Here's a way to share Kodi Thumbnail artwork cace with MySQL setup


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  • I'm using KodiBuntu installations on multiple VMs, and they all use a MySQL database. I thought I'd share a quick and easy method for building and sharing the Thumbnail art cache that multiple Kodi installations can share.  I am sure this works the same with an OE install.  So far, I haven't had any issues, and it seems very snappy on each VM. There's several ways to accomplish it - this just happens to be one method.
     
    In short, I use an NFS share as my central folder for all artwork, and I mount that share into the "Thumbnails" folder on each VM. Then, I force a manual build of the artwork cache, so its already set.
     
    I did this because I like having my central MySQL DB, and if I want to add, remove, or change my Kodi VMs, I can have a central, pre-built artwork cache ready to go. A newly created VM can be fully up to date with the entire library.
     

  1. Make the Share for the Cache: Create an NFS-exported Share in UnRaid - call it "cache" (this is an example)
  2. Clear out the current Cache: SSH or navigate to each VM and delete the contents of your "Thumbnails" folder.  Keep the folder, but delete out all the subfolders.
  3. Mount the Share for each VM: SSH in to each VM and edit your FSTAB file to mount that share. I use nano, so the command is "sudo nano /etc/fstab"
  4. The line you will add to FSTAB is "unraid-server-IP:/mnt/user/cache /home/kodi/.kodi/userdata/Thumbnails nfs" This mounts the nfs share into the Thumbnails folder. If your share name is something other than "cache", use that share name. Check the path to the Thumbnails folder - on kodibuntu, that's where it is located.
  5. Reboot the first VM to make sure the mount works.
  6. Force build the Cache: Starting with the first VM, make sure it is connected to the MySQL DB.  SSH in to this VM and run this Kodi utility: Texture Cache Maintenance Utility (http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=158373) The only command switch you really need to use is "c", which is to Create the texture cache.  You run this once for "Movies" and once for "TVShows"
  7. Once those two passes complete, you should now have a folder full of artwork like normal. And you should also see that same artwork on your NFS share.
  8. Reboot all the other VMs and make sure the mounts worked. It's pretty easy to test - anytime you make a change to artwork or add a movie, they will all reflect that change.  But more importantly, each VM should display the artwork in your library very quickly, since it is all pre-cached.
  9. Any time you make a new VM, just do the same FSTAB mount routine.

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