HOW-TO:Share libraries using MySQL/Setting up XBMC

Each device that will be sharing a library will need an advancedsetting.xml file.

Make files accessible over the network
If you haven't already done so, you will need to make your media files accessible to all your XBMC devices by sharing them on the network through file sharing. XBMC itself or the MySQL server will not share the actual files for this set up. Most operating systems have built-in methods for sharing files to the network, or a NAS device can be used.

See Category:File Sharing for some of the file sharing methods that work with XBMC.

Exporting
You only need to do the exporting steps if you are migrating an existing local library to a MySQL database.


 * 1) Open XBMC on the computer that has the library you want to share
 * 2) Export the Video Library by doing the following:
 * 3) Go to System/Settings -> Video -> Library and select Export library
 * 4) Select Multiple files
 * 5) Export the Music Library by doing the following:
 * 6) Go to System/Settings -> Music -> Library and select Export library
 * 7) Select Multiple files

Ensure MySQL-user has enough permissions.

Else it results in an error like: ERROR: SQL: The table does not exist Query: SELECT idVersion FROM version

MySQL and advancedsettings.xml

 * 1) Create (or add to, if you already have one) an advancedsettings.xml file:
 * 2) Open up a plain text editor
 * 3) Copy and paste the text from the right-hand box into a new text document
 * 4) Replace the two instances of  with local network IP address of your MySQL server. If you installed MySQL on a Windows machine, do not use its NetBIOS name, as not all devices may be able to resolve them.
 * 5) Save the file as advancedsettings.xml
 * 6) Copy this advancedsettings.xml file you just created to the userdata folder of every XBMC install you want to sync with.

Importing
You can now add files and update the library from any of your XBMC devices and the library for all of them will stay in sync.
 * 1) Open any of your XBMC installs and re-import your library data, or simply set up a new library if you are starting fresh.
 * 2) Add (or just "set content" on) the networked video source to XBMC and scan it in as if you were setting up your library for the first time (see adding videos to the library). However, XBMC will read the exported nfo files and images and use those instead of rebuilding the library from scratch. The end result will be an identical library, and your watched status for videos will be preserved.
 * 3) Import the Music Library by doing the following: Same idea as videos, but using the steps for adding music to the library. You'll end up with an identical library.
 * 1) Import the Music Library by doing the following: Same idea as videos, but using the steps for adding music to the library. You'll end up with an identical library.

Name tag
An additional  tag can be used for both the video and music entries in advancedsettings.xml if you want to change the name of the database.

The name tag is not required (XBMC will use a default "MyVideos" and "MyMusic" DB name) and it is recommended to not include it if you only need one library, as some users have reported problems/bugs when it was included.

The tag is only needed if you want to have separate databases on the same MySQL server, like for more than one shared library. For example, if you want to create multiple profiles, each with their own shared library, so that each XBMC device can "log-into" that library.