Syncing between different PCs

[sumithar]

Hi I use Calibre on different PCs. What's the simplest approach to keep all the books sync'ed b/w different PCs?
I tried to use DropBox- store Calibre content in a DropBox folder. I ran into a problem with my work PC since I can't get to DropBox from work.

Any thoughts?

[BetterRed]

Run calibre-server on your 'main' computer (e.g. the one you own), then you can access your libraries from anywhere, via a browser on any device.

See ==> The calibre Content server

BR

[Kythe42]

You could use the portable version of calibre and keep it on a thumb drive that you transfer between the various computers, if you're like me and don't really care for the content server layout. This negates the need to sync anything.

[sumithar]

Originally Posted by Kythe42

You could use the portable version of calibre and keep it on a thumb drive that you transfer between the various computers, if you're like me and don't really care for the content server layout. This negates the need to sync anything.

Thanks. I shuttle between a PC upstairs in my house and one downstairs in the kitchen- I will never remember to move that thumb drive around!

[BetterRed]

Are the PCs on a local network of some sort,

If they are, then do you need to update the library from both PCs - if not you could do one way incremental mirror syncs between the 'master' and 'slave' PCs using a file synch tool on say a daily basis - bonus: a backup that's never more than a day old.

BR

[theducks]

Originally Posted by sumithar

Thanks. I shuttle between a PC upstairs in my house and one downstairs in the kitchen- I will never remember to move that thumb drive around!

Same Network is a cinch. Run the Content server on the one that is ON the most. The content server is gaining the ability to edit metadata.

Use a Sync utility to BACKUP your Library to the other. Treat it like a backup...don't use it.

[haertig]

You didn't mention which operating system you are using (Windows, Linux, MacOS, etc.) so I'll provide you with a Linux example, since this is what I use (and I actually use the code below to copy my Calibre library between computers). If you use Windows, I'm sure somebody has ported rsync to that platform. MacOS, being very Linux/Unix-like under the hood, probably has the rsync command built in - but I'm just guessing and I don't know that for sure, because I've never used a Mac.


The commands/configuration below will copy the Calibre library
from: 192.168.0.2 /media/DigitalBooks
to: 192.168.0.3 /var/opt/calibre

On computer 192.168.0.2
===

/etc/rsyncd.conf:

pid file = /var/run/rsyncd.pid
lock file = /var/run/rsync.lock
log file = /var/log/rsync.log

[files]
path = /media/Digitalbooks
comment = CALIBRE EBOOKS
timeout = 600
read only = true
hosts allow = 192.168.0.3
auth users = calibre
secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets

/etc/rsyncd.secrets:

calibre:my_password

Run this command:

rsync --daemon

On computer 192.168.0.3
===

Run this command:

/usr/bin/rsync -avzh --password-file=/home/calibre/bin/rsync.calibre.credentials rsync://calibre@192.168.0.2:873/files/ /var/opt/calibre/

/home/calibre/bin/rsync.calibre.credentials:

my_password

Once you have the above working to your satisfaction, you will want to run the rsync daemon automatically on 192.168.0.2 and the manual rsync command periodically on 192.168.0.3. There are many different ways to do this. Personally, I use systemd. cron/init would be simpler if you don't know systemd.