I wonder if this will work: One Central iTunes Library

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Hello all!

I will admit, I am not a networking genius, so here is the deal: My goal is to create a central location for my music and have all computers on my network use 1 (one) iTunes Library.

I will have multiple computers on my home network here (all macs). I have my current MacBook Pro (Current primary computer), and I am going to buy a Mac Mini (for multi-media purposes in the living room connected to an HD TV via a HDMI cable) and I am going to to get an iMac as well (that will become my primary computer and my MacBook Pro will become my dedicated portable machine).

PLEASE NOTE: I should mention that all my computers will be running leopard obviously and will have my .Mac account synced to them as well. Also, all my computers on my home network have a static IP address (meaning the internal IP address's don't change)

So now to the point: here is what I have done

All of my music is on my external HD connected to my MacBook Pro via FireWire 800. What I have done is put my entire "iTunes folder" into the external HD. This folder contains all my music, plus the iTunes.xml file, data file, album artwork, etc files and folders. then what I did was deleted the iTunes folder from my internal HD. Then I went into the external HD and made an alias of that iTunes folder and I put that alias in my Music folder (under my home directory) on the internal HD. Then I opened iTunes, holding down the option key. I then navigated to my alias on the internal HD and opened the iTunes data file. Then I went into the Advanced preferences in iTunes and make sure the Music Folder location was pointed at my music folder on my external. Plus, checked the Keep iTunes folder organized and also checked Copy files to Music folder when Adding to iTunes. Then I closed and reopened iTunes and I was all set. Everything remained intact and my iPod and iPhone did not need to do any reconfiguring because it is the same iTunes library.

Ok, that's what I have done so far!

Now when I get these new computers, here is my plan of action

After all the initial setups of course: I am going to delete the iTunes folders from their internal HDs. Then I am going to go to the computer that has the external drive connected and go into system preferences and go to sharing. I am going to turn on file sharing. Then I am going to add my external HD to be shared.

Then once that's done, I will go back to the other computers. Here is where I may get confused. I think the following will be the best. I go to "Connect to Server" and enter the IP address of my computer hosting the shared external HD. That should bring up an icon in the desktop and when I go into it, I should see my external drive there. (Then I should add that folder icon or whatever it is that pops up as a startup item under the accounts preference so when I turn the computers on it will see the drive and mount it automatically). Then I will just go into my external HD from the networked computers and make another alias of the iTunes folder on the External. Then I will put the alias in the internal drive under Music. Then I will open iTunes with the option key and navigate to the alias on the internal drive (which actually points to the External drive). Then I will go into iTunes Advanced tab and make sure that the Music location is set to aim at the external HD Music folder and make sure that Keep iTunes music folder organized and Copy files to iTunes music folder when importing is all checked. Then I will close iTunes and reopen it. And that should be it. I will do this procedure for each computer.

Now, I should be all set. So when I come home from vacation or whatnot and fire up the Mac-Mini in the living room and there we go. The drive should mount and then I should be able to open iTunes and play stuff on that computer.

Now the bonus to this is that since it is using one central iTunes library, I can do this: If a friend comes over with a CD and I put it into my mac mini in the living room, iTunes will see it and then when I import it, it will go into the external HD via the network. Then when I close and reopen iTunes on the other computers, I should see the new CD on the other computers. The same goes for purchased music. If I purchase a song on my MacBook Pro, it will go to the external drive and when I close and reopen iTunes on the other machines, I should see the changes.

Another bonus is that since this is the same library my iPod and iPhone use, it shouldn't matter which computer i plug them into since it is the same library. Now, I do realize that I won't be able to use or open iTunes when I am outside of my network. That's fine since my iPod contains all my music anyway.

Phew.....Ok, I apologies for the long winded essay, but I really want to know if this makes sense to anyone! Does this seem logical? In my mind it does. Maybe I will bring my Mom's G4 Powerbook here tomorrow and see if it works. I will post an update as soon as this is tested. But in between now and then, if someone can tell me if this makes sense, or if it has worked or not for you, please let me know.

NOTE: I do have an isolated backup of my music and iTunes information on a different external HD just in case something goes wrong in this process. ;)

Thanks all!

Cheerio
Searay
 
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UPDATE!!!

Ok, I did everything I wrote down here and now I have a corrupt iTunes Library. Thank the lord I had a backup. I am going to try another way in a few hours or so. I will report back
 
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Ok, I found a solution that works for me.

What I did was I copied all the iTunes data (iTunes data file, xml file, music library xml, etc) and put those files on each computer in the iTunes folder under Music under the Home Directory. Then I just created an alias for the music only. The music still resides on the external drive. The downside to this is that when I add stuff on one computer, I have to copy all those data files over to each computer again. But I have a fast network so it's no big deal. Also, something to be careful of is if you add something on one computer and then other stuff on another computer (when you go to send the data files over) it will cancel themselves out. So be careful. But there we go. I did this test with a MacBook Pro and a G4 PowerBook.
 
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I gues its a personal pref, but its just so simple that I can't help but ask, why didn't you just play via shared itunes library? moving the library xml file is too much trouble for me.
 
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Hello Yashrg

The reason I did not want to use "Shared library" is because I want to have access to all of the iTunes program features. But also, I did not want to be tied down to one specific computer. For example, with this new setup, I can now take a CD, put it into any computer I have configured for this, and then when I click import the CD contents will go to my external drive. Then I just copy all of the iTunes data files to each computer, and there it is!!! I know that it seems like a hassle to transfer all the iTunes data files to every computer, but it only takes a few seconds to do it. So, it's not a big deal to me. When you just share your library, you can't do a whole lot other than play songs. Plus, theoretically, I can sync my iPhone or iPods using any computer. Again, I did not want to be tied down to one computer.

I did this because I wanted to have a media server.

Cheerio
Searay
 

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