[digiKam-users] How to copy DK databases?

classic Classic list List threaded Threaded
2 messages Options
Lou
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

[digiKam-users] How to copy DK databases?

Lou
Hi fellow DK users,

Several months ago I bought a new computer with a SSD. I install Linux
Mint 20.1 on the SSD. I also took the HD out of the old computer, and
installed it on the new computer. Then I copied most of the data from
the old HD to the new SSD. I don't know what version of DK was installed
on the HD, but I've just installed DK 7.2.0 rc on the SSD. I have many
thousands of photos (13 years worth) on the old HD. The photos are all
in DK's sqlite databases. How can I copy those databases to the SSD? And
what pitfalls should I watch out for in doing so? Many thanks in advance
for your help.

Lou

Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: How to copy DK databases?

Vlado Plaga
Hi Louis,

just stumbling over your message while looking for something different,
database related... will post that question soon.

A reliable way to recover your Digikam database would probably be to
create a user "oldme", replace this user's new home directory with a
copy of your old home directory (containing at least the digikam config
files with the database, and making sure to give matching uid with
"chown -R oldme /home/oldme"). The pictures should be in the same path
they were in before. Now start digikam as user "oldme" and see if
everything is fine.

 From there on there are several options:

1. Once you identified where the database file sits, you can simply copy
that and the digikam configuration (probably under /home/oldme/.config)
to your current user's home (again making sure the uids match).

2. or let digikam write all metadata to the pictures (good as a backup
option) and rescan to recreate the database as your current user.

3. or migrate to a proper MySQL (MariaDB) database, as described in
https://web.archive.org/web/20191206193718/https://scribblesandsnaps.com/2018/10/19/use-digikam-with-a-nas-and-mariadb/ 
(original was under
https://userbase.kde.org/Digikam/Using_digiKam_with_MySQL ). I've been
using the database method for several years now, mainly in order to be
able to use digikam from two different computers on the same network
(desktop and laptop). It was easy enough for me to do, since I got
familiar with MySQL through my job. It is working well most of the time
(especially since I have better faster wifi on my new laptop), but
actually I invested more time in setting this up, than I've actually
been using digikam on the laptop computer...

I hope this helps,

Vlado

Am 23.02.21 um 18:07 schrieb Louis A Turk:

> Hi fellow DK users,
>
> Several months ago I bought a new computer with a SSD. I install Linux
> Mint 20.1 on the SSD. I also took the HD out of the old computer, and
> installed it on the new computer. Then I copied most of the data from
> the old HD to the new SSD. I don't know what version of DK was
> installed on the HD, but I've just installed DK 7.2.0 rc on the SSD. I
> have many thousands of photos (13 years worth) on the old HD. The
> photos are all in DK's sqlite databases. How can I copy those
> databases to the SSD? And what pitfalls should I watch out for in
> doing so? Many thanks in advance for your help.
>
> Lou
>
--

https://vlado-do.de/