Browse your calibre book collection from anywhere

[kovidgoyal]

There's no way to do that without hacking the source code.

[Aikagi000]

Ummm ...... yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. never mind lol just realized I had the old version. Seems the software install on ubuntu only has the 6.13 version. After some digging I found a link to the 7.4 ver.

So my only Q is how to make the thumbs bigger in both the mobile and regular pages. Or does that also involve hacking? =o

[kovidgoyal]

yes, it does.

[yochillum]

Okay.. complete noob question:

I started the server at home this a.m. and am trying to access it at work. I hit test server in the GUI at home and am trying to connect to the address and port it listed with no success. Am I doing something completely wrong? Any/All help is appreciated.

[Manichean]

Originally Posted by yochillum

Okay.. complete noob question:

I started the server at home this a.m. and am trying to access it at work. I hit test server in the GUI at home and am trying to connect to the address and port it listed with no success. Am I doing something completely wrong? Any/All help is appreciated.

It is very likely that the address you try to use is the internal address of your computer inside your home network. I'm guessing you connect to the internet via a router. You'd need to a) direct your router to forward the requests it gets from the internet to the computer running the server and b) figure out the public IP address of your router and connect to that. By setting this up, you expose (one port of) your computer to the internet, and you should be aware of the dangers you may face by doing so. Additionally, since there is such a huge variety of routers out there, you'll have to figure out how to setup the router on your own.
Personally, I'd say if you understood the above, go for it. If not, this might be a tad too much to handle- you're essentially setting up an internet server, which is not to be taken lightly.

[itimpi]

There are likely to be several issues with accessing your library remotely:

• Your public IP address is almost certainly not the one you are trying to use and it will definitely be different to the one on your local network. The easiest way around this tends to be to use a service like dyndns.org who can map an internet address you select(e.g. myaddress.dyndns.org) to your external IP address. If your home router supports the DDNS service (most modern ones do), then the router can be set up to automatically advise dyndns.org if your public IP address changes and as long as you use the name you set up you need not be aware of the details.
  
  
• Normally your router will block attempts to connect to your home system(s) from the public internet. To get around this you have to configure port forwarding in your router to get your request from when you are at worked forwarded to the machine at home running the Calibre Content Server
  
  
• It is possible that your work firewall may limit the outbound ports allowed. If this is the case you would ahve to make sure that you have your home router to Port Forward from a port that is allowed by your work environment.

[yochillum]

Thanks for the help... My usual stupidity with some of these things strikes again. I'm pretty comfortable with Port Forwarding/Triggering, but like an idiot didn't think about checking my external IP -- It was early is my excuse, though that is only the tip of the iceberg Thanks for the help.

[ViktorShchedrin]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Calibre has a built-in webserver that will allow you to access your books from anywhere in the world using a web browser. Enjoy.

Hi ! Thanks for Calibre 0.7.44 and this forum. i have few XP SP3 computers at home, desktop and laptops. Desktop has folder D:\CalibreLibrary with Calibre collection, IP 192.168.xxx.xxx When desktop calibre server working i can access books thru local net using web browser http://192.168.xxx.xxx:8080

question is:
1) can i synchonize the desktop Calibre Library and the laptop library automatically when laptop Calibre using i i will change some authors or book title thru laptop? How should i synchronize correctly ? Please step by step as for newbee.

the next question is :

2) i have linux web server ( worldwide accessible ) IP is - let say - 216.55.127.31. I made folder /root/calibre and upload
my destop calibre library to the linux server folder.

Please advice - is it possible to use Calibre to synchronize my local desktop Calibre collection with linux server folder ? if yes, could you let me the link with detailed instruction for dummy ?

as i understood now - if local folder and remote linux server folder will have the same metadata.calibre metadata.db and folders - identical - i need not any additional synchronization ? is this correct ?

What do i mean to synchronize ?

let say my Calibre book collection have 6000 authors and 23000 books. i will not able to read all of them till end of my life and if i go away from home and would like to read a book(s) which i didn't pick up with my laptop hard drive - I will able to read this way - to use file manager, copy the book(s) folder from my server to laptop and to use Calibre "ADD BOOKS" the books from folder to Calibre library into the laptop.

i made the test. I delete Calibre library folder from laptop and start Calibre again. New folrder was created with metadata.db file. I replace metadata.db file by the file metadata.db Calibre collection from desktop (23000 books) and after restart Calibre onto the laptop i will see Calibre collection data - all 23000 books - Authors, Titles etc, but of course unable to open the book. Then i copy from the desktop Calibre collection particlar author folder and book sub-folder to the laptop - and i will able to open the particular book by laptop Calibre, no problem.

What will great if posiible. Using the settings Calibre "Preferences" to set up the path to my web server folder as "http://216.55.127.31/calibre" (username and password protected) and then - when i use Calibre from laptop - the Calibre program will define - if book is not available from the laptop local disk - Calibre will download - of course if my web server accessible - from my web server automatically.

And of course - if i changed some author's/book's/tag's/etc data using Calibre - does not matter - desktop - laptop - or - even - let say public computer - the metadata will synchronize with the web server automatically [option] too.

Thank you.

[Manichean]

There's no syncing mechanism built into Calibre. You need to sync multiple libraries manually.
Your idea of using a host on the internet as a library location should work, if you take certain prectautions. Search the forum for Calibre library on Dropbox to find out how you could set this up. Be aware though, that, when using this method, you'll need to make sure that only one computer at a time is connected to the remote library. If not, Bad Things will happen.

[ViktorShchedrin]

Originally Posted by Manichean

There's no syncing mechanism built into Calibre. You need to sync multiple libraries manually.

OK, thank you for the reply.

The next question is - let say i have collection 1 computer No1 and collection 2 computer No 2. Collection No 1 is newest, i made some change few books different authours.

let say - i changed Agatha Christie 2 books and Isaac Asimov 2 books, for example - corrected author sort and/or fetch some covers and metadata for particular book.

I would like to synchronize from 1 to 2, is it no the automatic procedure available?

manually i should synchronize - i think 2 options - option A by steps - 1) remember which book was changed in the collection No1 2) delete "old" books from collection No2 3) add modifyed books from No1 to No2 OR option B delete collection No2 and copy collection No1 computer 1 (complete folder and sub-folders) to computer 2

Do I understand this correctly?

[CuriousGrrl]

I use Dropbox for this. It's the easiest way to keep multiple computers in sync at all times. It's best to use the same version of Calibre on all computers and always close the one you're using when you're done (so two copies aren't trying to access the files at once).

Checkout this article for a howto:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/combine...access-ebooks/

[ViktorShchedrin]

Originally Posted by CuriousGrrl

I use Dropbox for this.

Thank you for idea, to use dropbox is really good idea, but i prefer to control my files. Of course i can copy files manually or SCOPY command or something like described previous post.

I looking for some free software which will similar 4 Free Alternatives to Dropbox and will work with my own web server. If i will find - i will use it for Calibre library too.

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by ViktorShchedrin

OK, thank you for the reply.

The next question is - let say i have collection 1 computer No1 and collection 2 computer No 2. Collection No 1 is newest, i made some change few books different authours.

let say - i changed Agatha Christie 2 books and Isaac Asimov 2 books, for example - corrected author sort and/or fetch some covers and metadata for particular book.

I would like to synchronize from 1 to 2, is it no the automatic procedure available?

manually i should synchronize - i think 2 options - option A by steps - 1) remember which book was changed in the collection No1 2) delete "old" books from collection No2 3) add modifyed books from No1 to No2 OR option B delete collection No2 and copy collection No1 computer 1 (complete folder and sub-folders) to computer 2

Do I understand this correctly?

You need to replace the metadata.db file in 2 with the metadata.db file from 1, then make sure that all the new/modified files from 1, if any, are put into 2. That's the minimum. It's preferable to also delete any leftover old files in 2 that weren't overwritten by modified versions. I use syncing software to sync from 1 to 2. It automatically identifies metadata.db as one of the new files to replace the old metadata.db. No. 2 is my backup, but it's perfectly usable as a copy of 1. There are lots of available syncing software solutions.

[ViktorShchedrin]

Originally Posted by Starson17

There are lots of available syncing software solutions.

thanks for the comment. i know XCOPY, could you advice other - free - ( disk space about 12Gb) - more convenient to sync Calibre folders comp No 1 and No2 ?

[Starson17]

Originally Posted by ViktorShchedrin

thanks for the comment. i know XCOPY, could you advice other - free - ( disk space about 12Gb) - more convenient to sync Calibre folders comp No 1 and No2 ?

There are so many .... I've heard good things about SyncToy - free from Microsoft. I've used PureSync and FreeFileSync. Currently using the former.

BTW, this is easy to set up if you just want a backup and never change Computer 2 (you can view 2, read from 2, etc. but don't add anything to 2 or expect to keep bookmarks, etc.) It's harder for two way sync (Changes in 2 also go to 1). It can be done, but it makes me nervous. Lots of other people seem comfortable with it, but then you need more control over file conflicts. Dropbox has conflict control, but I've never needed it in my sync software.