Updating Media Indexes on Synology NAS

DSM 7

Scenario

Synology Photos is not showing some image files and/or some directories within the /Photo or /Photos directories.

Resolution

First try renaming the directory, e.g. missing-photos to missing-photos-a. Then refresh the view in Synology Photos. This usually works to force Synology Photos to recognize a missing directory's existence.

If photos are still missing, re-index the photos directory: Synology Photos > Account > Settings > (choose between Personal or Shared tabs) > Indexing > click the Re-Index button.

SP will display "indexing..." next to the button. Re-indexing may take a while. I have not found any articles describing a way to watch the progress of the indexing. The only indication that the process has completed is waiting for the "indexing..." message to go away.

DSM 6 and previous (ARCHIVED)

The following information refers to previous versions of DSM (prior to DSM 7) and are saved for archival purposes

Goal

Files are saved to a Windows 7 directory.

A scheduled task copies those files to a remote NAS drive.

A task runs on NAS that re-indexes its media nightly (making it available to Photo Station).

How to re-index NAS so the files are available in Photo Station before the nightly indexing.

Log on to NAS with SSH

See Enable SSH on Synology NAS

Re-index media files

TODO: Research the differences between command line re-indexing and re-indexing through the DSM Control Panel. I think they do the same thing. If that's the case, using the DSM is easier.

Command line

SSH to NAS server

usage: 
    Add:    synoindex -a filename
    Delete: synoindex -d filename
    Add folder:    synoindex -A folder
    Delete folder: synoindex -D folder
    Rename/move file/folder:    synoindex -N newfullpath oldfullpath
    Update Photo Images:        synoindex -U photo
    Get from DB:         synoindex -g filename -t [video|music|photo|playlist]

Additionally, this command will re-index a specific media table:

synoindex -R [video|music|photo|playlist|all]

synoindex -h for all command line options.

synoindex can be used to retrieve metadata from indexed files.

Synology DSM

• Login to the DSM with an account with administrator priviledges.
• Control Panel > System > Media Indexing > Media Indexing tab > Re-index button.
• It will report Indexing media files, which is a slow process.

Checking on the current indexes

Use the postgreSQL interactive terminal:

DiskStation> sudo psql mediaserver postgres

To display a list of tables:

mediaserver=# \dt
         List of relations
 Schema |   Name    | Type  | Owner 
--------+-----------+-------+-------
 public | directory | table | admin
 public | music     | table | admin
 public | photo     | table | admin
 public | playlist  | table | admin
 public | video     | table | admin
(5 rows)

To check the current number of indexed files:

select count(1) as music_count from music;
select count(1) as photo_count from photo;
select count(1) as video_count from video;

To view the last file indexed:

select * from photo where id = (select max(id) from photo);

To quit type

\q