Questions regarding Consolidating Library

[DeusRom]

Hello,
I have just consolidated my iTunes library to my external HD. I need to free up some space on my iBook and most of my HD is dedicated to music. I plan on having two libraries one on my external HD for most of my music and have that one synced with my iPod, then I'll have a second library on my iBook that would only have a few GBs of music.

I'm very cautious about this because I've worked over a year to rate many many songs so I don't want to open iTunes until I'm sure that it won't mess anything up. So I guess I better get to my question. In my /Music/iTunes directory there are several files that have been left behind. These files are

"Album Artwork"
"iTunes library"
"Itunes Music Library.xml"
"Previous iTunes Libraries"
"Temp File"
"Temp File 1"
"Temp File 2"

What are these files for? Is it normal that they stick around after I consolidate my iTunes library to an external HD? If I want to start my new library on my iBook in the same directory as my previous library do I just push option while starting up iTunes and tell it to put the new library in my /Music/iTunes directory? Will that harm any of the files I mentioned above?

I am running the iTunes 7.0.2 and OS 10.4.8. Thanks in advance for any assistance you can offer.

[Jesse Hollington]

These files are part of the core iTunes library and it's normal for them to be left in your local "Music" folder after doing a library consolidation.

The "Consolidate Library" function moves the media content to a new location, but the iTunes library database and other support files still remain in their default location under your local user's "Music" folder.

With iTunes 7, you can choose a different location for these files by holding down the OPT key when starting iTunes. iTunes will prompt you for a new library database folder, and you can just specify the parent folder that contains these (the equivalent of your "Music/iTunes" folder wherever you've moved it to).

The "iTunes Library" file is key to all of this... This is your music library database, and contains all of your playlists, ratings, and playcounts. You do not want to lose this file, and it's important to keep in mind that it does not get stored in your "iTunes Music Folder" location (as specified under iTunes->Preferences->Advanced). Unless you manually specify another location by holding down the OPT key while starting iTunes, this file will always be placed (or looked for) in your Music/iTunes folder.

[DeusRom]

Super, I guess I was worried about nothing. Although I would like to be sure that if I make my new iTunes library in /music/itunes it is not going to overwrite or effect my library on my external drive.

Does the "iTunes Music Library.xml" file contain all the information for multiple library locations?

Thanks again!

[Jesse Hollington]

The XML file is just a version of the iTunes Library that is in an open XML format so that other third-party programs can read your iTunes library more easily. If your main library database is ever corrupted, it can also be used to rebuild the primary iTunes library, although some data is lost in this case, such as rating and playcount information.

In your case, your external hard drive only contains the media content, so connecting it to another iTunes library won't actually hurt anything. You just import the files into a new iTunes library on the new computer by using File->Add to Library and then pointing at the external hard drive. You'll want to make sure that the setting to "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" under iTunes->Preferences->Advanced is turned OFF, otherwise iTunes will attempt to copy all of your music files to your local hard drive's iTunes Music Folder (as also defined under iTunes->Preferences->Advanced).

[DeusRom]

Okay, I have all my music on my external HD and I have started my second iTunes library on my iBook. When I hold down option while iTunes is loading it asks for me to "Choose Library". I then direct it towards my iTunes Music Library.xml. It then loads the iBook library instead of the one on my external HD? I'm not sure what I messed up because I did create the new library in a different folder. I did back up everything in my itunes folder before this happened. What should I do? Many thanks for your support.

[Jesse Hollington]

The issue is that you have to point it to the directory that contains your "iTunes Library" (ITL) file.

Basically, what you need to do is to copy the Music/iTunes folder from your iBook to the external hard drive, and then use the OPT key when starting iTunes to point your library database to that location.

Note that if the goal is only to free up space on your iBook, there's really no reason to use two separate library databases.... iTunes will still happily run with your music on an external hard drive, even when that drive is not connected... You'll get small exclamation mark symbols beside any songs that cannot be located while the external hard drive is disconnected, but iTunes will continue to work just fine.

This is, in fact, what I used to do with my Powerbook. I just consolidated my library to an external hard drive, by basically following the steps in Moving your iTunes Library to a New Hard Drive. I then copied/left some music files in my local iTunes Music Folder (under Music/iTunes/iTunes Music) for when I was disconnected from the external hard drive.

Basically, in this configuration you would always use the same library database, and iTunes will "fall back" to the local default music folder if it cannot find the external hard drive when you start iTunes up. So, while disconnected, any music it can find in it's normal default location will still be useable, and any new music will be downloaded to the local (iBook HD) iTunes Music Folder. When you later connect the external hard drive again, you just restart iTunes and it will go back to using the music folder on the external HD. You can then just do a "Consolidate Library" to move any of the new music files that you may have downloaded/imported onto the external hard drive.

This may be far easier than switching back and forth between two library databases.

[DeusRom]

That makes much more sense. My only issue then is what will happen when I plug in my iPod and the external HD is not connected? Will it remove the files that are not located? Will I just have to be careful of when I plug it in from now on?

[Jesse Hollington]

Actually, no, you'll be fine to sync. iTunes will never remove a file from the iPod as long as it's still listed in the library, regardless of whether the underlying file can be found or not (although obviously you can't add a new file to the iPod unless it's available).

I travel frequently, and when I kept my iTunes library on my Powerbook, I used to leave most of it behind on my external hard drive at home. However, I would still sync my iPod while on-the-road to update podcasts, or add newly downloaded/imported content. The iPod would sync fine, and ratings and playcounts will even be updated in the iPod library database. You can even setup new playlists or do anything else as long as it can be done in the database only and doesn't require access to the physical file.

When I returned home, I just connected the external hard drive and ran a quick "Consolidate Library" to copy any newly-downloaded content (podcasts, new iTunes Store purchases, or CDs I had imported) to the external hard drive, so that the primary data was always on the external drive. I could then delete any items I no longer needed on the local hard drive to free up space as required (or simply leave them there for use when the external hard drive wasn't connected).

The only reason I switched away from using this method is that I now have a Mac Mini that functions as a home entertainment system, and it therefore makes more sense to leave my library there and sync my iPod with it from that machine.