[Houd]

Hello team.

Time has come for me to finally setup a proper NAS for home usage. I have to use Kodi as all my media is in .rar files. I have been using Kodi many years ago a little.

My question is:

Can I setup Kodi server side, ie. as a Docker in Unraid. Do the whole setup in there, scrape all the data (I have several 1000 movies) and make the client side pull only from that? 
I would like to avoid having Kodi client side do all that, ie. straight on the TV or a Nvidia Shield box. To me it seems better to have all that data being stored at the NAS?

The only thing I can find on YT and Kodi Wiki is UPnP, but that is to my understanding not what I am looking for, as that will allow me to stream to IE. VLC on client side. I want the entire Kodi interface on client side.

I might be stupid, but if this is not possible why would one ever setup Kodi server side ie. as a Docker? People do it for the UPnP feature?

Thanks in advance.

[izprtxqkft]

the functionality you are after comes from jellyfin
 

1. runs in docker
   
2. scrapes everything to a server
   
3. multi-user support
   
4. streams to multiple client platforms and includes dlna
   
5. has a kodi addon that integrates the library seamlessly
   

https://jellyfin.org
https://jellyfin.org/docs/general/clients/kodi

[Houd]

If I add Jellyfish to Kodi I can read .rars?

[Houd]

And what do I use client side?

[jbinkley60]

Hello team.

Time has come for me to finally setup a proper NAS for home usage. I have to use Kodi as all my media is in .rar files. I have been using Kodi many years ago a little.

My question is:

Can I setup Kodi server side, ie. as a Docker in Unraid. Do the whole setup in there, scrape all the data (I have several 1000 movies) and make the client side pull only from that? 
I would like to avoid having Kodi client side do all that, ie. straight on the TV or a Nvidia Shield box. To me it seems better to have all that data being stored at the NAS?

The only thing I can find on YT and Kodi Wiki is UPnP, but that is to my understanding not what I am looking for, as that will allow me to stream to IE. VLC on client side. I want the entire Kodi interface on client side.

I might be stupid, but if this is not possible why would one ever setup Kodi server side ie. as a Docker? People do it for the UPnP feature?

Thanks in advance.

In addition to the Jellyfin suggestion, you might want to visit the Kodi sharing Wiki page which lists multiple options and spend a little time researching them.  Having been down a similar road for a number of years I would suggest listing out what you want from your solution and ranking the items.  I've been down a few roads only to turn back and go a different direction once I learned more.  No single solution is likely to do everything you want or some solutions are better at doing certain things than others.  Some solutions come with more overhead and maintenance, some better Kodi integration, some better OS support, some do better scraping of metadata, some have native clients, some have web interfaces etc...  Here's a brief description of my setup.  It may give you some ideas.


Thanks,

Jeff

[izprtxqkft]

no rar support in jellyfin - this is old and should get deprecated in kodi in my opinion as there is no benefit and only serves file sharing which should be frowned on here

click the links provided for your other questions

[Klojum]

I have to use Kodi as all my media is in .rar files

Why are you (still) using rar files? For simple media playback, the rar format is utterly useless. Rar will also do nothing in compressing video files even further as video codes are quite efficient these days and will leave no room for further squashing of said video files. The only reason to keep using them, is when someone is an active file sharer in newsgroups. If you're not, simply unrar your videos and a weight will be lifted off your shoulders.

[Houd]

To late now to unrar all my stuff, so that is besides the point.

Seems like having Kodi installed client side is the best option in my usecase. Can you save and export your Kodi setup incl everything scraped for import if something goes wrong or on another client

[Klojum]

To late now to unrar all my stuff, so that is besides the point.

Not really. You now have a NAS, so still enough disk room I'm guessing, thus it's never too late IMO. It may just take a bit of time.
A script/batch operation running on your favorite OS should be able to handle the motherload of the conversions, while you have your hands free for other things.

Can you save and export your Kodi setup incl everything scraped for import if something goes wrong or on another client

For the purists, Kodi has an media export option, it'll create .nfo files next to each (main) video file. In it will be metadata of your scraped video which can be used for re-importing your collection.
For the lazy people, making backup copies of your Kodi profile folder from time to time will do as well. Although both methods have their pros and cons.

[LongMan]

@Houd,
What OS are you using?

[Houd]

Client side?

Not sure yet, and I havent purchased my TV yet.

[LongMan]

Yes Client side. Ok. Actually both. You could test MediaImport with a flash drive on a pc. 

MediaImport is a feature that allows an instance of Kodi to act as a client which can import media items from a media server. Servers that are currently supported are

• Another Kodi Instance (via UPnP)
  
• Emby and/or Jellyfin Server
  
• Plex Server
  

Forum  and Wiki

Generic Legacy
Generic

Install this build on the both machines. It is compiled by me and based on LibreELEC 11.01 and Kodi 20.2 + MediaImport.

For UPnP Sharing,
Settings>Services>UPnP/DNLA  Enable UPnP Support  (Both Machines)
and Import media items from UPnP Servers - Enabled  (Client)

Then add your imports
Settings>Media Sources (Client)

[Houd]

Well current plan is Unraid with Kodi pulling from serverside.

But now it will probadly be Unraid with Kodi Client side on Android/Google TV.

[LongMan]

Not sure about Kodi and UnRaid, but android builds of MediaImport are here
MediaImport Downloads

[salim2]

Hello team.

Time has come for me to finally setup a proper NAS for home usage. I have to use Kodi as all my media is in .rar files. I have been using Kodi many years ago a little.

My question is:

Can I setup Kodi server side, ie. as a Docker in Unraid. Do the whole setup in there, scrape all the data (I have several 1000 movies) and make the client side pull only from that? 
I would like to avoid having Kodi client side do all that, ie. straight on the TV or a Nvidia Shield box. To me it seems better to have all that data being stored at the NAS?

The only thing I can find on YT and Kodi Wiki is UPnP, but that is to my understanding not what I am looking for, as that will allow me to stream to IE. VLC on client side. I want the entire Kodi interface on client side.

I might be stupid, but if this is not possible why would one ever setup Kodi server side ie. as a Docker? People do it for the UPnP feature?

Thanks in advance.

Yes, Kodi can be configured to run as a server-based Docker in Unraid. This will allow you to centralize your media library and metadata scraping on your NAS, thereby reducing the load on client devices and providing a consistent Kodi interface across clients. UPnP is designed for streaming to other devices, not running Kodi's interface server-side. People use Kodil server-side for various reasons, including centralized management and consistent media access.