[Solaris7]

Hey guys noob here ,

Short version:
I want to store all files on my storage server and nothing on device using kodi , if that's possible how ?

Explained:
I just started using kodi to organise my tv shows collection (currently 99)
According to what I learned until now, kodi stores all the metadata (series plot, character info, etc) in a sql database and artwork in local device storage after scraping
But I would like to store all the artwork along with my video files on my storage server so the size of kodi after installation don't grow


Any help appreciated

[Klojum]

I want to store all files on my storage server and nothing on device using kodi , if that's possible how ?

All devices running Kodi must have the same major version (Kodi 16.x, 17.x, 18.x...) to have synced access to the centralized database.
All your devices will access the storage server, but each Kodi client will store thumbnails in a local cache.

[DaVu]

Short note:

If you simply use some NAS (or some other PC which hosts the data) and don´t use a centralized database (such as MySQL) Kodi doesn´t need to be in the same version on all clients.

To prevent thumbnails being stored on the Kodi device itself you are able to use path-substituion:

https://kodi.wiki/view/Path_substitution

[Solaris7]

Thank you for the info
All my devices use same kodi version
But If all metadata (plot , rating ,actor info) is stored in nfo files per episode / series will kodi still import it to its local mysql database?
Also could you suggest me scraper for ubuntu , preferably cli

[Klojum]

Kodi does not constantly update .nfo files, it only updates the local/centralized database with all metadata on-the-fly. Kodi only updates nfo files when doing an Video Library Export.

[Solaris7]

Sorry for the confusion
What I meant to ask is if I have metadata in nfo files on my storage server , Will kodi copy the metadata to its database or just read from nfo files whenever I select to view a show

[Karellen]

Kodi only uses NFO Files as one way of importing data into the database/library. Once that is done, Kodi does not touch the NFO Files again.

As long as you have created and saved the files correctly, Kodi will scan them with an Update Library.

See the link NFO Files and Import-Export in My Signature below for more information.