[wfalcon]

Request it would be fantastic if there are two or more kodi Machines on the same network if one could be assigned the role of master that could maintain the list of previously viewed episodes and serve the artwork instead of all of my machines scraping separately. I know I can setup an external MySQL server to function this way but it seems like it would be a great built in kodi function.

Edited notes:
I am getting a few replies from people who are under the impression I want to share media between machines and do not read the rest of the thread. I do not want to share media between machines. Some of the users have a central location for their media such as a NAS. What they sometimes want to share is the list of previously viewed shows, the timestamp of when a show was stopped to resume later from a different machine. I know people for years have been utilizing MySQL as a solution to this issue. There is a wiki link on this site that provide these instructions here: http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL What I am requesting is building the solution into a future version of Kodi.

[trogggy]

That sounds a lot like upnp sharing.
HOW-TO:Share_libraries_using_UPnP (wiki)

Edited notes:
I am getting a few replies from people who are under the impression I want to share media between machines and do not read the rest of the thread. I do not want to share media between machines. Some of the users have a central location for their media such as a NAS. What they sometimes want to share is the list of previously viewed shows, the timestamp of when a show was stopped to resume later from a different machine. I know people for years have been utilizing MySQL as a solution to this issue. There is a wiki link on this site that provide these instructions here: http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL What I am requesting is building the solution into a future version of Kodi.

Just seen this.
The confusion is at your end. Upnp sharing shares your library, same as mysql.
It's possible (though possibly not documented) to view the library on the host machine but play files locally / from a different source using pathsubs. Same as it is with mysql in fact.

[wfalcon]

Same idea but not exactly

[wfalcon]

Here is a better explanation:

If you have more than one Kodi device on your local network then you might want to synchronize them using a MySQL library. Using a MySQL library allows you to store information about your whole video library in a central database, so that multiple devices can access the same information at the same time.
This gives you the ability to do things like:
Share watched and unwatched status for your media on all devices
Stop watching a movie or TV show in one room then finish watching it in another room automatically
Only one library to maintain for all devices

Source: http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL

[nickr]

Kodi's internal sql database is sqlite which is single user. Mysql is an extremely easy and effective solution, just do it !

[trogggy]

I know what mysql is - I use it.
What I don't understand is how what you want is different from upnp sharing. The library's on one machine, you view it on all your machines. Isn't that what you describe in post #1?
It might not do everything mysql does, I haven't used it in a while so not sure what the current state is. I tried them both a few years ago and thought mysql was better.

[wfalcon]

@trogggy click the link. It is not a link about MySQL, but the feature I am looking to get built into Kodi and the solution others have instigated using MySQL. Once you read it, you will realize this is not about having media on one machine but having a central recordkeeping repository. Currently, every individual Kodi machine keeps track of what shows have been viewed, where a show was stopped ready to continue where you left off, the fan artwork, actors, directors, and other information scrapped about the tv shows/movies. If I watch Die Hard on machine 1, machine 2 does not sync up to machine 1 to indicate that I have watched it already. To produce the list of media available on my NAS, each machine has to scrap the information which is repetitive and wasteful of bandwidth. I am not talking about sharing media across machines. My NAS does that just fine.

@nickr Ya, I have planned to set up a MySQL server solution for a while but really wanted to avoid having another machine on the network if at all possible. With 5 Kodi's already spread throughout the house, some running Kodi Linux and others running the Android build, plus a NAS, which I am definitely not putting MySQL on, I thought to myself that maybe a future release might include a server version that could reduce my and others need to add another machine to the mix. That is what I thought the feature request section was for.

[nickr]

You could install mysql on one of those kodi machines (depending what OS they are running). Or your NAS (many people do despite your misgivings) or just get pi 3 or an odroid xu4.

[wfalcon]

My NAS is tuned right up. Not touching it. Already blew that one up once years ago screwing around. Not doing that one again.

I have known for years that I could add other machines. That's the solution I was hoping to avoid by requesting a feature. It seems like something that could come in handy to quite a few since a lot of people who use Kodi nowadays have multiple machines in the same household. I have been considering replacing one of my Linux machines with another Nvidia Shield TV (I love love love my 2 current Shields) which would free it up to act as a MySQL server quite nicely, but again, I was suggesting a future feature request that would be a nice-to-have.

Again, this is not a question of skill or looking for advice on a problem. I already know the solution. This is a feature request with the goal of improving the product in the future.

[trogggy]

@trogggy click the link. It is not a link about MySQL, but the feature I am looking to get built into Kodi and the solution others have instigated using MySQL.

Click which link?

...you will realize this is not about having media on one machine but having a central recordkeeping repository. Currently, every individual Kodi machine keeps track of what shows have been viewed, where a show was stopped ready to continue where you left off, the fan artwork, actors, directors, and other information scrapped about the tv shows/movies. If I watch Die Hard on machine 1, machine 2 does not sync up to machine 1 to indicate that I have watched it already. To produce the list of media available on my NAS, each machine has to scrap the information which is repetitive and wasteful of bandwidth. I am not talking about sharing media across machines. My NAS does that just fine.

upnp sharing isn't about having media on one machine. You could have kodi on box A using media on boxes B and C, serving a library via upnp to boxes B, C, D. I take your point (now I finally get it) that it's about how media is served - you want it to go via smb / nfs / whatever from the source rather than from the source to the upnp server to the client.
If you were designing a Media Centre from the ground up that would probably be on my wish list. As it is mysql just works, is easy to set up, and is already doing the job. Edit: it actually appears to do what you want already.

I have known for years that I could add other machines. That's the solution I was hoping to avoid by requesting a feature.

There's no need to add an extra machine to run mysql. You can use it on an existing kodi windows / linux box. If you run libreelec you can run mysql via the LAMP addon.
Anyway good luck with your request. Maybe a dev will share your vision.

[jjd-uk]

UPnP is for exactly this purpose.

[wfalcon]

Can someone explain how UPnP is suppose to share the timestamp of which point I stopped watching a movie one machine 1 when I try to access the movie later on machine 2 or three. Keep in mind that all of my machines access media on a NAS. Also, can someone provide exact instructions on how UPnP can have Kodi 1 tell Kodi 2, 3, 4, and 5 that I watch movie A,E,H, I P and X. Can someone also explain why, on this very site, are instructions telling users how to set up MySQL for the very purpose of sharing this information between machines and the following location: http://kodi.wiki/view/MySQL

[jjd-uk]

There is also a wiki page for library sharing via UPnP that troggy has already posted, either can be used for same purpose, the main advantage of MySQL is the libraries can be kept on an always on machine completely separate from the Kodi installs whereas in a Master/Slave UPnP configuration the Master install must be on so the slaves can access the database.

[wfalcon]

What I am looking for as a feature request is to have the MySQL solution built into a future version. I really am not looking for help on how to set things up. I have already researched this before (not on this forum) and everyone agreed that MySQL was the way to go when you have a NAS. I am just suggesting that it would be nice if it could be done within the Kodi framework instead of having to set up a separate MySQL Server, editing the Advanced Settings and so on. I think it would be elegant it there was perhaps a Linux server edition that already came with MySQL built it, and that the other Kodi installs could simply be told to access the database at 192.168.xxx.xxx without having to edit the advanced settings.

[trogggy]

It sounds like a lot of work to add something most people won't use and that a user can easily add anyway.
But I'm not a dev so my opinion means nothing here.