Moving or rebuilding a host
What a host is made of, how to keep it when you move a Linux host or rebuild its system, and what happens on Windows.
A host is its settings file, host.json. It holds the host’s identity, its paired devices and its profiles. Keep that file, and you keep the host: every device still knows it, and nobody pairs again.
| Host | Settings folder |
|---|---|
| Windows | %APPDATA%\Basalt\ |
| Linux desktop | ~/.config/basalt/ |
| No screen | /var/lib/basalt-host/ |
| Docker | The folder mounted at /config |
The rest of the folder is the library’s index, watch history and thumbnails. The index and thumbnails are rebuilt by themselves if lost.
A host on Linux or in Docker
The settings folder can be backed up, and moved to another computer, with everything still paired.
Back it up
Copy the settings folder somewhere safe while the host is stopped (sudo basalt-host stop, or stop the container).
Treat a copy of host.json like a key to your drive: it is what proves to your devices that the host is yours. Keep it somewhere private.
Move to another computer
- Stop the old host.
- Install Basalt Host on the new computer. On a host with no screen, stop it straight after installing:
sudo basalt-host stop. - Copy the old settings folder over the new one. On a host with no screen, give it back to the service’s user afterwards:
sudo chown -R basalt:basalt /var/lib/basalt-host. - Start the new host. If the drive’s place is different on the new computer, choose it again: your devices stay paired.
You can move between Linux kinds of host this way too, such as from a Linux desktop to a home server, or from a server into Docker.
A host on Windows
On Windows, the host’s keys are sealed by Windows for that computer before they are written down. A copy of host.json, from a backup that leaks or a folder shared by mistake, opens nowhere else.
The cost is that a Windows host can’t be moved: its settings won’t open on another computer, or on a fresh installation of Windows on the same one. After either, set the host up again, and pair each device again. Updating Basalt Host, or Windows itself, keeps everything.
Start again
Without the old settings, a new host is a different host, even on the same computer. Every device pairs with it again, and profiles are made again. The files on the drive are never affected, and nor is the library: turning recognition back on files everything again.
To start over on purpose, stop the host, delete its settings folder (on a host with no screen, sudo apt purge basalt-host-server), and start it again. Then remove the old host from each device with Forget this drive.
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