data directory permission denied

[tvmainia 4]

Hi,

I searched google for "data folder embed Linux," and it turns out the data is stored here:
/var/lib/emby
I'm on Ubuntu 20.04.

I am trying to browse the directory in order to restore an XML backup of live TV. However, I cannot access that folder. Whether I use a Terminal or an ssh client like Cyberduck on Mac OS, I get "permission denied."

I even shutdown emby and tried again. Same result.

What do I need to change to be able to access the directory and also write inside of it?

Thank you!

[Luke 40079]

Hi, what xml are you intending to restore?

[tvmainia 4]

As mentioned above, it’s the live TV settings from another server that I’m retiring

[Lessaj 298]

You'll have to switch to either the emby user or root from within your terminal, you shouldn't modify the permissions/ownership to allow your user to do it.

[tvmainia 4]

I did not create a user just for Emby. I don’t ever use the route user, in fact, I don’t even know what the default route password is in Ubuntu. 
 

sudo command didn’t work either. 
 

Can I just use the current Linux user I created when installing Ubuntu?

username tvmainia. 
So can I assign the right permissions to this user for the directory?

[Lessaj 298]

You don't need to know the root password, you should be able to run this as your own user.

sudo su -

 Or to get to the emby user directly (which should have been created as part of the installation process):

sudo su -s /bin/bash emby

You have to specify -s /bin/bash because the emby user should be created with /usr/sbin/nologin as the shell so you can't sudo su - emby as there is no shell defined.

emby:x:996:993:Emby Server:/var/lib/emby:/usr/sbin/nologin

[tvmainia 4]

thank you, @Lessaj.
I'll try.

Is there a way to use a gui app like winscp?

[Lessaj 298]

It should be simple enough task to do with command line but if you want to use a GUI you could try to launch a file explorer using sudo, depending on what file explorers are available on your system. I use thunar, it has a banner notification if you're elevated, not all file explorers may have this. Winscp could actually work too but you'd have to log in to the root account to do that.