[OzDrDj]

Hello,
I would like to backup My Media Library so I can do a clean install of Kodi. I have god knows what addons and things in there and am getting a few glitches.
I have tried the Backup the Library in the system menu, but that seems to do nothing. I just get a couple of folders with alot of artwork and thats it.
To backup Kodi and move it between rooms in my house I use FreeFileSync, and sync the appdata/roming/kodi folder across my network. This keeps me a good backup of everything and keeps everything the same across the network.
But as I said, Kodis become a bit glitchy and laggy, I can never just exit kodi, It always hangs, If I try to add something on, and hit add on from zip file, It hangs, and my kodi folder has hit about 170,000 files over 22gb. 
So, long story short, Can I do a fresh install and move my library over. I do not want to rebuild my library, for some reason the TVDB movie scraper is not scraping on my machine unless i enter each movie manually. Im not doing that for 2500 movies.
TIA
OzDrDj

[Karellen]

I would like to backup My Media Library so I can do a clean install of Kodi.

If you want a clean install of Kodi, then backup addons or external backup and restore are not what you want.
If you have "god knows what " in your current setup, and you are trying to clean this, then backing up, then restoring will give you back the same. Really, you haven't achieved anything.

What I am guessing you really want is an easy way to quickly rebuild your library, once you have a fresh install.
Best method is to use Export to Separate Files... https://kodi.wiki/view/Import-export_library/Video
It will create nfo files, which are then quickly scanned back into a new library.
How old is your library and do you have local artwork?

[Dangelus]

Sounds like the exact thing you don't want to do would be the best solution for you; that is, a fresh clean install. Failing that:

You say you have lots of addons etc bloating the system. I'd start by removing absolutely everything you don't want or need. This will most likely speed things up and remove all the bloat and junk that may be interfering with the normal operations. 

The scraping issues you are having could be related to outdated depreciated scrapers. You should use the newer python scrapers for better results.

You have not mentioned what platforms or what Kodi version you are using. If you are using an unsupported outdated version this may have problems fixed in the current version.

Your Filesync solution sounds like an interesting way of keeping things in sync. Sounds like you are using Kodi on Windows  / PC devices from your description so at least you shouldn't be running into database incompatibilities due to cross platform differences. You may want to look at a central database solution to sync your database though such as MariaDB / MySQL which works very well once setup correctly and it means less things can go wrong because you are just altering once set of databases instead of replicating changes across multiple databases.

In any case, you have options. Might be worth submitting a link to your Debug Log after you attempt to replicate the issues you are having or at the very least provide details of your setup ie hardware, platform, Kodi versions etc to help people help you out.

[OzDrDj]

You Got It, I Did not want to do a fresh install because of all the work gone into the Library, which I never seem to be able to export successfully, but following the guide will give it another go. 

Thanks for the Reply Dangelus

As for the Add Ons, I didnt want to go removing things, as the add ons i do use probably need some of those extra things.

The Scrapers are TVDB V4, I like the artwork from TVDB, because I Contribute to It, TMDB and I don;t see eye to eye due to some #$%^#$ Moderator there, but we won't go into that. Fanart, the Same, Run by a clown who wants his images some whacko size, that is not standard with KODI, I asked him why and was told what a clown I was, so....

I am running the latest KODI Matrix release, and generally update as soon as a new version is available. 

As for running a Central Database, well I tried that once, long ago with very bad results. Thus Free File Sync, A 10 second update between machines before use is no worries. I could make it automatic, but, not that important really.

I didn't really want to muck anyone around with a Debug Log, I didnt want to bother anyone with it too much, I was going to this time but No comprehendo "Do not post logs in the forum. Use https://paste.kodi.tv/ instead."

My Hardware is an i7 about 5 years old, 32gb memory, 28tb of Drivespace holding 3771 Movies and 282 TV Series, That is connected by eternet to an 8 way DLink Router, that is Hard wired to HP SFF i5 and i7 Computers in the Loungeroom, Bedrooms and Google Mesh WiFi Connection to the Man Cave. No matter what I tried before I always got buffering issues, but since I Hardwired the house, No more problems.

[Klojum]

I was going to this time but No comprehendo "Do not post logs in the forum. Use https://paste.kodi.tv/ instead."

We prefer to keep our forum/web server clean, and log files can be quite large in size. So storing all that "useless" text we prefer to happen on pastebin websites. Our own paste.kodi.tv (with a 60 day retention) , or someone else's.

[OzDrDj]

Thanks for the Reply Karellan,

I never seem to have any luck with the Backing up of the library, thus why I keep my Kodi Backed up across 5 Machines, All are withing a day or 3 of current, so all is well there.
I will have another go and try following that backup guide to the letter and see if I can achieve it, then I can just reinstall the add ons I want, not many really, Just the Photo Slides Screensaver, Psudeo TV Live and Weather from Memory.
My Library is Pretty Old, from XBMC Days, I Think I started with EDEN. But I have Loaded my Library with all my Favorite Artwork, some which is gone now from databases around the place. I dont want to lose it. I do have all my Artwork saved on my hard drive.
My older movie directories contain Movie.mp4 Subtitle.srt MoviePoster.jpg and dvdcover.jpe
after a few years I added Background.jpeg and in the last year I have added BannerA.jpg ClearArtB.png and ClearLogoC.png
so I do not have complete art files for all movies.
TV shows I have pretty much nothing Just a Poster in the Main Directory, again until this year where I have added a poster for each season in their own directories, plus Banner Art, Clear Art, Clear Logo, and Background.
Am Exporting seperate file backups now, so will rename the Kodi Data directory KodiBackup.
Do a clean start and import the Library and set up the Few addo Ons and see how I go, Scary Scary Stuff.

Cheers

[OzDrDj]

We prefer to keep our forum/web server clean, and log files can be quite large in size. So storing all that "useless" text we prefer to happen on pastebin websites. Our own paste.kodi.tv (with a 60 day retention) , or someone else's.

Thanks Kojum. 

I'f I can't get this update to work, I'll just post a log on my website and attach a link. 

Cheers

[Karellen]

My older movie directories contain Movie.mp4 Subtitle.srt MoviePoster.jpg and dvdcover.jpe
after a few years I added Background.jpeg and in the last year I have added BannerA.jpg ClearArtB.png and ClearLogoC.png

Just check you have named your artwork correctly, as I don't think you have, which means Kodi won't find it.
Check the screenshots on the wiki pages here to see how it is done. Click the menu items on the right of the page... https://kodi.wiki/view/Artwork

[OzDrDj]

Well, Did my Kodi Backup to Seperate Files, Twice. No Idea where it is Backing up to though. Cant find anything anywhere.

[Karellen]

Well, Did my Kodi Backup to Seperate Files, Twice. No Idea where it is Backing up to though. Cant find anything anywhere.

nfo files next to the video files.

[OzDrDj]

Ahhhhh, Wow, look at that, All my directories have doubled in content. Thats gonna take some correcting after I make my update.

[Karellen]

Thats gonna take some correcting after I make my update.

Why are so many peoples first reaction to "clean out the mess"? But if you want to clean them out, there is nothing hard about it. Search for *.nfo then delete.
But before you do, open an nfo file and familiarise yourself with it. It will come in handy if you want to edit the library data.
And I also recommend keeping them as a backup for your library. Even running a regular export every few weeks to preserve the changes you make to your library.
But you need the local artwork to go along with it.

[OzDrDj]

Ok, A little off topic but not. Is there some software that can help me rename all my directories and files to tidy everything up, or am i talking negligble file size and just leave it alone? 
Example I used to have, Movie, Subtitle, Poster, DVD Cover, Background, Banner, Clear Art and Clear Logo in each movie directory. In this Format.

Chopping Mall (1986).jpe (Cover Art)
Chopping Mall (1986).jpeg (Background)
Chopping Mall (1986).jpg (Poster)
Chopping Mall (1986).mp4 (Movie)
Chopping Mall (1986).srt (Subtitle)
Chopping Mall (1986)a.jpg (Banner)
Chopping Mall (1986)b.jpg (Clear Logo)
Chopping Mall (1986)c.jpg (Clear Art)

Now of course I have extra

.actors (folder)
Chopping Mall (1986).nfo
Chopping Mall (1986)-banner.jpg
Chopping Mall (1986)-clearart.png
Chopping Mall (1986)-clearlogo.png
Chopping Mall (1986)-fanart.jpg
Chopping Mall (1986)-poster.jpg
Chopping Mall (1986)-thumb.jpg

Ok, All simple and making sense. Until Now......

I want to  Delete all Movie posters *-poster.jpg and rename all *.jpg to *-poster.jpg (Obviously, delete all the backed up posters, rename all my posters to their correct name for kodi)

You can see where i'm going here, but now the dilemma. Only in the last 2 or so years have I added all the different artworks. Previous to this i used to only have Movie, Subtitle, DVD Cover and Poster.
 Then at some stage I added Background, then later on Banner, Then Finally the Clear Art. So I have alot of folders missing some artwork. 

I guess I need some sort of Global Rename Tool like XTREE if you remember your DOS 3.11 days. Which you can still get as ZTree but I can't remember how to use it.

There is always the trial and error method, but if i make a mistake across Thousands of folders, life could be very nasty.

Any Ideas?

[Karellen]

.actors (folder)
Chopping Mall (1986).nfo
Chopping Mall (1986)-banner.jpg
Chopping Mall (1986)-clearart.png
Chopping Mall (1986)-clearlogo.png
Chopping Mall (1986)-fanart.jpg
Chopping Mall (1986)-poster.jpg
Chopping Mall (1986)-thumb.jpg

All that is correct regards naming. I recommend that you delete the -thumb.jpg file as it is one of those confusing artwork files where different skins use it differently as a fallback.
The only -thumb file you should have is for episodes.
But I understand the above is the exported version of your artwork and needs to be removed.

Is there some software that can help me rename all my directories and files to tidy everything up,

Probably the media managers will have that feature. I don't know about artwork renaming though as I don't use the media managers. IIRC filebot does the renaming also.
See here... https://kodi.wiki/view/Supplemental_tools
Maybe other members can recommend something.

[Hitcher]

I use Bulk Rename. Simple find and replace.

eg find a.jpg and replace with -banner.jpg