Calibre Web Automated

This is a follow-up to my post about setting up Calibre book library on my local server. I found a better way!

This post is a part of my Homelab Series. See the index here.

CWA Installation

Calibre Web Automated is the final (so far) form of modernizing the OG book management app, Calibre. It runs in docker and it has tons of QOL improvements.

---
secrets:
  hardcover-api:
    file: /home/pe8er/.secrets/hardcover
services:
    calibre-web-automated:
        image: crocodilestick/calibre-web-automated:latest
        container_name: calibre-web-automated
        secrets:
    	    - hardcover-api
        environment:
            - PUID=1000
            - PGID=1000
            - TZ=Europe/Warsaw
            - HARDCOVER_TOKEN=/run/secrets/hardcover-api
        volumes:
            - /home/pe8er/docker/cwa:/config
            - /home/pe8er/Downloads/Completed:/cwa-book-ingest
            - /mnt/ssd-sandisk/CalibreLibrary:/calibre-library
        ports:
            - 8083:8083 
        restart: unless-stopped

Default login credentials:

• Username: admin
• Password: admin123

Post Install

1. Disable password requirements: Basic Configuration → Security Settings →  User Password Policy
2. Change admin password
3. Enable uploads: Basic Configuration → Feature Configuration → Enable Uploads
4. Enable Kobo and Hardcover sync: same panel as above
5. Enable Kobo integration

Calibre Downloader (aka Shelfmark aka Litfinder)

This apps lets me search and download books from annas-archive.org, and adds them to CWA automatically.

1. Make a folder for it:

mkdir /home/pe8er/docker/cwa-downloader
cd /home/pe8er/docker/cwa-downloader

1. Get the docker-compose.yml:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/calibrain/shelfmark/main/compose/docker-compose.yml

services:
  calibre-web-automated-book-downloader:
    image: ghcr.io/calibrain/shelfmark:latest
    # Uncomment to build the image from the Dockerfile for local testing changes.
    # Remember to comment out the image line above.
    #build: .
    container_name: shelfmark
    environment:
      TZ: Europe/Warsaw
      UID: 1000
      GID: 100
    ports:
      - 8084:8084
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - /home/pe8er/Downloads/Books:/cwa-book-ingest
      - /mnt/ssd-internal/Audiobooks:/Audiobooks
      - /home/pe8er/docker/cwa-downloader:/config

1. Start the service:

docker compose up -d

1. Access the web interface at http://192.168.1.199:8084

Nice! Downloading works well and books show up in Calibre automatically. Next step:

Kobo Integration

There is a way to seamlessly display Calibre library on Kobo e-readers. It works very well and it’s pretty damn easy to do!

1. Connect Kobo to computer via USB-C.
2. Open CWA -> Account dropdown -> Admin -> Kobo Sync Token -> Create / View

3. Open .kobo/Kobo/Kobo eReader.conf and add the generated token to it:

   api_endpoint=http://192.168.1.199:8083/kobo/<hash>

4. Hit “Force Full Kobo Sync”
5. Bob’s your uncle!

Mousehole

And there’s this.

services:
  mousehole:
    image: tmmrtn/mousehole:latest
    network_mode: "container:transmission-openvpn"
    environment:
      MOUSEHOLE_AUTH_PASSWORD: [PASSWORD]
      TZ: Europe/Warsaw
    volumes:
      - mousehole:/home/pe8er/docker/mousehole
    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  mousehole: