its URL and credentials, so update those in settings if the host or port changed.
Ready to set it up
One container and one media path is genuinely all it takes. Everything else in this page is something you add when the need appears.