Setting up UNRAID as an iTunes server

Sorry to be a newb but is there anything special I need to do to enable iTunes serving in UnRAID?  I am running the basic 4.7 distro for testing and can't see any setting in the gui for this.

Thanks for any help!

Sorry to be a newb but is there anything special I need to do to enable iTunes serving in UnRAID?  I am running the basic 4.7 distro for testing and can't see any setting in the gui for this.

 

Thanks for any help!

I don't think you need to do anything to unRAID to centralise your iTunes library (if that is what you are asking for).

I made a share called 'iTunes' on my server, shared it out. Then on my Mac, I copied over the iTunes folder to the unRAID. I then replaced the local iTunes folder with an alias (called 'iTunes') and that was it.

I pointed all the Macs to that share, via an alias, and all the devices can share the one library.

Is that what you are looking for?

Bruce

Perhaps it is  because that feature does not exist in the stock unRAID product.

So does the Plus or Pro version support this out of the box?  Or do you mean it's an add-on package?

I then replaced the local iTunes folder with an alias (called 'iTunes') and that was it.

I'm not sure I get that last bit.  When you say "local" do you mean on the PC running the iTunes application?  Is the alias just an empty directory?

Sorry, accidental extra post.

How about we tackle this a different way.

What are you trying to achieve precisely?

Perhaps it is  because that feature does not exist in the stock unRAID product.

 

So does the Plus or Pro version support this out of the box?  Or do you mean it's an add-on package?

 

I then replaced the local iTunes folder with an alias (called 'iTunes') and that was it.

 

I'm not sure I get that last bit.  When you say "local" do you mean on the PC running the iTunes application?  Is the alias just an empty directory?

 

Sorry, I had kind of assumed this was a Mac. My bad.

Alias = Mac

Shortcut = Windows

Soft link = *nix.

The iTunes application looks for the stored collections in a specific directory. I replaced that directory with a shortcut (Windows) to my share on unRAID.

It is possible to point iTunes to look elsewhere in the preferences, but I found that a pain. Personally, I find the pointer-file (alias, shortcut, whatever) to work better, or at least for me.

Bruce

What are you trying to achieve precisely?

I just want iTunes running on a client PC to see my music collection stored on my UnRAID server.

The iTunes application looks for the stored collections in a specific directory. I replaced that directory with a shortcut (Windows) to my share on unRAID.

 

It is possible to point iTunes to look elsewhere in the preferences, but I found that a pain. Personally, I find the pointer-file (alias, shortcut, whatever) to work better, or at least for me.

 

Bruce

I think I understand, will try and set it up that way thanks.

OK, not sure if I've set this up right but what I have done is:-

1) Create Music share in UnRAID.

2) Map drive on client PC to UnRAID music share (in my case this is Y:)

3) Copy music files to Y:

3) in Itunes Preferences I have set the iTunes Media Folder location as Y:

It seems to be working however I'm not sure about the other 2 tick boxes below the location field in iTunes Preferences namely "Keep iTunes media folder organised" and "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library".  I have the 1st one ticked but not the 2nd, I'm not sure what effect the 2nd one has.  I did notice there is now a "Automatically Add to iTunes" in my music folder now.

That should work.

"Keep iTunes media folder organised" and "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library".  I have the 1st one ticked but not the 2nd, I'm not sure what effect the 2nd one has.  I did notice there is now a "Automatically Add to iTunes" in my music folder now.

"Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library" means you can drag a bunch of mp3s or other media to iTunes from anywhere and it will copy them to your iTunes media library location, creating the correct artist/album path (in this case on your unRAID share).  With this disabled, iTunes will just link to whatever folder you dragged them from.

I keep this enabled, it means I can drag stuff to iTunes, have it copy to the right place, and then delete it from the original location.

From a Mac, if you use speeding_ant's launchd script, which will wake your server (WOL), mount your shares automatically, and unmount them when the server goes down--it also has the ability to automatically launch iTunes after mounting your shares so that your iTunes library doesn't get messed up when the iTunes Share is not available. I haven't tried this, as I haven't completely moved my iTunes library to my unRAID server yet. (Currently use an external LaCie--but would like to get rid of USB/FW attached storage).

Not sure how else unRAID could be modified to make iTunes integration easier. I recall my DLink 321 having an iTunes Library integration, but never used it so not sure how well it works. I'll look around and see if there's any add-ons for integrating iTunes Server on a Linux media server.

I've tried running my music library from a music server on another Linux machine, but with over 250Gb of music it took roughly 5 minutes to get into the Library.

Now I'm just running my launch script, with iTunes gathering its music off shares. I'm not storing the Library on the share, but I am using Home Sharing in iTunes to let the other computers in the house see the music. It's much faster this way.

iTunes can still suck it though, wish there was a way to sync my iPhone without it. Bloated piece of rubbish...

So your actual "iTunes Library.xml" is on your Mac's local drive? And the media files are on unRAID?

I'm going to look into Firefly/pulpTunes, from a tutorial written only a few years ago:

http://www.maclife.com/article/howtos/how_make_your_pc_media_server?page=0,0

Meant for a Linux server, so I'm sure it could be setup for unRAID. Already have avahi, which is requirement of this article. I bet the other apps can be compiled without a problem, also.

So your actual "iTunes Library.xml" is on your Mac's local drive? And the media files are on unRAID?

Correct!

Yeah I tried Firefly, but with any library over 100Gb forget it. It's too damn slow

I've tried running my music library from a music server on another Linux machine, but with over 250Gb of music it took roughly 5 minutes to get into the Library.

 

Now I'm just running my launch script, with iTunes gathering its music off shares. I'm not storing the Library on the share, but I am using Home Sharing in iTunes to let the other computers in the house see the music. It's much faster this way.

 

iTunes can still suck it though, wish there was a way to sync my iPhone without it. Bloated piece of rubbish...

I had the same problem until I turned of genius. I have 315 gigs og music and it loads in less then a minute

That should work.

Thanks, it seems to work OK.

"Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library" means you can drag a bunch of mp3s or other media to iTunes from anywhere and it will copy them to your iTunes media library location............

When you say "drag stuff to iTunes" do you mean drag files into the GUI somehow?  Or do you mean by using the "Add to library" function under the File menu?

I had the same problem until I turned of genius. I have 315 gigs og music and it loads in less then a minute

What is Genius?  I noticed it on the list of Sources under the General preferences tab and it's ticked but I don't know if I need it.  There's also iTunes U, iTunes DJ, and Ping; have no idea what any of them do 

Genius helps make playlists, it works great but slows everything down.  I also have Ping turned off, never used it

So your actual "iTunes Library.xml" is on your Mac's local drive? And the media files are on unRAID?

 

Correct!

 

Yeah I tried Firefly, but with any library over 100Gb forget it. It's too damn slow

To be honest, that probably depends on which version of Firefly and which client.  I have had Firefly (svn versions 15xx, 16xx) with a 300GB library serving to Roku clients (13,000 files, mostly lossless) and just about nothing is faster when it comes to media browsing.  However, older Firefly versions and / or other clients may be different.

I'm going to try this out when I get back from vacation.

It's would be great to have a real ITune server on UnRaid

Even if most of my Computers are PC all my network is built with apple devices (3 Airport Express and 1 Airport Extreme) the big advantage with that is that you can plug PC speakers, audio system or anything that can use 1/8 jack on the Airport Express and play your songs in the room you want via ITune or your IPhone if you install the "Remote" app

Being able to set the mood in the bedroom in 3 click on your phone is kind of great when you bring your girlfriend there

But for now i have to always keep ITune open on my PC since it's need at least one ITune open to see the library...

I've tried running my music library from a music server on another Linux machine, but with over 250Gb of music it took roughly 5 minutes to get into the Library.

 

Now I'm just running my launch script, with iTunes gathering its music off shares. I'm not storing the Library on the share, but I am using Home Sharing in iTunes to let the other computers in the house see the music. It's much faster this way.

 

iTunes can still suck it though, wish there was a way to sync my iPhone without it. Bloated piece of rubbish...

This is what I'm trying to achieve but am getting confused. I have a mac mini on 24/7 and was thinking to have the iTunes library on here - pointing to the unRAID for files, and then using home sharing so other macs/PCs in the house can see that mini's library. That sounds like what you're doing?

My potential problem is I have multiple folders - 'music', 'TV', 'movies', and 'media' (which has backups of my iOS apps). iTunes seems to only want to be told one folder where everything is. If necessary I don't mind rejigging my folder structure on the unRAID, and I don't mind if iTunes uses some space in the music folder for iOS apps or podcast downloads. But I would want iOS downloads/podcasts to be saved to the unRAID automatically if possible.

How does syncing work? Can a 'remote' mac/PC sync with an iPod just as though it was connected to the mini? With wifi sync coming up I think this setup would also be useful as then the iPods can be syncing when charging without worrying about whether the laptop is on at the same time - you really need a 24/7 machine.

How does syncing work? Can a 'remote' mac/PC sync with an iPod just as though it was connected to the mini? With wifi sync coming up I think this setup would also be useful as then the iPods can be syncing when charging without worrying about whether the laptop is on at the same time - you really need a 24/7 machine.

Unfortunately, it cannot.  The iPod, iPhone, whatever is synced to a certain library, and the machine doing the syncing needs to be the one directly reading from and to that library (your Mac Mini).  I have my entire iTunes collection AND library on my unRAID server with potentially 3 computers set up to read from it through either an alias or sym link.  Only one iTunes program on any given computer runs at a time to ensure the library isn't opened multiple times.  With this setup, I can sync my iPod and iPhone with any of the 3 computers whenever iTunes is open on those computers.  This probably won't solve your problem, but Wi-Fi sync should!

A question for people who are running iTunes on their unRAID.  How are you sharing it out?  SMB, NFS, or AFP?  I have issues with using NFS.  Most songs (and some days, all songs) skip after playing for 2-5 seconds, but with SMB, they play just fine.  Of course SMB isn't perfect either since it has caused a few issues for me regarding case sensitivity.  I am waiting the 5.0 to come out so that I can simply use AFP, but just want to know if anyone else has issues with NFS and their iTunes shares.  My collection is about 225-250GB and doesn't have a problem loading (however, adding music or changing tags on the songs takes way too long).

the syncing issue should not be a problem once icloud is released from what I understand. 

I have my entire itunes library on unraid, sharing it out with AFP, I was using SMB.  I don't have any major issues but it does act up occasionally. My library is about 350GB but I am going to trim it down over the next few weeks and move it to my mini.

How do you get Itunes to register and update changes ?

/Rene