Copy iTunes Library

[dec.]

Hi,
the setup that we have right now is

1 Time Capsule, music is stored on it under "data/music"
2 Macbook Airs and 1 iMac

I have imported the music to iTunes on Macbook Air 1. As it's a ton of music, the process took ages, so I was wondering if I can copy the itunes library.xml to the other computers and rename the paths (i.E. replace all /users/macbook1/ to users/macbook2 ) to avoid the time consuming way of redoing the import if the music on both the Macbook Air 2 and the iMac.

I want to have full access to the files, so sharing a playlist won't do it, if my partner wants to copy music onto his iPhone from his iMac or the Macbook Air 2 we'll run into issues.

I have done this before , years ago on a windows PC when we replaced it and the PC name changed from "Kitchen Computer" to "Cottage" or something like that, I just replaced all paths. I've tried this again now but iTunes doesn't seem to handle it well right now.

Any suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[hafr]

Hi,
the setup that we have right now is

1 Time Capsule, music is stored on it under "data/music"
2 Macbook Airs and 1 iMac

I have imported the music to iTunes on Macbook Air 1. As it's a ton of music, the process took ages, so I was wondering if I can copy the itunes library.xml to the other computers and rename the paths (i.E. replace all /users/macbook1/ to users/macbook2 ) to avoid the time consuming way of redoing the import if the music on both the Macbook Air 2 and the iMac.

I want to have full access to the files, so sharing a playlist won't do it, if my partner wants to copy music onto his iPhone from his iMac or the Macbook Air 2 we'll run into issues.

I have done this before , years ago on a windows PC when we replaced it and the PC name changed from "Kitchen Computer" to "Cottage" or something like that, I just replaced all paths. I've tried this again now but iTunes doesn't seem to handle it well right now.

Any suggestions?
Thanks!

If the music is stored on the Time Capsule, why would you even need to change the paths? I'm far from an iTunes expert, but I think you should also move the .itl file, since it's the actual library file.

 

[dec.]

Thanks, after your post I've checked the file again, for some reason in a previous version it referred to "localhost/users/macbookair1/...." , but the current one doesn't anymore!?!

As far as I remember iTunes goes to the xml file if the itl (which you cannot edit) is missing, but as I don't need to change the paths in first place, it probably should work, will try.

thanks.

 

[hafr]

Thanks, after your post I've checked the file again, for some reason in a previous version it referred to "localhost/users/macbookair1/...." , but the current one doesn't anymore!?!

As far as I remember iTunes goes to the xml file if the itl (which you cannot edit) is missing, but as I don't need to change the paths in first place, it probably should work, will try.

thanks.

The .itl contains the "library ID", which will have to match if your partner wants to be able to sync music with several computers without issues