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iTunes Between Two Computers

M

MacDude205100

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 9, 2016
24
1
Eastern U.S.
So this is a question about keeping iTunes in sync between two macs. My Mac Mini has the up to date library and I make all additions on it. I've been copying it over to the MacBook Pro every few weeks, but it's out of sync most of the time. I was wondering if anyone has any tips or recommendations on how to keep it in sync constantly while having it locally available offline on both and the Mac Mini being the "master".

Thanks!
 
MacDude205100 said:
So this is a question about keeping iTunes in sync between two macs. My Mac Mini has the up to date library and I make all additions on it. I've been copying it over to the MacBook Pro every few weeks, but it's out of sync most of the time. I was wondering if anyone has any tips or recommendations on how to keep it in sync constantly while having it locally available offline on both and the Mac Mini being the "master".

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Sounds as if something like Chronosync would solve your problem. You could set it to one-way sync the library and media files from your Mac Mini to your MBP. If you do some searching, there may be some cheaper or free rsync frontends that will satisfy you since your needs are relatively simple and straightforward.
 
I stored my iTunes library in/on Google Drive for a couple years. It mostly worked well. The biggest problem was creating extra library files I imagine when I had both computers awake and online at the same time.
 
BrianBaughn said:
That sounds like the kind of annoyance that an Apple Music subscription would solve.
Click to expand...

Tried it and didn't like it. I have Spotify. Plus, I have lossless files that are higher quality than Apple Music.

phairphan said:
Sounds as if something like Chronosync would solve your problem. You could set it to one-way sync the library and media files from your Mac Mini to your MBP. If you do some searching, there may be some cheaper or free rsync frontends that will satisfy you since your needs are relatively simple and straightforward.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this, I am going to check this out. It is a bit expensive for what I am going to use it for, but it seems like it'll do the job.

tobefirst said:
I stored my iTunes library in/on Google Drive for a couple years. It mostly worked well. The biggest problem was creating extra library files I imagine when I had both computers awake and online at the same time.
Click to expand...

This would be great if I had a smaller library, but it's 80 GB.
 
phairphan said:
Sounds as if something like Chronosync would solve your problem. You could set it to one-way sync the library and media files from your Mac Mini to your MBP. If you do some searching, there may be some cheaper or free rsync frontends that will satisfy you since your needs are relatively simple and straightforward.
Click to expand...

I purchased this software a while ago. I still use it to this day and like it. I have it on a timer that kicks off a sync for me during the middle of the night. I don't use it to move audio files, but everything else that I want to sync across multiple devices I use it for. To me the price was worth it.

Or, you could just setup a Plex server on the Mac Mini and use the Plex front end. There is a web interface, mobile device interface....... That way you don't have to worry about maintaining two library's. I know you did mention for offline listening. This won't solve that problem unless you upgrade to Plex pass, which will allow you download files for offline listening.
 
rhett7660 said:
I purchased this software a while ago. I still use it to this day and like it. I have it on a timer that kicks off a sync for me during the middle of the night. I don't use it to move audio files, but everything else that I want to sync across multiple devices I use it for. To me the price was worth it.

Or, you could just setup a Plex server on the Mac Mini and use the Plex front end. There is a web interface, mobile device interface....... That way you don't have to worry about maintaining two library's. I know you did mention for offline listening. This won't solve that problem unless you upgrade to Plex pass, which will allow you download files for offline listening.
Click to expand...

With Choronosync, is it able to smart update folder? For example, if I only change one file in the iTunes library will it recopy the whole thing or just that one file?

Also, what happens if it is scheduled to sync but the laptop is sleeping?
 
MacDude205100 said:
With Choronosync, is it able to smart update folder? For example, if I only change one file in the iTunes library will it recopy the whole thing or just that one file?

Also, what happens if it is scheduled to sync but the laptop is sleeping?
Click to expand...

One file, it looks for the delta in the folders. It will scan the entire folder and only copy over the delta of the two files. You can set it up to delete and or copy the files etc. In regards to the delete, if you delete a file from folder "A", and then the program does it's scan and you have it setup to do deletes, it will see the file has been deleted and it will delete the file also in folder "B". If you set it up this way. You can also set it up to not delete the file. So it is all on how you want to setup the file syncing.
 
I keep my iTunes media on a NAS and I access it from my MacBook.
I'd like to be able to access these same media files from my Mini so that I can use the Mini as either a Plex server or an iTunes sever for my ATV.
Would there be a problem creating a new iTunes Library on the Mini but directing it to the same NAS folder or would the two instances of iTunes (the one on the Mini and the one on the MacBook) fight one another?
Would I have less problems if I simply duplicated the library from my MacBook onto the Mini and then used Chronosync to keep the two libraries synced?
All I want is 24-hour access to the files from the server on the Mini while still allowing pwrsonal access on my MacBook for syncing media to my iPad/iPhone.
But I don't want to have to duplicate the media itself which I know would be the easiest solution.
 
Gjwilly said:
I keep my iTunes media on a NAS and I access it from my MacBook.
I'd like to be able to access these same media files from my Mini so that I can use the Mini as either a Plex server or an iTunes sever for my ATV.
Would there be a problem creating a new iTunes Library on the Mini but directing it to the same NAS folder or would the two instances of iTunes (the one on the Mini and the one on the MacBook) fight one another?
Would I have less problems if I simply duplicated the library from my MacBook onto the Mini and then used Chronosync to keep the two libraries synced?
All I want is 24-hour access to the files from the server on the Mini while still allowing pwrsonal access on my MacBook for syncing media to my iPad/iPhone.
But I don't want to have to duplicate the media itself which I know would be the easiest solution.
Click to expand...

Here is how I have my setup:

NAS box that has all of the media, movies and music stored on it.
Mac Mini running all of the following
  • iTunes
  • Plex Server Software
  • Sonos Software
Each application is pointed towards the directory that has all of the media that is located on my NAS box. iTunes has home sharing enabled so that all the instances of iTunes that I have running on my network can see the content that is located on and loaded up within the one instance of iTunes running on the Mac Mini, I have it labeled as MasterMedia. When I load a file into the MasterMedia file, all of the other computers can see it. There is no need to copy the file over.

I have no media stored locally on any of the computers or mobile devices.

If I want to use iTunes to listen to my music on another computer within the same network, I can listen or watch the content on that computer. From the upper left hand corner there is a drop down menu that shows me the MasterMedia version of iTunes running on the Mac Mini. I select that and all of my media loads up so I can stream my music or movies to that computer. No media is copied across the network, it is all streaming. One of the drawbacks to this, is if you want to load media onto a device like an iPod, you will have to physically connect to, in my case the MasterMedia file and load the files from there. Or copy the files in question to the local hard drive and load them from there. You can't load up from the remoter/shared iTunes files across the network.

I use plex to stream to ATV4 and mobile devices. I have it enabled so that I can stream from it outside my network. Never had an issue.

Both plex and sonos are setup to autoscan the directory with my media so they stay up to date without me having to manually do a scan. Unless I want the media available right now on my mobile device.
 
rhett7660 said:
One of the drawbacks to this, is if you want to load media onto a device like an iPod, you will have to physically connect to, in my case the MasterMedia file and load the files from there. Or copy the files in question to the local hard drive and load them from there. You can't load up from the remoter/shared iTunes files across the network.
Click to expand...

Yeah that's a deal breaker for me.
I need to find a solution that lets me sync from my MacBook like I currently do.
 
Gjwilly said:
Yeah that's a deal breaker for me.
I need to find a solution that lets me sync from my MacBook like I currently do.
Click to expand...

Then I would look at either chronosync or some other type of syncing software. Or look into using plex and purchasing a plex pass so that you can download media to your device for off network listening or viewing.
 
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