Build Calibre Ebook Server
Build Calibre Ebook Server⌗
Introduction⌗
calibre is a free and open source ebook manager that’s well known for its cross-platform desktop application. You can use calibre to manage your ebook library on a single device, but the application also includes a powerful server component. Setting up an ebook server allows your to:
- Access your books from anywhere in the world
- Easily transfer your books to mobile devices
- Share books with your friends and family
Prerequisites⌗
- Step 1 - Downloading and Installing the calibre Content Server
First, install some necessary dependencies
$ sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y libfontconfig libgl1-mesa-glx libegl1 libopengl0
Now download and install the calibre server.
$ wget https://download.calibre-ebook.com/linux-installer.sh
Now execute the script to install calibre
$ sudo sh linux-installer.sh
- Step 2 - Creating a Library and Adding Your First Book
Create a directory that calibre can use as your ebook library
$ mkdir /mnt/inner-disk/calibre-library
Add the book to your new library using the calibredb command
$ calibredb add *.mobi --with-library /mnt/inner-disk/calibre-library
- Step 3 - Running the calibre Content Server and Viewing Your Library
port 8080, which is the default port for calibre.
Run the following command to start the calibre content server:
$ calibre-server /mnt/inner-disk/calibre-library
visit your_server_ip:8080 and you will see the default calibre screen.
- Step 4 - Creating a Service for the calibre Content Server
create a file called calibre-server.service in the directory /etc/systemd/system/
$ sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/calibre-server.service
Add the following configureations, which will start the calibre Content server on boot.
[Unit]
Description=calibre content server
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=sammy
Group=sammy
ExecStart=/opt/calibre/calibre-server /mnt/inner-disk/calibre-library --enable-local-write
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
Enable the service and start it:
$ sudo systemctl enable calibre-server
$ sudo systemctl start calibre-server
Reboot your server:
$ sudo reboot
- Step 5 - Adding User Authentication to the calibre Content Server
First, stop calibre. This will allow us to manipulate calibre’s database directly
$ sudo systemctl stop calibre-server
Start calibre’s user management script
$ calibre-server --manage-users
Reopen calibre-server.service
$ sudo vim /etc/systemd/system/calibre-server.service
To enable authentication, add the --enable-auth flag to the end of the line starting ExecStart.
ExecStart=/opt/calibre/calibre-server /mnt/inner-disk/calibre-library --enable-local-write --enable-auth
Refresh the service daemon to rescan the services files
$ sudo systemctl daemon-reload
$ sudo systemctl start calibre-server
- Step 6 - Automatically Adding Books to Your calibre Library
It can be useful to set up a cron job that watches a specific directory and adds any books it finds to your calibre library. This way, you can download or upload books to this folder and they’ll automatically becomes available via the calibre web interface.
Open your crontab
$ crontab -e
Add the following content
*/5 * * * * calibredb add /mnt/inner-disk/books-to-add-calibre -r --with-library http://localhost:8080#calibre-library && rm -r /mnt/ inner-disk/books-to-add-calibre