What is the use of nfo files?

[SenatorIvy 12]

I feel like you and Grim are missing that even with an NFO with customized data in it, Emby is going out and scraping new data which then has replaced my customized data every time I've had to rebuild.  If I'm rebuilding I shouldn't have to disable external scrapers and make sure emby is isolated from the net and put a faraday cage over my pc & pray that it decides to only use the NFOs that it's made in the past, it should just say "if NFO then parse=yes, scrape=no"  Instead it seems arbitrary to an admin what Emby is choosing to do, as evidenced by its propensity to just go grab new data/images when existing images are I assume referenced in the NFOs that it's written.

It's like it's made special notes that it then never wants to look through.

[GrimReaper 3308]

We're not missing it, in contrary, we're taking the above precautions exactly because we're aware of it. And we obviously agree, that is how it should function, @cayarsyesterday asked the Dev exactly same question in this very thread. However, with all things being as they are, you do what you can to work around that. 

[SenatorIvy 12]

Overall though it's less that they get written because an entire gigantic collection of NFOs is still just a few hundred megs of text, it's 50% why does it seem to ignore my NFOs, and 50% why do NFOs have to be in with the media- if there's an option to not store the images with the media, why is it so important that the NFO be with the media then.  In an isolated emby-only system it shouldn't have any problem rooting NFOs from elsewhere; it's doing it just fine with images.

 

[SenatorIvy 12]

Just now, GrimReaper76 said:

We're not missing it, in contrary, we're taking the above precautions exactly because we're aware of it. And we obviously agree, that is how it should function, @cayarsyesterday asked the Dev exactly same question in this very thread. However, with all things being as they are, you do what you can to work around that. 

I guess I'm just reading cayars insistence that this is how it is as "this is how it needs to be" or "should be."

[rodainas 188]

The nfo creation is a standard system created by Kodi.

Emby follows the standard, if you load the same library on Kodi, it will read all the nfo and images, thats how it works and thats why is is on the same folder as the media, the scrapers works like this.

https://kodi.wiki/view/NFO_files/Creating

 

[Carlo 4330]

18 minutes ago, SenatorIvy said:

I feel like you and Grim are missing that even with an NFO with customized data in it, Emby is going out and scraping new data which then has replaced my customized data every time I've had to rebuild.  If I'm rebuilding I shouldn't have to disable external scrapers and make sure emby is isolated from the net and put a faraday cage over my pc & pray that it decides to only use the NFOs that it's made in the past, it should just say "if NFO then parse=yes, scrape=no"  Instead it seems arbitrary to an admin what Emby is choosing to do, as evidenced by its propensity to just go grab new data/images when existing images are I assume referenced in the NFOs that it's written.

It's like it's made special notes that it then never wants to look through.

You don't have to disengage any meta-data providers as Emby will still load your NFO info and use this but will also check the meta-data providers for missing info. If however you are confident your existing info is good you can greatly speedup the loading process by turning off the meta-data providers as @Happy2Play mentioned. Any time in the future you can also refresh meta-data and only look for missing info.

This was the crux of my question to Luke.  I was essentially asking why we can't skip the meta-data check when loading files with existing NFOs as we can always fill in missing data later if needed.

This is also really helpful if you run two different Emby Servers as I and many others do.  They run on different OS so paths will be different.  But I can have one server doing the meta-data grunt work and any other servers just using the existing data.

There are lots of great uses of NFO file in various different situations depending on need but to me the single biggest use is when moving media to different drives which can happen for many reasons.

[GrimReaper 3308]

2 minutes ago, cayars said:

but will also check the meta-data providers for missing info

And updated one also, hence possibly changing some of your edits. 

[Carlo 4330]

Just now, GrimReaper76 said:

And updated one also, hence possibly changing some of your edits. 

It shouldn't if you've locked your changes.

[SenatorIvy 12]

Why would one want to run multiple emby servers on the same machine?

[GrimReaper 3308]

Just now, cayars said:

It shouldn't if you've locked your changes.

That's too much work doing it on any single item as opposed to simply prevent it to scrape anything at all, hence ensuring only local data is read. As you said, you can Search for missing afterwards. 

[GrimReaper 3308]

1 minute ago, SenatorIvy said:

Why would one want to run multiple emby servers on the same machine?

How do you think assistance on forum is provided, for example? By recreating issues on main system? 

[rodainas 188]

3 minutes ago, SenatorIvy said:

Why would one want to run multiple emby servers on the same machine?

Who said anything about same machine, you can have your media on one machine and the server on another machine, different servers pointing to the same media files that its on a different machine.

[SenatorIvy 12]

I mean sure, but the "as many others do" makes it seem like many other normal users who would be interfacing with this system, not many others who are on tech support for it, lol.

 

I also agree that having to lock our changes is too many steps to do when Emby should just check for an NFO and use that NFO's data *only*.  If I want updated info I'll scrape manually after it builds the library/adds the content.

[SenatorIvy 12]

2 minutes ago, rodainas said:

Who said anything about same machine, you can have your media on one machine and the server on another machine, different servers pointing to the same media files that its on a different machine.

ok fine, outside of support, what is the purpose of running multiple servers?  Also I'm not knocking whatever that purpose is, just the idea that there should be no move-the-NFOs-elsewhere solely because the use of multiple servers off the same content base which is certainly an edge case compared to normal use requires the NFO to be in the library.  If the images can optionally be elsewhere, the NFOs should be able to be optionally elsewhere.

[rodainas 188]

8 minutes ago, SenatorIvy said:

ok fine, outside of support, what is the purpose of running multiple servers?  Also I'm not knocking whatever that purpose is, just the idea that there should be no move-the-NFOs-elsewhere solely because the use of multiple servers off the same content base which is certainly an edge case compared to normal use requires the NFO to be in the library.  If the images can optionally be elsewhere, the NFOs should be able to be optionally elsewhere.

Example:

Library: You have some library on the cloud.

Server A: You can set up a server on your house pointing to that library.

Server B: You can set up another server on another house (family, friend, your other house, etc.) pointing to that same library.

If that library carry the nfo and images, both server gets access to the same metadata, one server can feed the metadata to that library and the other just read it.

So at the end the clients on both houses can watch the library using its own bandwidth, its just an example.

Again nfo/images location is a standard created by Kodi, thats the idea of the standard, all software that handle nfo/metadata etc., creates and reads that nfo/images,/etc. from and to the library location (where the media files are), its not just how emby works.

Again: NFO files/Movies - Official Kodi Wiki

Edited August 15, 2021 by rodainas

[SenatorIvy 12]

So you're telling me if I were to use KODI on my existing setup, it would know to go and find my images here:

?

[Carlo 4330]

You can run multiple Emby servers on Windows pretty easily.  One with a normal install and the other as portable.  Only thing you need to change if you want them to run at the same time is the local ports.

Here's a perfect example of why I run multiple Emby Servers that have nothing to do with support.
My main Emby system runs on an i7 windows machine with an Nvidia 1650 GPU for transcoding and tone-mapping.

I have an 8 bay SATA/USB3 enclosure holding drives on that system.
I also have a couple of WD NAS and a Synology 920+ NAS used for storage.

I also have Emby Server installed on the 920+ with it's own mappings to all files.  This is my backup Emby Server.

2 Weeks ago my Dell i7 CPU fan died and the machine would turn itself off due to overheating.  I was not able to source the fan local or in the US and had to order it from China.

So instead of not having an Emby server I change my port forwarding to the Synology box so my remote users (family) could still access my system as well as in house family members.  I unplugged the 8 bay box from the i7 and plugged it into the Synology 920+. I changed the remote mount points used so Emby didn't know the drives were even moved.

So having the 2nd version of Emby up and running was a God send, otherwise my system would be down for 3 to 5 weeks while I wait for the CPU fan to arrive.

[Carlo 4330]

5 minutes ago, SenatorIvy said:

So you're telling me if I were to use KODI on my existing setup, it would know to go and find my images here:

?

If using an Emby plugin for Kodi it would use the Emby API and talk to the Emby Server so it would act like more or less like any other Emby Client.

However, if you just use a standalone/out of the box Kodi install without an Emby plugin then it will look at the media folders and use the NFO and graphics in the media folders. Kodi will also be able to use any existing STRM files (if you use them as well).

[SenatorIvy 12]

So it's not stock behavior that it would be able to find that path right out of the box, it needs a plugin.

So what I'm saying is this idea that NFO files MUST be in their media folders or boohoo Kodi mysteriously doesn't extend to the media for that title, so if a plugin for media is fine, why is the notion of a plugin that redirects for NFOs out of outerspace somehow lol

[Carlo 4330]

No, the NFO file must be in the folder the media is located in, simple as that.  This is the location all programs using NFO read/write to.  If it's not on the file system next to the media it's not usuable as it won't be found.  It must have the exact same name as the media only with an NFO extension.

[SenatorIvy 12]

So a plugin can be made to redirect for images, but doing one for NFOs is simply beyond the ken of mortals.

[rodainas 188]

I think you are confusing the emby server database with nfo/image files.

[SenatorIvy 12]

I made sure I wasn't, by checking to be sure that images that were in that metadata folder were the ones being loaded when I look at the content they're linked to.  If the media that outside apps also are able to read can be moved, the NFO should be able to be moved on the emby side.  Just have a disclaimer on the option that says "if using external apps, do not check this box"

[rodainas 188]

When emby server reads a library with nfos and image files it imports the images to the local folder you see, and the nfo contents are imported into the database.

This 2 elements are what emby server feeds to the clients.

The same thing happens when you dont use nfos and images, and just scan your video files and scrape the contents from any tv or movie provider, the images are imported into the emby folder you see and the metadata/text imported into the database, these 2 elements then will be read by the emby client apps.

[Carlo 4330]

50 minutes ago, SenatorIvy said:

I made sure I wasn't, by checking to be sure that images that were in that metadata folder were the ones being loaded when I look at the content they're linked to.  If the media that outside apps also are able to read can be moved, the NFO should be able to be moved on the emby side.  Just have a disclaimer on the option that says "if using external apps, do not check this box"

It doesn't seem like you're grasping what NFO files are used for. It's a way of saving your meta-data outside of Emby database so it can also be re-imported again if ever needed plus support any other program that can read/write NFO files.

Most programs using NFO files work at the system level and are not client/server apps.  The king of these are Kodi, but many other programs can also use NFO files. Once you grasp/understand how NFO files are used you wouldn't be suggesting work arounds or where they can be placed or how plugins can use them.  That is exactly why you can't do this because there is no use in doing this as it would break the standard and wouldn't allow all info to be stored with the media in it's folder.

NFO is simply a text file containing information about the media that MUST be located onside the media using a specific file name (same as media with NFO extension).