Calibre Server: interesting newbie questions!

Mr Ethernet · 01-21-2021, 11:28 AM

My mom uses Calibre on two laptops and has a Synology DS920+ NAS on her home network. I'd like to centralize her eBook storage on the NAS and streamline her experience using Calibre Server, if possible.

Two benefits that stand out are that metadata manually fixed on one laptop would instantly be reflected on the second laptop - the other benefit is that the NAS has a RAID 5 array, so nothing would be lost if a single drive failed (unlike the laptops).

I've followed these instructions but haven't started importing the library yet as I have some fundamental questions and am not sure if this will actually work for her.

My mom occasionally travels with one or other of the laptops and will want to read eBooks from her library in places where she won't necessarily have internet service. This would render the Calibre web interface useless.

1) Is there any way to connect the regular Calibre client application to Calibre Server (instead of using the web interface)...

2) ...and then selectively locally cache part of the library, to allow for offline reading when there is no network connectivity to the Calibre Server?

My mom's keen to just keep two separate installs of Calibre going and have a local Calibre database on each of the two laptop C drives but I'm wondering if there's a more efficient way to manage this using Calibre Server, if I could work around the fact that there won't always be network connectivity on the client devices.

Any ideas?

james_ · 03-29-2021, 12:23 PM

This is probably not going to help you, but how about taking a different approach?

I'm running a Synology NAS and Calibre on multiple windows devices and I just have the library file sitting on the server as a file share, and use a network share to map that to the Calibre clients. Now, when I want access to this library when I travel I just have a VPN set up to connect in to my network and use COPS (which runs well on Synology and needs no magic to install) to access the library. I can then download whatever I need remotely.

With COPS you can also use that on devices that don't like Calibre, like Android, Apple, and Linux. Its rock solid and even has a built in reader if that's what you need. A really good piece of software.

I'd really like to use Linux like my Windows clients and yet I haven't found anyone who can reliably explain how to permanently mount a network drive in Linux in the same way you can in Windows, such that Calibre can actually recognise it, I guess this is why you need Calibre server...

kovidgoyal · 03-29-2021, 12:28 PM

no, there isnt. the calibre desktop application cannot use a calibre server as a backend.

piboy.kumar · 04-24-2021, 09:55 AM

I have synology 918+ and use syncthing for this.

I use syncthing to sync library between my laptop and wife's laptop with synology calibre.
Synology calibre is the linuxserver/calibre docker.

I also use Calibre server to read it on phone/tablet with custom domain/ssl - reverse proxy.

zaroz · 07-13-2021, 11:17 PM

I have a macbook pro that I use for making any changes to the library(adding books, metadata, etc), then using rsync to copy to my Synology DS220+ running linuxserver/calibre Docker image for a hosted the content server (since the content-server "shuts down" when you close a laptop). I am stuck doing this after too many corrupted library databases due to mounted network folders. I really wish that there was a way to remotely manage the server library from the client app (like some sort of plugin to treat it like a connected device)....

01-21-2021, 11:28 AM	#1
Mr Ethernet Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2021 Device: none	Calibre Server: interesting newbie questions! My mom uses Calibre on two laptops and has a Synology DS920+ NAS on her home network. I'd like to centralize her eBook storage on the NAS and streamline her experience using Calibre Server, if possible. Two benefits that stand out are that metadata manually fixed on one laptop would instantly be reflected on the second laptop - the other benefit is that the NAS has a RAID 5 array, so nothing would be lost if a single drive failed (unlike the laptops). I've followed these instructions but haven't started importing the library yet as I have some fundamental questions and am not sure if this will actually work for her. My mom occasionally travels with one or other of the laptops and will want to read eBooks from her library in places where she won't necessarily have internet service. This would render the Calibre web interface useless. 1) Is there any way to connect the regular Calibre client application to Calibre Server (instead of using the web interface)... 2) ...and then selectively locally cache part of the library, to allow for offline reading when there is no network connectivity to the Calibre Server? My mom's keen to just keep two separate installs of Calibre going and have a local Calibre database on each of the two laptop C drives but I'm wondering if there's a more efficient way to manage this using Calibre Server, if I could work around the fact that there won't always be network connectivity on the client devices. Any ideas?

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03-29-2021, 12:23 PM	#2
james_ Connoisseur Posts: 97 Karma: 2165552 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: Kindle 3,Oasis, YotaPhone 2, Boox Note2, Mi Pad 4+, Kobo Mini & Forma	This is probably not going to help you, but how about taking a different approach? I'm running a Synology NAS and Calibre on multiple windows devices and I just have the library file sitting on the server as a file share, and use a network share to map that to the Calibre clients. Now, when I want access to this library when I travel I just have a VPN set up to connect in to my network and use COPS (which runs well on Synology and needs no magic to install) to access the library. I can then download whatever I need remotely. With COPS you can also use that on devices that don't like Calibre, like Android, Apple, and Linux. Its rock solid and even has a built in reader if that's what you need. A really good piece of software. I'd really like to use Linux like my Windows clients and yet I haven't found anyone who can reliably explain how to permanently mount a network drive in Linux in the same way you can in Windows, such that Calibre can actually recognise it, I guess this is why you need Calibre server...

03-29-2021, 12:28 PM	#3
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 45,345 Karma: 27182818 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	no, there isnt. the calibre desktop application cannot use a calibre server as a backend.

04-24-2021, 09:55 AM	#4
piboy.kumar Junior Member Posts: 7 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2021 Device: none	I have synology 918+ and use syncthing for this. I use syncthing to sync library between my laptop and wife's laptop with synology calibre. Synology calibre is the linuxserver/calibre docker. I also use Calibre server to read it on phone/tablet with custom domain/ssl - reverse proxy.

07-13-2021, 11:17 PM	#5
zaroz Member Posts: 11 Karma: 10 Join Date: Oct 2020 Device: Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	I have a macbook pro that I use for making any changes to the library(adding books, metadata, etc), then using rsync to copy to my Synology DS220+ running linuxserver/calibre Docker image for a hosted the content server (since the content-server "shuts down" when you close a laptop). I am stuck doing this after too many corrupted library databases due to mounted network folders. I really wish that there was a way to remotely manage the server library from the client app (like some sort of plugin to treat it like a connected device)....

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