When we talk about media centers, it is possible that the first one that comes to mind is Kodi, as it is the most popular and used. Among its competitors, it is closely followed by Plex, which has the possibility of sharing our library on several devices by simply installing the application and entering the password on each device. To be able to do this in Kodi, it will be necessary to use another similar program such as Emby that also has a client-server model.
Emby is a free and open source media center application. With it we can play music and video, as well as view photos. Likewise, it can work as an IPTV streaming app and also allows you to log in to streaming services as well as play via Chromecast to other devices. It also has a DLNA server to play multimedia content, it has live video channels and it allows libraries to be synchronized with mobile clients.
This application, despite being a direct competitor of Kodi, also allows them to work together, since it has a client-server model that we are going to benefit from in order to be able to synchronize the Kodi multimedia library with other devices. For this you will need to configure your server, install some additional plugins and finally integrate Emby within Kodi. Although it may seem like a complex process, the truth is that it is not as complicated as it may seem at first. This means that it can be carried out by all types of users. So that nobody gets lost, we tell you the whole process step by step.
Download and set up Emby
To begin, we must start the program’s server so that it becomes the “backend” of the multimedia library, replacing Kodi’s own. In addition, the service module will also synchronize the viewing status of a video between different devices. So, the first thing is to download Emby from its website, being available for Windows, Linux and macOS, as well as for NAS devices.
When installing the program and to make the server configuration as simple as possible, it is recommended that it be done on the same hard drive or storage location where the multimedia files are located. Furthermore, if we prefer, we can also add network addresses if we wish.
When we run Emby for the first time, a window will open in our web browser and we must go through several initial configuration screens, where we enter the language, our name and password until we reach the “Setup Media Library” screen and we will click on the button “NewLibrary” .
On the next screen, we give the new library a name , select the content type, and choose the folders we want to add. This is a process that we must repeat for each folder that we want to add. For example, one folder for video, another for music, another for books, etc. Also, we need to make sure that the download images and metadata option is checked. Once finished, click “OK” and on the next screen click “Next” to continue.
We will now arrive at the “Configure Remote Access” screen. Here, we need to make sure to check the checkbox next to “Enable automatic port mapping” and click “Next”. All that remains is to accept the conditions of use and press “Finish” to finish.
Install additional plugins
Before adding Emby to Kodi, it is recommended (although not mandatory) to install a series of plugins on the server that will help us make the process faster and offer better synchronization.
It is recommended to install “Auto-Box Set” , since it is in charge of automatically organizing all the movies in our library into collections, for which it uses the data from the themoviedb portal. org. And we can also install “Trakt” that supervises everything we are seeing and is in charge of synchronizing the progress of the series on all devices.
To do this, from the server window in the web browser, press the “Menu” button represented by three bars located at the top left and select “Settings”.
In the new window we find several options available. We only have to scroll to the bottom of the Advanced section and select “Plugins” .
Here we click on the Catalog tab and in the “Best Plugins” section we will find both Auto-Box Set and Trakt. We only have to click on them and click on the Install button. This will install the plugin in a matter of seconds, so all that remains is to restart the server for the changes to take effect.
Add Emby to Kodi
For the installation of the Emby add-on for Kodi, the same process is carried out as for any other add-on. Therefore, the first thing will be to download the Emby repository before starting. We must download the “EmbyCon Kodi” file, which is available in both stable and beta versions. To say that this plugin is compatible with the latest version of the multimedia center, Matrix 19, so it will be necessary to have it updated to be able to install it. Repositories compatible with previous versions are no longer available.
Once we have the copy, we open Kodi and from its main page click on the icon with a gear symbol.
Then click on the “Add-ons” section.
On the next screen we find several options available. On this first occasion, click on the “Install from a .zip file” option.
Finally, we select the downloaded file and the installation will only take a few seconds. Since Kodi’s navigation method is not exactly the most visually beautiful, it is recommended to have the downloaded file in an easily accessible place. Also, before we continue, we need to make sure that the Emby server that we installed earlier is running in the browser.
Now we return to the Kodi home page and repeat the previous steps, clicking on the gear icon and the “Add-ons” section. On the next screen, this time we click on “Install from repository” .
Then click on “Install Video Add-ons”. This will make the new plugin automatically detect the Emby server, we go into it and install it.
From now on Kodi will automatically detect the Emby server and ask us for permission to use it. To log in we will only have to click on the user that appears at the top of the window.
Now we just have to wait while Kodi scans and imports our library from Emby. This process will take a long time as more content is added, so please be patient while it finishes.