Using SMB shares

[FlatScreen 15]

Is it possible (or recommended) to use SMB shares for media?
Background story: I am considering P2V for my existing Emby server and transfer it to a Proxmox server. The storage will be a OMV storage share.
Any suggestion would be appreciated.

[Q-Droid 989]

It's OK for media only, not the databases. For Linux-to-Linux NFS would be preferable but SMB works too. Static mounts to local paths are recommended instead of UNC paths.

[FlatScreen 15]

54 minutes ago, Q-Droid said:

It's OK for media only, not the databases. For Linux-to-Linux NFS would be preferable but SMB works too. Static mounts to local paths are recommended instead of UNC paths.

Reason for CIFS/SMB is that some other local Windows boxes would require access for updating the content on OMV (Open Media Vault) share. If possible I will create two shares, one on CIFS and other via NFS.

[Mibok 158]

 I use a similar setup (emby on Proxmox VM, and OMV on another PC). Currently i have a SMB share with static mounts mostly because that's how i used to have it before OMV, it works well but from time to time when for some reason the Emby VM start before OMV the Samba mount fails and if i don't realize that on time on the next library scan it "deletes" all the content on the server. The fix is easy just restart the Emby server VM so it mounts again the network drive and run a library scan.

 I have not tried using NFS with OMV and Emby (if it works don't fix it) but creating a that should be easy once you create a shared folder you can easily create a Samba share and/or a NFS share from that shared folder.

[kwirky88 6]

I just documented all the steps it took me to set up samba shares on Ubuntu 20.04.  The emby directory in /var isn't on the share, only the media files.

[kwirky88 6]

Oh and i forgot to mention that nfs can't mount as a user, but samba cifs 3 can. I tried using nfs first but permission issues made me use samba instead. 

[Vitz 1]

On 19/04/2023 at 17:37, Mibok said:

 I use a similar setup (emby on Proxmox VM, and OMV on another PC). Currently i have a SMB share with static mounts mostly because that's how i used to have it before OMV, it works well but from time to time when for some reason the Emby VM start before OMV the Samba mount fails and if i don't realize that on time on the next library scan it "deletes" all the content on the server. The fix is easy just restart the Emby server VM so it mounts again the network drive and run a library scan.

Sorry if you're already aware but you can tell Proxmox VMs to delay their startup when the system boots. I'm pretty certain there's even a way to tell it to wait to start the VM by using some sort of ping to the storage machine. That would probably involve a bash script of some sort though.

@HSEmbyBoxI use SMB between Linux machines and it works just fine. Just be aware that real time monitoring is unlikely, if not impossible to get working. Emby relies on the inotify subsystem and this is only capable of providing this functionality and incapable of receiving it. That's why Linux > Windows will work  (because Windows can receive these calls) but Linux > Linux fails because the Linux box that needs to receive the calls doesn't know how to answer it.

https://lwn.net/Articles/896055/

[FlatScreen 15]

Initially I am considering installing an Ubuntu 22.04 VM over Proxmox and then install Emby. 
There's also option for LXC container but I do not know how to install Emby using that method. If there's better alternative then do let me know.

For the (paid) license key, I assume it's just a matter of copying from existing bare-metal and paste it into the new VM when ready?

[Luke 42077]

3 hours ago, FlatScreen said:

Initially I am considering installing an Ubuntu 22.04 VM over Proxmox and then install Emby. 
There's also option for LXC container but I do not know how to install Emby using that method. If there's better alternative then do let me know.

For the (paid) license key, I assume it's just a matter of copying from existing bare-metal and paste it into the new VM when ready?

Hi, from Emby server’s perspective, yes.

[FlatScreen 15]

20 hours ago, Luke said:

Hi, from Emby server’s perspective, yes.

On the download pages I can see Docker option, don't see LXC. Is there an HOWTO guide for me to follow?

[Luke 42077]

4 hours ago, FlatScreen said:

On the download pages I can see Docker option, don't see LXC. Is there an HOWTO guide for me to follow?

We don't have an LXC-specific package. Once you install your OS of choice into LXC, then you can choose the appropriate Emby package based on that.

[hooraysimpsons 0]

On 4/19/2023 at 11:37 AM, Mibok said:

 I use a similar setup (emby on Proxmox VM, and OMV on another PC). Currently i have a SMB share with static mounts mostly because that's how i used to have it before OMV, it works well but from time to time when for some reason the Emby VM start before OMV the Samba mount fails and if i don't realize that on time on the next library scan it "deletes" all the content on the server. The fix is easy just restart the Emby server VM so it mounts again the network drive and run a library scan.

 I have not tried using NFS with OMV and Emby (if it works don't fix it) but creating a that should be easy once you create a shared folder you can easily create a Samba share and/or a NFS share from that shared folder.

This isn't something I want to test so just for clarification:

The actually files are not being deleted on your SMB share, correct?

I think what you are warning me/all about is: The server will show no media available and then need to scan it back in once the share is reattached @Mibok

[Mibok 158]

11 hours ago, hooraysimpsons said:

This isn't something I want to test so just for clarification:

The actually files are not being deleted on your SMB share, correct?

I think what you are warning me/all about is: The server will show no media available and then need to scan it back in once the share is reattached @Mibok

 You are right. Your files are safe just not mounted the emby server won't play anything because is unable to find the files and if a library scan runs in the meantime then emby server will remove the media, although in the last beta it's supposed to handle in a better way those scenario but i haven't had the need to test it anymore.

 Just restart your emby server PC (if your NAS server is up) so the SMB share mounts again and run a library scan, your library will repopulate with your media.