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Todd Hill edited this page Sep 24, 2023 · 36 revisions

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ELS : Entertainment Library Synchronizer

Entertainment Library Synchronizer (ELS) is a backup tool for home media systems. ELS views media spanning multiple hard drives the same way modern media systems do - on a logical library basis such as movies or TV shows. ELS combines the content of each library to determine what needs to be backed-up. The exact location of files in each library do not have to match on the back-up allowing a media library to grow "organically".

Features

  • New ELS Hint Status Tracker to coordinate local hint status, new in 3.1.0.

  • New ELS Hint Status Server to corrdinate remote hint status, new in 3.1.0.

  • New ELS Hints to coordinate manual changes, new in 3.0.0.

  • Supports movies, television shows with season subdirectories, music with artists and albums, etc.

  • Supports any mix of storage devices of different sizes.

  • Optionally copies new files to an existing movie or TV show if space is available (back-fill).

  • Multiple targets may be defined for each library, e.g. movies. As one reaches a minimum available space the next target is used (automatic roll-over).

  • Optionally generates a What's New text file of what items were copied.

  • Optionally generates a Mismatches text file of the detailed differences between the publisher and subscriber.

  • Stand-alone and client/server modes of operation are supported.

  • An interactive terminal is available for both publisher and subscriber.

  • Standard SFTP such as Filezilla may interactively connect to ELS when in listener mode.

  • May be scheduled using operating system tools, e.g. Windows Task Scheduler or Linux cron.

  • Nothing is added, no overhead except when using hints.

  • Runs on Windows, Linux and Mac.

ELS relies on a common directory structure used by modern home media systems such as Plex. Each item must be contained in a unique directory within a library directory.

For example:

library directory structure

Scenarios

ELS can be used in a variety of ways. Some ideas are:

  • Basic local back-up with locally-attached storage devices. The back-up device could be removable for better protection.
  • LAN back-up to family home computers where each subscriber carries a portion of the media collection reducing the potential risk of loss and spreading-out the storage load.
  • Cloud back-up to an external storage location such as DropBox. The cloud drive must be mounted locally.

Wiki Pages
Command-Line How-To Describes the various command-line options.
Communications How-To Describes the use of ELS over a LAN or the Internet.
Contact How to contact this project.
Developer Notes Notes for developers extending or modifying ELS.
Downloads Requirements and downloads.
ELS Plex Generator Utility Add-on utility for Plex Media Server.
Hints Hints to coordinate manual changes.
Hints Status Hint Status Tracker and Hint Status Server.
JSON Structure Structure and definition of library and target JSON.
Modes of Operation Describes the two different ways to run ELS.
Regular Expressions Details of supported pattern matching.
Release Notes List of changes.

See the ELS Discussions and join the conversation

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