Kodi’s library feature lets you browse your videos in a much friendlier and more visually appealing form. Kodi fetches cover artwork and descriptions for your videos, including more readable movie and show titles. It’s simple to set up, and Kodi does most of the work automatically.
In this tutorial you will learn:
- How to Add a New File Source
- How to Update an Existing Source
- How to Add an Information Scraper
Software Requirements and Conventions Used
| Category | Requirements, Conventions or Software Version Used |
|---|---|
| System | Any distribution running Kodi |
| Software | Kodi |
| Other | Privileged access to your Linux system as root or via the sudo command. |
| Conventions |
# – requires given linux commands to be executed with root privileges either directly as a root user or by use of sudo command$ – requires given linux commands to be executed as a regular non-privileged user |
How to Add a New File Source
The easiest way to add a set of videos to your library comes when you’re adding a new file source to Kodi. It’s naturally part of that process. However, if you have existing sources that you haven’t added to the library, that’s alright too. The next section will cover that.
Start by opening up Kodi, if you haven’t already, and selecting Videos from the main menu.
Under Videos, choose Files from the menu. Then, you’ll see a list of existing sources. At the bottom of the list, choose Add videos….
A new window will open to let you set up your new file source. Press Browse in the upper right. You’ll be given a list of directories to look through for your files. When you find the one with your videos, press Ok.
Back on the previous window, give your new source a name, and press Ok.
From here, jump down to the third section for adding a scraper.
How to Update an Existing Source
Open up Kodi. From the main menu, select Videos.
Under Videos, choose Files. The files menu will show you a list of your existing sources. Right click on the source that you want to edit. A menu will pop open. Choose Edit source.
The same window that you saw when you added your source will open. As long as you don’t want to modify anything else here, just press Ok.
Next, the “Set content” window will appear again. Move on to the next section for the rest.
How to Add an Information Scraper
With the Set content window open, look for the This directory contains option. It should be set to None by default. Select the option, and choose whether the directory contains Movies or TV shows.
The rest of the settings will populate from there. Unless you’re sure of what you’re doing, leave them alone, and press Ok.
Now, Kodi will get started scanning the contents of your directory and populating the library. It will automatically pull information about each video from the Internet, and use it to set up the library with images, descriptions, and additional information. This whole process will take some time, so be patient. When it’s finished, browsing your videos will reveal the new library entries.
Conclusion
You can repeat this process as many times as you like to add more videos to your Kodi library. Adding multiple sources of movies or TV Shows will combine them in the library, making it much easier to navigate and watch you’re looking for.
