Digital Art Zone

Okay, this will be an ongoing series of posts that evolves from a VERY simple migration to a more difficult migration. We’ll start off with the most simple scenario.

In order for this to be the most direct, most simple migration possible, the most CRITICAL piece is that the path to your content remain identical. Sadly, this means if you’re using the default paths on XP and are moving to a Windows 7 machine, you won’t be able to follow this tutorial (yet?).

So here’s what I’ve now actually done. It worked for me, hopefully it will work for you.

On the old computer, write down or otherwise have available the following information:
* The full path to each defined directory for DAZ Content, Poser Content and Other Content as shown in Edit > Preferences > Content Library > Content Directory Manager
* The full path to where each version of DAZ Studio 4 is installed.
* The full path to where the DS4 Default content is installed (which should be part of #1 above, but since it’s called out by the installer explicitly I’m repeating its need here).
* The full path to where the Content Management Service is installed.
* The full path to where the CMS Databases is specified.

On my test machine the answer to these questions were:
* The full path to each defined directory
*  * DAZ Studio Format
*  *  * E:\content\DS4Data
*  *  * E:\content\genesis
*  *  * E:\content\gen4
*  *  * E:\content\other
*  *  * E:\content\shader mixer\shader mixer presets
*  * Poser Format
*  *  * E:\content\genesis
*  *  * E:\content\gen4
*  *  * E:\content\other
*  * Other Format
*  *  * E:\content\shader mixer\shader mixer scenes
* Where DS4 is installed?
*  * E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32
*  * E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.64
* Path for DS4 Default content
*  * E:\content\genesis
* Path for Content Management Service
*  * E:\DAZ\Content Management Service
* Path for CMS Databases
*  * E:\DAZ\Content Management Service\databases

The first thing I did was copy all my content from the Old Computer to the New Computer. I did this over my LAN, but copying via a USB device should work too.
* OLDCOMP: E:\content\DS4Data to NEWCOMP: E:\content\DS4Data
* OLDCOMP: E:\content\genesis to NEWCOMP: E:\content\genesis
* OLDCOMP: E:\content\gen4 to NEWCOMP: E:\content\gen4
* OLDCOMP: E:\content\other to NEWCOMP: E:\content\other
* OLDCOMP: E:\content\shader mixer to NEWCOMP: E:\content\shader mixer

I also created a temporary folder (NEWCOMP: E:\zzTemp) where I copied the following folders:
* OLDCOMP: E:\DAZ\Content Management Server\databases to NEWCOMP: E:\zzTemp\databases (NOTE: You must STOP the CMS service before performing this step, use the start menu item for this (don’t forget to restart it when you’re done))
* OLDCOMP: E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32\plugins to NEWCOMP: E:\zzTemp\32\plugins
* OLDCOMP: E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32\resources to NEWCOMP: E:\zzTemp\32\resources
* OLDCOMP: E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32\scripts to NEWCOMP: E:\zzTemp\32\scripts
* OLDCOMP: E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32\service to NEWCOMP: E:\zzTemp\32\service
* OLDCOMP: E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32\shaders to NEWCOMP: E:\zzTemp\32\shaders
* OLDCOMP: E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32\Uninstallers to NEWCOMP: E:\zzTemp\32\Uninstallers

Repeated for the 64-bit install adjusting the path to “64” where needed.

Once the data copy was completed… I installed DAZ Studio 4 pro 32bit.

During the install, when prompted I supplied the following information:
* I selected Customize the CMS install
* I pointed the App install folder to E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32
* I pointed the content install folder to E:\Content\Genesis
* I pointed the Content Management Service install to: E:\DAZ\Content Management Server
* I pointed the CMS databases to E:\DAZ\Content Management Server\databases

Repeated for the 64bit install adjusting the path to “64” where needed.

Now once all the installs are done it’s time to finish copying stuff!
* STOP the CMS service, using the start menu shortcut.
* Copy E:\zzTemp\databases to E:\DAZ\Content Management Server\databaes
* START the CMS Service, using the start menu shortcut.
* Copy E:\zzTemp\32\* to E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.32\*
* Copy E:\zzTemp\64\* to E:\DAZ\DAZStudio4.64\*

Now, launch DS4 for the first time. (32bit or 64bit doesn’t matter, I did 64 fwiw).
* You will be prompted for your DS4 serial number. Go ahead and put it in.
* You will be prompted for your DS4 plugin serial numbers. Go ahead and put them in.
* You will be prompted for a tutorial. Go ahead and close out of that.
* You will be prompted to import metadata. Do NOT process the metadata. Uncheck this box before clicking OK
* You will be prompted to select your layout. Go for it. I chose City Limits.

Before you do ANYTHING else, go to Edit > Preferences > Content Library and click the Content Directory Manager button.
* Add each DAZ Format directory
* Add each Poser Format directory.
* Add each “Other” Format directory.

Now be brave. Click on your Content Library tab and go to Categories. Everything should be there.

Now, let’s tackle the scenerio where the paths of everything gets changed. e.g., changing a drive letter.

The previous tutorial still applies, but you change the location of the content / copy destination to its new home.

HOWEVER, you must specify the paths of your content incorrectly. This will often mean that you can’t do this easily because the incorrect path MUST exist. This may mean you have to use a USB key (and assign it an appropriate drive letter, etc.) or other means that are too technical to go through here.

Assuming you’ve managed to get the incorrect paths, specified and you’ve got your database up and running, you can continue from here:

Okay, so the first thing to do is specify the new path.

We start off by opening the Content Directory Manager. Do this by Edit > Preferences > Content Library > Content Directory Manager or by right-clicking on the Content Library tab and selecting Content Directory Manager

Next you have to edit the bad path to the good. You have to do this for DAZ Studio Formats

Now see how it matches?

Don’t forget to do Poser Formats too

Once that’s done for each bad path you’re done with the Content Directory Manager and can Accept/OK out of it.

Now we need to fix the categories…

You’ll want to repeat this process for each “bad base path” there is…

First, find an item with a bad base path in the CMDB… You’ll know it by the big yellow exclamation point!

Now right click on any one of the bad items, select “Database” and “Edit Base Paths”

Click the top drop down and select “All files using this base path”

Click the bottom drop down and select the correct new base path from the list

Click accept!

It may take several minutes for this to happen if your database is quite large though the dialog will disappear almost immediately. Please give it some time before exploring. I recommend about 5 minutes.

Repeat for each other base path that changed and you’re done.

A couple of followup questions were asked…

Q: Can I use this process to “backup” my CMS Databases? 
A: Yes, but you only need a tiny portion of it.  Basically, you make certain DS isn’t running, you stop the CMS, you copy the contents of your databases folder to another location, restart the CMS. 

I’ve made a batch file to help with this.  It will need to be edited to reflect the appropriate path of your CMS database files.  Just make a file called “Database Backup.bat” and open it in notepad, put the code in there, edit it appropriately, and save it. Then you can just double click the Database Backup.bat file and it’ll do the backup.

Q: I wondered if this method, or something very similar would work for moving My Library to an external drive.
A: Yes, start from this step: http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewreply/71552/

Q: Is it possible to use an external drive holding the same ‘DAZ 3D\Studio\My Library’ directory for two different PCs? (My desktop and my laptop)
A: Yes.  Make sure the installations of content are identical.  Make sure that all the same plugins are installed for DS.  The How:  Ensure DS isn’t running.  Stop the CMS.  Cleanly eject the external drive.  Attach to new computer.  Start the CMS.  Remember to stop the CMS before disconnecting the drive, etc.

I duplicated this reply from the following thread:  http://www.daz3d.com/forums/viewthread/5775/  I mi.ssed Adamr’s request to post replys here instead of there.  Anyhow…

Thanks for your support.  I was able to restore my content manager database following the reformat.  Now, I am trying to move my Daz related content to another drive to lessen the burden on my main drive.  However, I have hit a snag:

I moved my content folder to another drive, and I have updated the paths via the “content directory manager.”  Everything looks good at this point.  My content library still shows all of my content and the path information is correct when I select a file.  Now, as expected, my content database now has exclamation points over everything.  Per your instructions, I right-click, select database/edit database paths.

In the field “change,” I select “All files using this base path” and I select my new path from the list which happens to be F:/DAZ 3D/Studio3/content.”

I hit accept, and nothing happens.  When I went in to try again, it had defaulted to a base path of “C:/ProgramData/DAZ #D/My DAZ Library.

I am running Daz 4.5.0.90.  Is is possible that a necessary directory is set to “read only”?  If so, does anyone know where it might be.

-Joe

I’ve gathered some additional information:

Here is the story thus far:
Prior to reformatting, my daz version, database and content files were stored as follows:
Daz Studio Version 4.5.0.90
C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\Content Management Service\databases
C:\Users\Joe\DAZ 3D \Studio3\content

After reformatting my computer, I first made sure that everything was restored to its original location and confirmed that all of my content database categories showed up correctly.  Next, I copied my content onto another drive (I am trying to lessen the burden on my OS drive) with the intent of updating the database base path via Daz Studio.

So hear are my daz version, database and content files now:
Daz Studio Version 4.5.0.114 (FYI also tried 4.5.0.90, but upgraded to 4.5.0.114 when I started having problems)
C:\Program Files\DAZ 3D\Content Management Service\databases
F:\DAZ 3D\Studio3\content
I also updated my content directory manager to point to F:\DAZ 3D\Studio3\content, and I do see all of my files in their expected directories, just not the database categories.  See image 1.

Now, I open daz studio and hover over the orphaned icons and see the following listed as the file path:
C:/Program Files/Daz 3D/DasStudio4//runtime/libraries/character….  (and yes, there are two backslashes before runtime.  Seeing this, I assumed that C:/Program Files/Daz 3D/DasStudio4/ was a base path.  So I right-click on the icon, and selected database/edit base path(s)...  See Image 2.

As you can see from the image, the base path given does not match what I saw for the file path.  Nevertheless, I attempted to modify the base path.  See Image 3.

So in image 3, you can see that I chose my new content path and indicated that I want all files using this base path be changed to the new base path.  However, after hitting accept nothing seems to happen.  When I select database/edit base path(s) again, I see that it has gone back to looking at AppData/Roming/Daz 3D etc from image2.

I’ve tried going back to my original content paths, but same result.  I’m really stuck on this one.  Is there anything else I can try for the sake of troubleshooting?

Much appreciated,
Joe