Update calibredb and calibre-server on a CLI server

[dlfuller]

I am trying to update my calibredb and calibre-server on a Ubuntu 17.04 headless server with no GUI. The currently installed (by apt-get) version:

sudo apt-show-versions calibre
calibre:all/zesty 2.75.1+dfsg-1build1~1 uptodate

My problem is an inability to access the /opds xml file. And, thinking the 3.13.0 version might be a solution.

When attempting a binary install of the complete calibre 3.13.0 package, it results in an error from no GUI desktop installed:

Setting up desktop integration...
xdg-desktop-menu: No writable system menu directory found.
____________________ WARNING ____________________
Setting up desktop integration failed with error:
__________________________________________________
	Traceback (most recent call last):
	  File "site-packages/calibre/linux.py", line 859, in setup_desktop_integration
	  File "subprocess.py", line 541, in check_call
	CalledProcessError: Command 'xdg-desktop-menu install --noupdate ./calibre-gui.desktop' returned non-zero exit status 3

Launching calibre:

calibre
QXcbConnection: Could not connect to display 
Aborted (core dumped)

Checking installed version:

sudo apt-show-versions calibre
calibre:all/zesty 2.75.1+dfsg-1build1~1 uptodate

Is there a way to just install more-recent 3.10.0 versions of calibredb and calibre-server and not attempt a complete calibre install?

And, any suggestions about my fundamental problem of access to the /opds xml file would be appreciated.

[dlfuller]

Grrr! I may have stumbled across the version answer and shouldn't have asked that question.

calibredb --version
calibredb (calibre 3.13)

Although why the confusing:

sudo apt-show-versions calibre
calibre:all/zesty 2.75.1+dfsg-1build1~1 uptodate

But it still leaves my problem of access to the /opds xml file that started this.

[PeterT]

Probably you installed the newer version of calibre from the instructions at https://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux which will not update the apt database

[kovidgoyal]

Uninstall your distro calibre. Then install the binary and ignore the WARNING about being unable to install desktop files. And if you want help with your original problem, you should give us some more information about. WHat does unable to access opds actually mean?

[chaley]

THe OP originally reported the problem in the CC forum in this thread. There is more detail there.

[kovidgoyal]

According to that he is getting 404 errors, which should be easy to diagnose by looking at the server log.

[dlfuller]

Thanks gentlemen for sticking with this. I'm a Linux noob getting lost with the requirements of this installation. So to start from scratch, I did an uninstall.

sudo /usr/bin/calibre-uninstall

And then installed calibre 3.13.0 from the download section. Since this is a Ubuntu 17.04 headless server with no GUI, I did ignore the desktop warnings.

Next:

calibredb --library-path=/srv/sharestorage2/CalibreLibrary

calibre-server
   (returned)
   calibre server listening on 0.0.0.0:8080
   OPDS feeds advertised via BonJour at: 192.168.1.21 port: 8080

sudo systemctl enable calibre.service

Network access to the database from several devices seems to be working. Apparently /opds is also working as it should. I think BonJour may have been the key and wonder if that capability was not included in the older version calibre-server I was attempting to use before.

One remaining concern is the leftovers from the full calibre install, including the failed calibre.service. Is there a way to avoid this (see attachment) and remove the excess?

[kovidgoyal]

You need to uninstall the distribution provided calibre, which you do by using the software management tools of the distribution, apt for debian/unbunut, yum for fedora, pacman for arch, etc.

[dlfuller]

I uninstalled everything installed by the Ubuntu apt-get as you suggested:

$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get purge calibre
$ sudo apt autoremove

Calibre (macOS app) did still access the database on the server through the network, but http://192.168.1.xx:8080 no longer would access the database.

Next I installed calibre from https://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux using the Binary Install command provided (thank you).

$ calibre
QXcbConnection: Could not connect to display 
Aborted (core dumped)
~$ calibre-server
calibre server listening on 0.0.0.0:8080
OPDS feeds advertised via BonJour at: 192.168.1.xx port: 8080

$ sudo apt-show-versions calibre
calibre:all not installed

$ calibredb --version
calibredb (calibre 3.13)

Several services were not-found (inactive) and calibre.service loaded but failed. However all the calibre-server functions were working including access to the /opds xml file.

I then added a @reboot crontab function as a simple way to automatically start calibre-server by adding this line at end of the default crontab file:

 @reboot /opt/calibre/calibre-server &

Attempts to convert calibre-server to a service weren't successful. Probably due to the conflict with the existing calibre.service.

It is a little disconcerting having those failed or inactive services hanging around from the GUI version of calibre. Any way to remove them (see attached screenshot)? While a CLI version of calibre would be appreciated, I'm happy having everything working this way.

[kovidgoyal]

calibre does not install any service files. Either you installed them yourself or the distro calibre package did it for you and failed to remove it. And a bit of googling will show you how to remove service files from your system.

[dlfuller]

I'm a confused noob. Doesn't the installation from https://calibre-ebook.com/download_linux using the Binary Install command install calibre.service? Even though its GUI functions cannot be used.

After my uninstallation using the Ubuntu apt-get and a reboot, all signs of calibre and the calibre.service were gone. The only subsequent installation I made was that Binary Install command.

[kovidgoyal]

No the binary installation does not install service files. Easy to check, the installer is here: https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...libre/linux.py

Just search for the word service in that file.

[dlfuller]

I deactivated the errant calibre.service with:

sudo systemctl disable calibre-server.service

Then deleted the files, rebooted, and calibre-server continued working like a charm.

The bottom line is another source led to my problem. Not Calibre or Calibre Companion. Making sure of a clean foundation before installing something new sure avoids problems! As does learning a little about services and systemctl.