.XML/.itl

Hey folks, I am a "FNG" on this forum so please don't flame me too hard if this issue has been beat to death already.
I have a user who backed up 60gigs worth of music to an external hard drive and upon his arrival at our company, he synced the music up with new machine. The sync was fine, all the music is there however, the playlists are gone.
Other IT personnel said this is because the .xml file is gone, but as I understand it that doesn't matter as it is only used to support other applications that need to access the itunes library and the xml file recreates itself.
Is there a way to recreate the playlists in the new iTunes library?

In iTunes, go to the Edit Menu, and open up Preferences. Go to the Advanced tab, and at the top of the General sub-tab there should be a box with the "iTunes Music folder location". Click the "Change..." button and browse to where you put your music. There's also the "Reset" button if you put it back into the default location.
Hope that helps.

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Can't find library (xml, itl) files

Hi,
I can't find the library database files (*.xml, *.itl) that are supposed to be in the ..My Music/itunes folder. I use Explorer to look at the itunes folder (which does exist in the My Music folder -- all my music files are in the My Music folder), but it shows no files. Also reports that the itunes folder is empty. I have used the View option tab to tell Explorer to show hidden and system files.
What seems strange is that iTunes works just fine. I can see and play all my music, it has all my playlists, etc. My understanding is that info is all in the databases, but I can't find them!
Another odd thing, when I click on the ../My Music/iTunes folder in explorer it takes several minutes with the hourglass icon before it actually opens.
Searching the discussion forums, I see that I could export the .xml file and then use it to recreate the .itl file. I think that some info is lost when you do this -- such as play counts and date added. In anycase, I'm reluctant to do this since everything seems to be working just fine. I would however like to know where the database files are!
Any thoughts?
Dell Windows XP Pro

Well, I bit the bullet and exported my library from itunes into a different location, moved the existing iTunes folder out of My Music, restarted iTunes, imported the saved xml library, and it looks like everything is fine. My library and playlists show up fine in iTunes, and the two library database files now appear in the iTunes folder in My Music. Can't really say what happened, but looks like this fixed it.

Purpose of .xml & .itl files

Perhaps I'm confused & simply need clarification on a couple of points. the .xml/.itl files are simply the database files for your library/playlists, correct? They have nothing to do with playback.
Also, did the upgrades create a second .itl file in the iTunes music folder & if so how do you tell which is which?
Thanks,
Debbie

The itl file is the file that iTunes uses, with all of the library data. The xml file has (I think) less data, and is meant for other program to access the library. They're both accessed anytime anything is done in the library.
Some upgrades made new itl files, but I don't think 5.x did. You can check by sorting by Date.
hudgie

Xml/itl-"The file "iTunes Library.itl does not appear to be a valid..

"The file "iTunes Library.itl does not appear to be a valid iTunes library file. iTunes has attempted to recover your iTunes library and renamed this file to "iTunes Library (Damaged).itl"
does enyone know how to fix this for ever?
thanks.

Katrina, created test, copied ITL (I Tunes Library file?) across, did the shift thing, I Tunes opens with my songs, created a play list, closed I tunes, re-opened it, play list still there. Is that what you mean?
I think I have some other issues as well.
I Tunes says 2477 songs/485 artists, my I Pod has 300 more.
Windows explorer suggests 589 artists (I keep library organised) I've lost the connection to the "movie" folder.
Also despite songs appearing in the library, they won't play in I Tunes at all. Fine on Ipod (although not docked since this started), fine with other media. players in same location.
Is this a nightmare where I have to delete everything & start again?
Message was edited by: tvsizedoesmatter
Message was edited by: tvsizedoesmatter

Backing up using Export/Import & ITL, XML file formats

Using Windows XP I have reset my default Itunes folder to c:\Itunes (too big for MY Documents\...). then copied everything from c:\itunes to an external hard drive. (I didn't realize the ITL file doesn't move and therefore I may not have a good backup of it.
Starting with a new computer, installed Itunes, then did a 'File, Add folder to library (with copy option)' from the external hard drive. This restored all my songs but I lost playlists, play count & my ratings.
I then did an import from library.xml, this restored the playlists, but still no play count or ratings.
My question is
1) IS there a better way to backup from Hard Drive to Hard drive? (Maybe all I really needed was the ITL file also?)
2) what is the format of the ITL file (I am a systems programmer, would appreciate a URL that has detail), what (hopefully free) utility would edit it?
3) a high level view of the XML file (I know XML)
4) Where is there complete documentation on Itunes ( a detailed description of export/import would be appreciated)
AMD Sempron, Duron, Athlon, Celeron Windows XP Pro
AMD Sempron, Duron, Athlon, Celeron Windows XP Pro

Here's my old standard answer for this topic - hope you can find something useful from it ...
iTunes Music Library.itl & iTunes Music Library.xml must stay where you found them.
To move your music files, use iTunes to do the work. Don't manually drag them around yourself.
• change the library location in iTunes Advanced Preferences tab, the new location does not need to exist; iTunes will create it. The new location should be empty of music files. This just sets the location for any new files brought into iTunes; it does not affect any existing files in the iTunes library.
• Select iTunes Advanced menu, Consolidate Library command. This copies all iTunes music files to the new library location. Playlist & Ratings data is preserved!
• After it completes (assuming no errors), quit iTunes and get rid of the original files from your previous location. The xml & itl files must remain in the old location, the library location setting does not control the location of these two critical files.

Damaged XML and ITL files

Okay I can't recreate my iTunes library, what do I need to delete from iTunes on my computer, and whats the best way to re-create my iTunes music library, I have 10,000 plus songs, plus purchased music, and pod casts, and TV shows... Please help me out

That's what's stumping me, why does it want to try to import the xml file to begin with? (Don't know what iLife is but doubt that I am running it.) It doesn't do it EVERY time I start iTunes but it's been more than 50% of the time! Doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason as to when it will do it and when it won't. Upon iTunes startup it will start "importing the xml file" and then after a while it will decide that the itl file is damaged and will rename the itl file as such and then create a new one that's then missing all play counts, ratings, playlists etc. Since this isn't what I want I close iTunes, delete this new itl file and xml file and copy back my backup itl file (renaming it back to itunes library.itl). I am then back in business. It's just annoying that I have to remember to backup the itl file every time I close iTunes now. But I'll do it rather than lose my ratings, play counts etc.
At this point I don't think it's the iPod but something about this version of iTunes and the xml/itl files that's not working right together. Beats me as to what it is. I see there's a new iTunes version up now but think I'll wait a few days at least before installing it
Thanks for the help.

Backed up library onto external hd - want to get music bk into itunes lib - moved 2 files library.itl and library.xml but reverts bk to 5kb and 11kb (ie. no music)

I backed up library onto external drive. (itunes directory - with Album artwork, itunes music directory, and xml/itl files)
Now I am trying to upload music back to a new Windows XP computer - I have new itunes version.
First I moved/copied the itunes directory whole to the new computer - then opened itunes and the library.itl and library.xml reverted to 5 and 11kb
Then tried just moving those two files - still nothing
Help - as I have over 28MB of music I am trying to recover.
Thanks,

The "missing file" thing happens if the file is no longer where iTunes expects to find it. Possible causes are that you or some third party tool has moved, renamed or deleted the file, or that the drive it lives on has had a change of drive letter. It is also possible that iTunes has changed from expecting the files to be in the pre-iTunes 9 layout to post-iTunes 9 layout,or vice-versa, and so is looking in slightly the wrong place.
Select a track with an exclamation mark, use Ctrl-I to get info, then cancel when asked to try to locate the track. Look on the summary tab for the location that iTunes thinks the file should be. Now take a look around your hard drive(s). Hopefully you can locate the track in question. If a section of your library has simply been moved, or a drive letter has changed, it should be possible to reverse the actions. I can provide a step by step guide if you give me the two paths.
Alternatively, as long as you can find a location holding the missing files, then you should be able to use my FindTracks script to reconnect them to iTunes.
tt2

ITunes - Network drive synch - Move library.xml and library.itl

I have iTunes loaded on a work computer. They synch everything in the My Documents folder. The network guys are upset at the iTunes folder in My Music. I have the music actually on a different part of the hard drive that they do not synch, but they want me to move the itl and xml stuff too. How do I do that and keep iTunes working?

The XML & ITL file locations are hardwired into iTunes. It will only look in "My Documents\My Music\..." for those files. It is possible to change the Windows definitions for those special system areas (My Docs & My Music), but then your IT team will be even angrier with you. In fact, they likely have the system protected such that you cannot change those system definitions.
Your company has the right to tell you not to load software on your system, so unless they are willing to cooperate with you on this issue you'll probably have to remove iTunes. I just use an iPod at work connected to separate external speakers.
But, if you want to go the hard way... you could quit iTunes and move the XML & ITL files out of My Documents before you log out at the end of the day, and restore them to their normal location after you logon the next day. That presumes they don't do synchs to the network while your active during the day. An annoying process granted, but it would work.
Message was edited by: MacMuse

Can I have the same library on two computers?

I would like to run iTunes off two computers..work and home with my same library. Can I? How?
Thank you much

I have seen the same info in a few different threads, but I'm still confused. My daughter has ITunes on an older computer, and wants to back up all the info for a new computer. I have ITunes on my computer, and tried to save her files on a flash drive (1 GB) and here's what happened: When I save either or both the .xml or .itl files, and tried to import them to my itunes, I got folders but no songs. When I saved the ITunes Music folder, that gave me the songs, but its more than 1 GB, so I guess I need more flash drives. [However, I was able to import a song that had been downloaded from a CD onto my daughter's computer while the drive was in place on my computer, but when the drive was gone, so was the song......is that always the case?] Do I need to copy the entire ITunes folder (including the .xml, .itl and Music) to the flash drive, and then copy that to the hard drive on the new computer? Help!

New PC and diff. Drive letter for iTunes (Steps to take, please comment)

I have bought a new PC, and I want to transfer my library to my new pc but the problem is that the Driveletter will be different
(On my Old PC, Music is located on then E: Drive and on New Computer the music will be located on the D Drive)
Now I have the following Idea and I would like to know what the experts here think of it.
(First of course make backups copies of Music and .XML and .ITL files)
On Old PC in iTunes,
- Change Media Folder Location to External Drive (For example Drive Letter G:\)
(Note: "Copy files to itunes media folder ... " is already selected)
- Deauthorize PC
On New PC
- install itunes.
- after installing shutdown iTunes
- Copy Library (.XML & .ITL) from old pc to new pc
- connect External Drive (Make it again Driveletter G:\)
- startup iTunes
- If everything is oke, Change Media Folder Location from External Drive G:\ to Local Drive D:\
- Authorize PC
Am I missing something ?
Thanks in advance

Sounds like you currently have a split library where the library files are at their default location in your user profile, but the the media folder is on an external/secondary drive. While it is possible to move such a library in the way you describe it may be easier if you can make the library "portable" before you start.
Here are typical layouts for the iTunes folders:
In the layout above, with the media folder (everything in the red box) inside the library folder, the library is considered to be portable. You can rearrange things to make a split library portable by taking a number of small steps which don't break the library.
The basic non-fatal manipulations are:
-> You can connect to an alternate set of library files by holding down Shift (Win) or Option (Mac) when starting iTunes.
-> You can move the library files to a new location as long as the media stays out.
-> You can move the library files and the media together if the media folder is a direct subfolder of the library folder.
-> If you have already moved/copied the media content to a different location then you only need to copy the library files for it to appear as if you have moved the entire library in the way allowed above. I.e. just copy the library files into the parent folder of the media folder.
-> You can rename the media folder to *iTunes Media* (if it isn't already) if the media folder is inside the library folder.
-> iTunes uses the name of the folder holding the library files as the window title. Having made a library "portable" you may need to take a final step of renaming the library folder to iTunes or, if the library files have ended up at the root of a drive, moving all of the library files and content folders into a new folder called iTunes.
After each change you need to open, test and close the relevant library before attempting another change. If a change broke the library, undo it or revert to using the previous set of library files.
In essence all you need to do to make your library portable is copy the library files into the parent folder of the media folder on the external/secondary drive and use the hold-down-option-when-starting-iTunes method to connect to it. Other manipulations may be required to normalize the library so that the library and media folders have standard names.
Once you've made you current library portable you can take a complete clone of the iTunes folder onto your external drive, and then copy that folder into your new computer. Rather than looking at this as a one time proposition you should aim to keep the copy of the library on your external drive as a backup.
*Fast backup for iTunes library (Windows Only)*
Grab SyncToy 2.1, a free tool from MS. This can be used to copy your entire iTunes library (& other important data folders) onto another hard drive or network share. You can then use SyncToy periodically to synchronise or echo your library to the backup. A preview will show which files need to be updated giving you a chance to spot unexpected changes and during the run only the new or updated files will be copied saving lots of time. And if your media is all organised below the main iTunes folder then you should also be able to open the backup library on any system running the same version of iTunes.
Don't forget to deauthorise the old computer if you're not planning to use iTunes on it again.
tt2

Multi-user, Multi-mac, single-storage best practices?

I wouldn't share the MacBookPro so my wife finally replaced her PC with a new iMac. We want to store our big music collection in one place (either the iMac or external USB disk. Both machines presently use WiFi connectivity through our older round AiportExtreme, though I'd consider upgrading if the Airport Disk sharing would make this simple. We also presently use Airport Express to play music from the laptop to our home audio system and will continue to use the laptop for this. Presently we each have one library for laptop/iGadgets. Ideally we could share the library files across machines (in something akin to an NFS/Celerra mount in the Unix world) so that we don't have to add music more than once per person and I could recover laptop disk space. Is it possible to point multiple machines at the same library xml/itl files, or at least synch them somehow (maybe dotmac) to both machines and how would one configure that? My knowledge of mac networking is very small, but I'm tech-savvy in the Win/Unix world. Is the network latency prohibitively slow, particularly when pulling files through WiFi from remote disk and playing back remotely to AirPort Express? We don't want it to stop every 5 seconds to buffer. I welcome suggestions for the best way to proceed. Thanks in advance.

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How do I restore iTunes library from Backup files on External Hard Drive?

How do I restore iTunes library from Backup files on External Hard Drive and keep the new iTunes library on the External Hard Drive. I have all the media and playlist and .xml .itl files, just want the iTunes to recognise the content.
I backedup my iTunes content by dragging to External Hard Drive. Formatted and reinstalled OS. My iTunes content is so large, that I wish for the Library and content to remain on the External Hard Drive. I have all the music files and playlists, I just cannot get the iTunes application to display all the content. Hoping to Not have to drag and drop all the content to be recopied into new iTunes organised files.
Troubleshooting this by researching other conversations on the web, I have come stuck for a solution. One Troubleshoot told me to hold down the Command key and then lauch iTunes and a dialogue box will appear to Choose a new library, however when I try this, no Dialogue box appear to give me the option!?

It sometimes has that funny switch symbol on it too.
tt2

ITunes files missing in Media Browser for all other apps

I've read many and posted a couple times about this issue, but new information has come to light, so I figured I'd give it one more shot.
Somewhere along the line from migrating from 2007 MacBook to my newer 2010 iMac, I've lost the ability to see my iTunes files in other apps in the media browser. This is very specific to the user that my main library (237gb). I've got a separate library on a different user account, no issues there. It happens in all of the iLife apps(like trying to add music to a slideshow), iWork apps (clicking on media), Mail (attaching a .mp3). Oddly enough, Audacity has no issue seeing the iTunes files. I've tried several solutions, including re-installing the Media Browser, and trashing the .xml file (Apple's own solution found here). Nothing worked. I had hoped the release of Lion might fix the problem, and I upgraded "the Apple way." The problem persisted.
I had thought perhaps the issue lied from carring over old code, apps, or whatever from the migration. I had hoped doing a clean install of Lion might do the trick. I finally got an external to move the library too, and do a very manual migration. Copied all documents and media to the external, boot from the Lion Boot CD I created before upgrading the 1st time, reformat drive, install Lion. It went off without a hitch. I made sure to copy all of the database files (.xml, .itl), and while all of my settings, playlists, and play counts were preserved (something that is important to me), the same problem reared it's head.
Another idea came was to start a new user account, and just use the media files, and not the database files. After simply dragging the media folder into iTunes and copying the files (the drobo has plenty of space), it worked perfectly. Except I had lost all of my play counts, settings, and playlists.
So the question is, is there a solution to fix the old user account, or is there a way to rebuild what I've lost in the new user account? I'm using completely updates software in Lion, iLife, iTunes, iWork, etc.

Turns out my "iTunes Library.itl" file was corrupt. I used the old "iTunes Music Library.xml" file to rebuild a new library with existing playlists and play counts. Though that didn't go off completely without a hitch, I did find this solution. Problem solved.

Itunes for window on an external hard disk

I have my itunes library on an external hard disk and it is working fine but I am about to get a new computer. What is the easiset way to get my new installation of itunes to view the library on the external hard disk.
If anybody knows the answer can they please reply to this, thanks.
Windows XP Pro

- Save the following files from the old PC:
-- 1) The Library database file: ‘iTunes Library.itl’ located in the ‘iTunes’ folder
-- 2) The Library XML file: ‘iTunes Music Library.xml’ located in the ‘iTunes’ folder
- Copy these files to your new PC somewhere safe
- Install iTunes on the new PC
- Configure your ExHD to attach to the new PC as the same drive letter as on the old PC
- Attach the ExHD to the new PC
- Copy the two saved database files (XML & ITL) into the 'My Music\iTunes' folder of the new PC - replace the smaller, new files that are there
- Open iTunes
Your new PC's Library should be a clone of the old PC's. These are high-level instructions. If you feel you need more, post back.
Take a look at these concepts: http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=1923195

How Do I Move My Music from ITunes on One PC to a New PC

My daughter took my old laptop which had all of my music and custom catagories. What files do i need to copy from the old ITunes folder to the new new install on my new PC so that I do not have to read all of my CD's in to the system again and preserve the music catagories.

It depends on how you have things organized.
You certainly need to copy all of the folders that have music in them (perhaps this is in your "My Music" folder, or an "iTunes music" folder.
You also need to copy your iTunes library files (.xml, .itl) - these will be in a folder called "iTunes." If your music is in that iTunes folder as well (but it will be in a sub-folder called "iTunes library" - then just copy the whole iTunes folder across.

.XML/.itl

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