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Metadata location - Where is /var/db/emby-server/root


Blackie

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Blackie

New guy question.

 

Everything seems to be working FreeNAS-11.0-U2 (e417d8aa5)  and emby-3.2.26.0-amd64.  But I don't understand what the Emby Dashboard info is telling me.

 

When I selected the the folders for Emby I used a media folder I had made and the jail that the Emby plugin made.  The storage folders show as /mnt/FNAS/Media/Movies which is a folder I made

and /media/Movies which is in the emby_1 jail.

 

However, when I look to see where the metadata is being stored using the Server Dashboard it shows /var/db/emby-server/root/default/Movies

 

Now I cannot find that folder anywhere on the FreeNAS server.

 

Everything is setup to the defaults.  So is the server actually able to access the metadata with that designation?

 

Is the data being saved?  Or is this just pointing nowhere?

 

 

 

Extra Question: I know I should do a different post. If the answer is long I will do so.  Just let me know.

If I need to reinstall FreeNAS can I get emby to reuse the jail that already exists or must I allow it to use a new jail.

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PhilWhite

Don't reinstall anything, this is normal.  Navigating where things are when you ssh in is a little weird at the beginning until you get used to it.

 

You can keep metadata with your media folders, but most media servers don't do that.  They are generally set up to store the metadata in another area so that when you update the basic program -- emby-server -- you won't destroy your metadata along with the update.  Or, really rather, that you can make a back up easily that doesn't get destroyed.

 

We all dealt with this same issue when getting started.  I had to look around the tree to get an idea of where things were stored and it took me a while to understand why it was done that way.  It actually does make sense.

 

The metadata is stored in a slightly different location right now, but you can change it if you prefer. 

 

ETA:  So, one simple answer is that if you have metadata (any pictures for your movies, music, etc.), then, yes, it can access the metadata.  Don't worry, the paths are built into the program.  For me, the metadata is in /var/db/emby-server/metadata which is actually within a much longer full path that includes a path into the jail, then the jail itself, then /var/db/emby-server/metadata

 

So, all is good.  When you set up Emby you decided where to put the metadata, but like most of us you probably didn't pay attention to that step.  You could redo the Emby install and see where this occurs if you want, but I would guess that there is a way to either change it now or just accept where it is.  It isn't a problem.

 

Luke or Josh could direct you in the next step if you want to change things, but this is normal.

 

But one of the most important things you can do with this information (knowing where the metadata is held) is that you can make a copy of it and, if you end up destroying your current jail and if you are happy with the current metadata, you can replace all the metadata by simply replacing the folder created by the new plugin with the one you save.

 

This matters most if you change any of the metadata.  For instance, I don't like the metadata for the Holiday genre in movies, so it saves time for me to save the metadata folder if I destroy the jail for any reason -- and, trust me, I have messed things up enough in the past that I have needed to do that.  I also have some music artists and albums that are pretty obscure and not picked up on a general scrape of metadata (audiodb and the like) and so have to add a few images here and there.  It helps to have a separate copy of all this info.  The other option is to have all of the metadata stored in your media folders (I have done this in the past when using Kodi by exporting the libraries).  This can help in loading some of the metadata when you recreate what goes into a plugin, but I think it tends to slow things down.

 

The easiest way to create a copy of that folder is to ssh in to your freenas box.  If you have never done that, probably the easiest way is to download PuTTy or WinSCP (might be easier) and use that to ssh in to your Freenas system.  You will need to also go to services in Freenas and turn on ssh (or you won't be able to get in to Freenas).  Then you can move around the tree and see where different files are located.  I would bet that your emby-server is located along the following path -- /mnt/YourVolume/jails/your jail-name/var/db/emby-server.  You could then find the metadata folder and move a copy to your windows computer that you use to ssh in to the Freenas box.

Edited by PhilWhite
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Blackie

Thanks Phil.

 

Guess the main reason I am asking is everytime I change something in Emby.  FreeNAS slows to a crawl as far as access or control.  Can't get back to Emby because it just stops.  Right now with the last change to Emby the html page for FreeNAS will not even come up.

 

So if I reinstall (again and again) I want Emby to use the same jail.  If I leave the jail on FreeNAS Emby will make a jail_2 and will not use the original jail with the metadata.

 

So how in a completely fresh install of Emby do I get it to use the original jail with the saved metadata?

 

Don't you just love a new guy.  BTW I looked all over for an answer to this before posting.  No good answers plus many of the answers for Emby deal with an older version of FreeNAS.

 

BTW I will try to use the mount path you gave AFTER I reinstall again and have access to the FreeNAS volumes.

Edited by Blackie
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PhilWhite

I'm not sure why you are having such problems with the Freenas GUI loading.  When you login do you click on the link on the Freenas sign on page for the new GUI?  If so, I would suggest not doing that since they are still working on it and that might be part of your problem.  When you do get to Freenas is the background white or another color?

 

As for re-installing Emby into the same plugin jail that is no problem, but there are a couple of steps involved.  First leave emby in the jail.  Then go to this page: http://download.freenas.org/plugins/9/x64/, assuming you have a 64 bit system.  There is another page for 32 bit.

 

From that page choose one of the other pbis to download to your computer.  Any of them should work for this purpose, but IIRC Josh always recommended Firefly.

 

Then go to the emby jail on Freenas if you can get to it.  Click on the jail and you should see icons at the bottom of the jail page.  Click on the one that looks like a box -- to upload plugin.  Then navigate to where you downloaded the other pbi from that page so that you can have a 'holder' plugin to maintain the jail.  Install the plugin, but you don't need to do anything else with it.  

 

Then you may safely delete your current Emby plugin without destroying the jail, since you have another plugin in place.  

 

From the same page that you downloaded the other plugin download the latest Emby plugin.  Then, go through the same process of uploading Emby to that jail.  Turn on Emby.  Then you can delete the other 'holder' plugin and you will have Emby working in the same jail.  If you run into any problems getting the new Emby plugin to start from the GUI you can always use the command line -- click on the jail and go to the shell icon on the bottom of the page and enter service emby-server start.  That should start Emby.  Then go to the Emby page at your jail's ip address, port 8096.

 

 

We were all new guys once.  I've messed up plenty of jails and plugin installs learning how to do it.

 

 

ETA: Another couple of things to try for the Freenas GUI not loading -- if you are using Edge, when you try to connect to Freenas, switch it to Explorer -- click on the settings area and it is one of the choices.  Alternatively, switch your default browser to something else -- like Chrome or Firefox.  Your inability to bring up the Freenas page is likely a thing with Edge.  I've noticed some problems on some computers using Edge since the creator's update.  It is probably a problem with firewall settings, but I haven't bothered to track it down.  I just use Chrome (growing increasingly tired of Windows).

 

So, you may not need to reinstall anything.

Edited by PhilWhite
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PhilWhite

Alternatively, try to login to Freenas from another computer.  I don't think any of this has to do with Emby, especially if you can use Emby.

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Blackie

Phil again thanks for your help here.  I believe it will help others because I sure couldn't find anything like what you have posted.

 

Will take me some time to digest but a great big THANK YOU.

 

On the slowing GUI I was able to reinstall FreeNAS and put my config back on. For a very short period I had GUI access but it slowed rapidly.  I was able to turn off the Emby jail.

 

Once it was off everything ran as normal. So I started a thread in the FreeNas forum about this.  I did not want to post too much here since I was thinking it was a FreeNas problem. But is it an Emby problem too?

 

I was able to see the memory use and it was about maxed out.

 

So I am guessing that FreeNAS/Emby is choking on all the media files at once.  One jail has a very large number of computer graphics.

 

Maybe if I take most files out and then put a few back in at a time that FreeNas/Emby will not choke on it.  The freenas computer is only an i3 maxed out with 8GB of memory.

 

Oh, good to back this up I get to learn something else SSH.  And yep I have never done that.  Many, many years ago I remember using Putty but my career soon took me away from any of that type of stuff.  Although just to do it one time I printed an "A" to the screen in machine language.  Decided I didn't like doing that stuff!

 

I am using Chrome also.  Big reason is there is a big bounty for errors in Chrome meaning it is pretty secure.

 

Cheers,

Craig

Edited by Blackie
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Blackie

Ok, with the info here and at FreeNas the answer to the slow WebGui is:

 

I just don't have a robust enough system.  An i3 with 8GB is considered the minimum system to run FreeNas.

 

The large number of files I dumped on Emby right at the beginning caused the FreeNas/Emby combo to choke.  

 

I will try running FreeNas/Emby with just jail/storage and a limited number of files and see what happens as I gradually add more files.

 

In the mean time I will research a much more robust system with 16-32GB of memory.

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PhilWhite

Glad you got to the bottom of it.  With 8gb of RAM you are probably better off running Emby on a Linux system rather than Freenas.

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Blackie

I'll make a better system BUT boy oh boy the stuff to wade through is crazy.

 

Xeon E5 from $90 to thousands and the specs look so similar. Plus such minor differences with the SuperMicro boards.  Makes my head hurt.  And now a new socket which I will ignore to stay a little cheaper.

 

I am reading the guide but still.......

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PhilWhite

Yeah, I remember those days.  The Freenas forum is a great resource for that.  Folks there can give you great advice on how to choose components and what will work together.

 

If you are not going to reuse anything from your current system, though, why not convert to an Ubuntu server and run Emby and/or Plex in a Docker container?

 

I like Freenas, but this other option is considerably cheaper than building a whole new system just to run a different OS.  You can install zfs onto Ubuntu, though you might run into the same memory limitation with zfs on Ubuntu as you did with freenas.  The way around the RAM issue, apparently, is to turn off data deduplication -- then your RAM would be fine using zfs on Ubuntu.

 

Just a thought for another option.

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Blackie

LOL, oh man something else to learn.  Trying to do more other things these days.  I love that you have such great suggestions though.

 

In the end I either need to just buy a NAS or build a good FreeNas system.

 

So I will bite the bullet.  Have to admit that some of the prebuilt NAS systems are very nice. A friend has the Drobo 5N.  It will run Emby but it is a little slow for transcoding. He is not a tech and all he has to do it look at it.  If the lights are green it is good.  If red replace the drive with the red light.  One very nice thing with the Drobo is you can replace drives with larger ones and it will rebuild itself around the larger drives.  He would go nuts just trying to figure out which FreeNas drive had died.  Probably not even know it died.

 

Trouble with the prebuilt systems is you need to pay a bunch of money to get a cpu fast enough to allow Emby to transcode up to HD or 4K.  Although, I think Emby seems to be better with system resources than Plex.

 

Right now I eliminated most of the folders with a bunch of photos and art work.  Emby work with a one jail that has a small folder of movies and I have 290Mb of memory still free.

 

Edit:  Installed putty and am learning some of the ssh commands so I can copy or move the metadata.  Man it must be 20 years since I used putty and they are still not up to version 1.0  :)

Edited by Blackie
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PhilWhite

The one thing that I will say, and I've thought about this, is if I had to decide between a pre-built system and FreeNas, I would choose my self-built system with FreeNas any day.  Personally, I really like FreeNas.

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