Periodic rescan

[k6rfm]

Just started using Squeezebox Server on ubuntu. I'd like to set up for a periodic rescan, like from a cron job, since other people often add music to my server. Looking at the documentation, the easiest way to do this looks like a cron job running expect script using the CLI at port 9090 to issue the rescan command. Is there an easier/less UNIX-geeky way (not that I particularly mind the UNIX-geeky way?) Is there some unobvious reason I shouldn't do this? Periodic rescan seems like a pretty obvious option to have in the server config, and the fact that it's not there makes me worry that the designers decided it wouldn't be a good idea to offer it...

[JJZolx]

Is there an easier/less UNIX-geeky way (not that I particularly mind the UNIX-geeky way?) Is there some unobvious reason I shouldn't do this? Periodic rescan seems like a pretty obvious option to have in the server config, and the fact that it's not there makes me worry that the designers decided it wouldn't be a good idea to offer it...

There is a built-in method: the Rescan Music Library plugin, which can be scheduled to run once a day. If you were thinking more along the lines of something like once an hour then I'm afraid that the cron and CLI method is your only option.

You can elect to do either a full clear & scan or just a new & changed scan. I schedule my server to run a full scan every night. The full scan can fix some library issues that are sometimes encountered when you make changes such as deleting content and modifying tagging, and can also fix missing or incorrect artwork problems. But you'll want first make sure that a full scan can be completed in a timely manner on your server. If it takes 12 hours to run then you probably don't want to run it every day and would be better off just doing a new & changed scan.

[JJZolx]

BTW, you'll find the Rescan Music Library plugin in the web interface under Settings > Advanced, then use the drop-down box.

To figure out how long the last scan took, go to Settings > Information and it should be shown under Music Scan Details. Manually run a full clear & rescan, wait for it to complete, check (or watch) the info page and you'll know how long it takes.

[k6rfm]

Ah, "Advanced" and then a drop-down... I never remember to look in the drop-downs. Thanks!

[el_chupacabra]

Before you click on the Advanced tab and select the relevant pull-down option, you may have to click on the Plugins tab and select (check) the Rescan Music Library plugin.

I'm pretty sure I had automated nightly scans working before, and I'm very sure I didn't write a cron job to do it. I'm guessing the automated periodic scan functionality was at some point ripped out of the core server and put into a plugin, and the plugin isn't installed by default (are any of the plugins? I'm not sure).

[JJZolx]

Before you click on the Advanced tab and select the relevant pull-down option, you may have to click on the Plugins tab and select (check) the Rescan Music Library plugin.

Access to plugins is in both places. The settings can be set from either tab.

I'm pretty sure I had automated nightly scans working before, and I'm very sure I didn't write a cron job to do it. I'm guessing the automated periodic scan functionality was at some point ripped out of the core server and put into a plugin, and the plugin isn't installed by default (are any of the plugins? I'm not sure).

It may have been part of the core server at some point, but it's been a plugin for as long as I can remember. But it's one of the plugins that comes installed with the server. It's just not scheduled by default.

[el_chupacabra]

I think what we all really want is an automatic rescan triggered by updates to the directory containing the music, no?

Access to plugins is in both places. The settings can be set from either tab.



It may have been part of the core server at some point, but it's been a plugin for as long as I can remember. But it's one of the plugins that comes installed with the server. It's just not scheduled by default.