Sharing my iTunes library with other computers on the network

Hi Everybody,
I have an external hard disk with about 125 gigs of music on it, and I've spent a year going through it and categorizing it, and rating the songs. The hard disk is plugged into my Aiport Extreme, and communicates with my iMac just fine. My plan was to use my old windows laptop w/ iTunes, plug it into my stereo in the other room and have it pull music off the hd through the Airport, so I could have a jukebox for my stereo.
I have the windows machine communicating with the Airport and hd, so I have access to the music. I thought I might be able to get the library information if I Exported the Library to the external hd, but it did't work. Next I Exported my playlist from the Mac's iTunes, and Imported it on to the pc's. This shows my playlists, but they are all empty and there is no My Rating information.
What I would love it to do would be to have mirror playlist information on each computer, and any changes in the playlist would automatically get updated on the other computer's iTunes. for this I would think you would need your Library information at the source of the music, so on the external hard disk, and it would be shared by each computer. It'd be great if all the album covers did this too. I really don't want to have to go through all that music again on the pc, and would probably just use my iPod with my stereo if this is not possible. Any suggestions?
Forgive me if this has been written about already. Seems like someone else would have run into this too, but I couldn't find any searching through the discussions.
Thanks, -Victor

Chris CA wrote:
Move the entire _iTunes folder_ located in *My Documents/My Music*/ to a Shared directory. Make sure to set this folder for read/write permissions for all users.
I set my permissions as follows OS 10.4.X:
first under the original owners login, change all permissions to read & write, then change 'group' to wheel. Then change the owner from the user to system (I applied to all within ~ may not be necessary).
Start iTunes holding the Shift key and select *Choose existing library* then pick the iTunes library file you moved into the Shared directory.
In iTunes 7.5, you'll need to hold the Option key and then pick the /Users/Shared/iTunes/iTunes Music
Quit iTunes and log out of your user and let her log in.
Start iTunes holding the Shift key and select *Choose existing library* then pick the iTunes library file you moved into the Shared directory.
Now she needs to File -> *Add folder to library* and pick *My Documents*/My Music*/*iTunes*/iTunes music*.
This will add all her music to the common library.
Once this is complete, she can delete *My Documents*/My Music*/*iTunes.
Do this for all users. Any changes made by one will be seen by all.

Similar Messages

Does home sharing allow me to share my iTunes library with other users on the same imac

Does home sharing allow me to share my iTunes library with other users on the same imac?

Apparently so (as long as each user operates out of a different Mac User account).
After setting up home sharing in the various different user accounts on the Mac, you need to have iTunes open in the account that you want to Home Share from.
Now use fast User Switching to get into the account that you want to Home Share to. Launch iTunes in there. The library in the other account should appear as shared for you.

Can I share one iTunes Library with multiple computers on a network?

Can I share one iTunes Library with multiple computers on a network?
note: one library universally shared, not Home Sharing (one library each, shared to each.)
I want to share one library stores on my server and access it through various local computers. When I buy a song from a computer (non-server), I want it to be added to the library (stored on server). I want it to auto copy to my server, for organization. I want to be able to sync my phone from any computer.
Most of this I can do, if i figure out how to use one universal library for all my computers.
Any ideas how I can do this?

eyeinit,
You can authorize your iTunes account on up to 5 computers at a time.
However, purchased music is downloaded to the first machine to download it, but these articles have more information on moving your music between authorized computers:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93063
This one is for moving all your music using an iPod as a storage drive
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300173
Hope this helps,
Nathan C.

How do i share my itunes library with other users on the same mac

I'm trying to share my itunes library with other users on the same mac. I have tried moving my library to a public folder but when the other user logs in they can't see it in the public folder?

Presuming you moved the entire iTunes folder to the shared folder the other users need to start their iTunes while holding down the option/alt key and select the iTunes Library.itl file in the shared folder. Only once should be necessary. Note that any changes anybody makes will be seen by everybody, so you have to trust each other a lot.
If all you moved are media files each user will have to add those files to their iTunes library.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189 Chris CA's instructions on sharing one iTunes music library between multiple user accounts - https://discussions.apple.com/message/8974074 - Multiple users using a single library file - similar post at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3753008 Suggestion by Turingtest for multiple users and one library - http://discussions.apple.com/message/9117622 - use smart playlists and tags to isolate groupings.

Sharing my iTunes Library with other Users on my computer?

...hi guys! Nice to find this friendly commumity!
I wonder if any of you have worked out how to share the library across other users on the computer yet?
I share a PC with my girlfriend, and all of our downloads on iTunes are from our CD collection. But as I installed iTunes on my user account, she can't get the songs now!
When she opens iunes from her user account, it's a blank library!
Please help!
Thanks chaps,
Kerr
Message was edited by: heinzeman

Chris CA wrote:
Move the entire _iTunes folder_ located in *My Documents/My Music*/ to a Shared directory. Make sure to set this folder for read/write permissions for all users.
I set my permissions as follows OS 10.4.X:
first under the original owners login, change all permissions to read & write, then change 'group' to wheel. Then change the owner from the user to system (I applied to all within ~ may not be necessary).
Start iTunes holding the Shift key and select *Choose existing library* then pick the iTunes library file you moved into the Shared directory.
In iTunes 7.5, you'll need to hold the Option key and then pick the /Users/Shared/iTunes/iTunes Music
Quit iTunes and log out of your user and let her log in.
Start iTunes holding the Shift key and select *Choose existing library* then pick the iTunes library file you moved into the Shared directory.
Now she needs to File -> *Add folder to library* and pick *My Documents*/My Music*/*iTunes*/iTunes music*.
This will add all her music to the common library.
Once this is complete, she can delete *My Documents*/My Music*/*iTunes.
Do this for all users. Any changes made by one will be seen by all.

Sharing Aperture Library with Other Computers on the Home Network

Hello,
Forgive me if this question has been asked before, if it has, I missed it.
I have a mac on which I have Aperture and have taken the time to edit all of our family photos (cropping, color management, red eye reduction, etc.), so, after having done all of this, my wife, when showing her friends photos and such, would like to be able to have access to those photos on her mac laptop. But, I called Apple on this and their tech support guy made it sound like the only way to do this would be to create a web gallery for each set of pictures. And, I have to say, that solution seemed a bit extreme for sharing pictures within a home, not to mention the logistics for creating web galleries for tens of thousands of photos. So, the other option that occurred to me was that I could export all of the pictures into a directory and then have her iphoto import all of those pictures, however, there are two problems with that: 1) she is not up to date with new photos that have been added to Aperture and 2) the subfolder structure isn't preserved (i.e., it's just a huge mass of photos not a groups organized according to event).
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+"Single User License. This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on one Apple-labeled desktop computer and one Apple-labeled laptop computer so long as both computers are owned and used by you."+
I own an iMac and I pretend to buy an Apple laptop as secondary computer for my home, just after vacations, as now I have some more important expenses that should deliver new set of photos into Aperture library.
iMac is in use by me, and my wife, and kid. I assume that it will be legal to install copy of Aperture on my new laptop. So I will end in same situation as you are today. In my opinion it will be legal to use Aperture on both computers, as both are in possession of my family, and at least in my country we are somehow single entity (we pay common taxes from our joint income etc.) - it depends on the marriage settlement, however we've choose it that way.
In this case I'll simple export library and import it on my secondary computer. I own my iMac, and I'll own my Macbook Pro. At the same moment my wife own them as well. I'm not sure about your situation, but it might work for you. The questions is, is it really legal?

We have a PC with iTunes that needs the hard drive reformatted. Right now, it can't connect to other computers on the network. Can I save my music to a thumb drive, then re-load when the computer is reformatted?

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Copy the entire iTunes folder out to the drive. If it is too big to go as one copy stuff over to another computer in batches. It is important to have not only the media but the library file in order to properly restore your library.
See also this User Tip. Assuming the machine won't connect to the internet you could download the SyncToy installer on another machine and then transfer it with the thumb drive. If it will connect to the net don't forget to deauthorize the machine before reformatting the hard drive.
tt2

Sharing itunes library with all users on the same computer

I am trying to share the itunes library with 4 users on the same computer. Please tell me how.

I've been trying to find a way to do this easily as well. It would be good if you could set iTunes to use the "All User" documents folder instead of the My Documents folder for the storing the main library and just use the My Documents Folder for individual playlists.
Follow the instructions in the link provided by Mimico Kid.
** It is not important that the shared folder is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Documents\My Music. It can be any shared folder on the PC. On mine it's H:\iTunes as I don't have the space on the C: drive.
When you've done that make sure that your Adminstrator account's copy of iTunes shows the Library, Playlists and Album art as you want the all the users to see them.
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** C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Documents\My Music\iTunes
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This might be a slightly cumbersome way around the problem but it works for me. It has the disadvantage or advantage whichever way you look at it that every User will see an identical view with identical playlists.

How do I share the iTunes library with all/some of the other users on the same iMac?

How do I share the iTunes library with all/some of the other users on the same iMac?

Check out these articles it may help...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3819
http://www.apple.com/itunes/how-to/#playlists-shareplaylists
hope this helps.

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iTunes Home Sharing now works between users on same computer - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3865597
You could set up two completely separate libraries and share music via Home Sharing.
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189
Chris CA's instructions on sharing one iTunes music library between multiple user accounts - https://discussions.apple.com/message/8974074 - Multiple users using a single library file - similar post at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3753008
Suggestion by Turingtest for multiple users and one library - http://discussions.apple.com/message/9117622 - use smart playlists and tags to isolate groupings.
Discussions on using purchases from multiple AppleIDs in one iTunes library - https://discussions.apple.com/message/19543804

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Today, I got the apple tv. I was super excited unboxing it, hooking it up... and then when I go to sync up through itunes... oh wait, it doesn't show up in the devices list because of my AEBS problem.
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My G5 can't locate other computers on the network

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It most certainly does explain why one wouldn't be able to see others, if it's not configured as part of a workgroup or the automounter isn't running, this single machine will not be able to mount on demand, those shares which are advertised on other hosts.
Macs are not complicated and as I see by your signon, you know something of a root account. I would think you'd feel right at home on a mac under it's covers I myself have been a real Unix sysadmin for 18 years and played on all types of enterprise hardware, believe me, Macs are easy to fiddle with. Most of the time, when someone can't see other machines using the network browser,it's because some tool disabled NFS. Check your /etc/hostconfig for the automounter line and also check in the /Library/StartupItems and make sure NFS gets hit when the box starts.
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Question re. sharing iTunes library with other user accounts

I have seen this document:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203
I want to share one library with four users on my account. I'd like for any music purchased or ripped to this computer to end up in User 1's iTunes library, and for Users 2, 3 and 4 to have access to User 1s library just as User 1 does.
When I follow the directions for "Listening to another account's music files" in the above referenced document, it tells me to navigate to User 1's library through the dialog box that pops up after User 2 clicks "Add to LIbrary".
The problem is, when User 2 is doing that, and User 1 has put the iTunes library in ~user1/public, as the directions suggest, that dialog box won't allow user 2 to access User 1's Public folder.
Thoughts?
Thanks in advance...
Chris

Another long description in store here...
iTunes has two main elements. One is the library.itl database file. When you open iTunes it is this that you see. It contains what music is in a library, playlists, date added, playcount, etc. It is this that is really the library. The other element are the media files. When you tell iTunes to play a track it checks in its library file which music file is associated with that track and goes and plays it.
Now you say, "for Users 2, 3 and 4 to have access to User 1s library just as User 1 does." Do you really want User 4 to be able to go and delete or rename tracks, or change the playlists? This can be done if you really want it. Or do you want each person to keep their own library [file] and share media? Even that has disadvantages as a person might still be able to rename a file or even delete it for all. At least everybody would have their own playlists, ratings, etc, though a person could delete a file and then it would appear as a broken link for others. To be honest, iTunes isn't great for sharing.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Exactly what you want to do will involve different setups so before going into detailed insructions it would help to know which ones to provide. Here's an sampling:
iTunes: How to share music between different accounts on a single computer - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1203 - relocating iTunes' media folder to a shared area but leaving separate library files - extra tip at https://discussions.apple.com/message/17331189
Chris CA's instructions on sharing one iTunes music library between multiple user accounts - https://discussions.apple.com/message/8974074 - Multiple users using a single library file - similar post at: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3753008
iTunes Home Sharing now works between users on same computer - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3865597 The problem with HS is I think you then end up with multiple copies of files, one for each user. At least they cannot damage another's collection though.

Sharing iTunes library with other users (on Vista)

I'm posting this for my sister who just purchased a new computer running Vista. She's set up a user account for herself as well as one for each of my two nephews. We've successfully moved over her iTunes music folder from her laptop and can now access it and listen through her account.
However, we'd like to set it up so that my two nephews can also listen to the music from their user accounts. My oldest nephew also has a shuffle that would sync to it.
I've found a link to information about sharing, but I still need to clarify a few things.
Here's the link:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93195
On this page, it describes how "to share your music with other accounts on the computer" and also how "to listen to another account's music files".
Exactly how are these two things different? I'm pretty sure that I probably want the first of the two, but I'm not positive.
And once we successfully set this up, would we have to sync the shuffle via my sister's main account or could it be synced from any of them?

Let's answer your second question first ...
And once we successfully set this up, would we have to sync the shuffle via my sister's main account or could it be synced from any of them?
Any of them.
... and your first question second.
Exactly how are these two things different?
The first part - sharing your music with other accounts - makes the music available to the other users on the computer.
It is then up to the other users to decide whether or not they want to make use of the available music, hence the second part - listening to another account's music files - which, as the article says, must be repeated "for each account that is listening to shared music."

Sharing my iTunes library with other computers on the network

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