Library Setup
Setting up the library is handled within the startup wizard and also within the server dashboard, located by clicking on the Library tab.
It's important to first prepare your media. See other sections of the wiki for more information:
- [Movie naming](Movie naming)
- [TV naming](TV naming)
- [Music naming](Music naming)
- Subtitles
The configuration will display the media libraries you've configured and allow you to add, remove, rename or change the paths they're mapped to.
A media library is a grouping of one or more physical folders on your file system.
To get started, click the button to add a media library.
Clicking the "Add Media Library" button will open a dialog to add a library. You'll have to specify a content type, enter a display name, and choose a path to the media.
Choosing the right content type is important. See the above guide on media preparation for best practices for Movie, TV and Music sections.
Use the unset content type if you'd like to add a media folder that mixes different content. Please note that support for mixed content is limited. Initially you'll only be able to add one media path when setting up the library, but additional paths can be added after setting it up.
Each media folder can have one or more physical library paths. When you supply more than one media path, the contents of each will be merged together into one virtual display.
To add a library path, click the + button. A popup will be displayed allowing you to browse to the location in a visual manner.
Important: If you are going to use one of the HTPC apps (Classic, Theater, or Kodi) it is very important to use the Path Substitution feature to translate the server's local paths to network ones or define your media locations with network UNC paths that those machines can see.
Note: On some networks the visual browser may fail to display network devices. If this occurs you can still complete the dialog by typing in the path manually and clicking OK.
Path substitutions are used for mapping a path on the server to a path that clients are able to access. By allowing clients direct access to media on the server they may be able to play them directly over the network and avoid using server resources to stream and transcode them.
Path substitutions are configured in the Path Substitution tab of the library setup area.