Copy Calibre settings from Windows to Linux

[Klaas Vaak]

I just installed Linux on my Windows PC, and was pleasantly surprised that Calibre is a supported program in Linux, so I installed it immediately.

Then the thought hit me: it would be a real time saver if I could copy my settings from Calibre in Windows to Calibre in Linux. Is this possible?

[gbm]

Originally Posted by Klaas Vaak

I just installed Linux on my Windows PC, and was pleasantly surprised that Calibre is a supported program in Linux, so I installed it immediately.

Then the thought hit me: it would be a real time saver if I could copy my settings from Calibre in Windows to Calibre in Linux. Is this possible?

https://manual.calibre-ebook.com/faq...ter-to-another

bernie

[Klaas Vaak]

Thanks a lot Bernie.

[Klaas Vaak]

I tried to do what is shown in the link, but the is no "main Calibre icon" on my GUI, and I cannot make it appear either.



The tiny Calibre icon in the top left corner has nothing to do with export. I looked thru all the settings but could not find an export feature.

Another issue I have is that I can share folder between Windows & Linux, so I only want to export the Calibre settings in Windows & import them in Linux. Is that possible

[BetterRed]

You must have removed the "Choose Library" icon from the main toolbar. You can put it back via Preferences->Toolbars->The main toolbar, just select it and hit the blue right arrow, you can position it within the toolbar using the up/down green arrows.

BR

[Klaas Vaak]

Thanks BetterRed, yes that did the trick.

[Adoby]

If you intend to run Calibre using both Windows and Linux, and share books/libraries between the systems, you may encounter problems.

Windows and Linux handle upper/lower case file- and folder-names differently. What Linux consider as two different names Windows may consider as the same name and overwrite one copy.

"Folder name", "Folder Name".

This can cause very strange errors and orphan books. Sometimes these errors are not discovered for some time.

[Klaas Vaak]

You make an important point. I designated a number of my Windows folders as shared folders, hoping to be able to edit the files in them in both environments. I have already noticed that LibreOffice Calc does not recognise Excel Tables.

So, combining that with your remarks, your advice is to not share folders/files, irrespective of the program. Am I right?

[Adoby]

Yes.

It is even mentioned in the FAQ for Calibre that you should not use networked/shared folders for Calibre libraries.

But note that LibreOffice is available for Windows as well. I suspect your problems accessing Excel files from LibreCalc most likely is not related to different handling of upper/lower case in file names and paths.

I have stopped using Windows and now just use Linux (and Android).

Another less drastic way could be to only use for instance a Linux workstation/server to host the Calibre software. Calibre has an excellent content server you can access from other devices over a network. Locally on a LAN or even on the internet.

[theducks]

Originally Posted by Klaas Vaak

You make an important point. I designated a number of my Windows folders as shared folders, hoping to be able to edit the files in them in both environments. I have already noticed that LibreOffice Calc does not recognise Excel Tables.

So, combining that with your remarks, your advice is to not share folders/files, irrespective of the program. Am I right?

Absolutely right.
You will end up with a MESS.
Pick one system for your Library.
If you must make changes, VNC or Remote desktop connection (Win Pro versions) into that and remote control that system. There are even Clients (the remotes) for Android.

[Klaas Vaak]

Thanks Adoby. My intention is to 1st get to know Linux better before I make a decision. I would like to completely switch to Linux too, but in the interim, I don't want to transfer all files, so would like to share as much as possible.

I don't want to use Calibre in a different way from my other programs, so I will probably eventually import all the Calibre data into Linux.

As for LibreOffice, I am aware of the Windows version, but here too, I would not do a complete switch at this stage.

Anyway, I need to tread with care & good sense.
Thanks for your advice, I appreciate your warning about the risk of sharing.
Cheers for now.

[Klaas Vaak]

Thank you, I hear your advice loud & clear !!!
The same red flag that you and Adoby have put up in front of my eyes have convinced me. In fact, the files I would have really messed up big time are my Cherrytree (note-taking) files, which I edit every day, several times/day. I did 1 small test with a shared file (Windows-Linux) by changing a phrase a bit in Linux & see the effect in Windows. The result was perfect, so that would have encouraged me to do a bigger scale editing exercise.

I just told Adoby how I will handle Calibre, and will exercise extreme caution with all my files. If I want to test a Windows-based file in Linux I'll just clone it for testing purposes.

Best regards.

P.S. I like your avatar !!

[rcentros]

I don't know about Mac or Windows, but Export/Import worked beautifully from my Linux, 32-bit desktop to my Linux 64-bit laptop. Even moved over my configured DeDRM plugin, which surprised me. I may try moving it to the Windows partition of the laptop just to see if it can be made to work (or how much work would be required).

EDIT: Export/Import worked fine with Windows 8.1 (64-bit) from Linux. The only issue I had is that Windows wouldn't let me delete the metadata file in the Calibre Library directory, so I had create a new "Calibre" directory within the Calibre Library directory. As far as I can see everything is identical (other than that). (Again, DeDRM came over fully intact – that's the only plugin I've added.)

Again, an amazing application.

[pleiadesc]

Hello,

I would like to move to Linux from windows, I read that you could use WINE in Linux to run calibre portable, my concern is that the books will have problems in name. anyone has tried this?