How to Change Write Permissions for Emby Mounted Directories in ZimaOS

Background

After adding media or backup folders from a hard drive to Emby in ZimaOS, Emby may only have read access, even when the folders are mounted correctly. This usually happens when the host directory’s ownership and permissions do not grant write access to the UID/GID used by Emby.

This tutorial explains how to identify the UID/GID Emby runs under and manually adjust permissions on the corresponding host directories.

What This Tutorial Helps Resolve

The following issues caused by insufficient write permissions:

Emby can read and play media but cannot save NFO files, posters, or other metadata to the media directory.
Backups fail because Emby cannot write to the specified backup directory.
A Permission denied error appears when accessing or writing to mounted directories.

How to Change the Permissions

1. Find the Directory to Modify

Go to Emby → Manage → Mount. The Host field on the left shows the actual directory on ZimaOS, while the Container field on the right shows the path used inside the Emby container.

Emby mount settings highlighting the Host paths for EmbyMedia and EmbyBackups

As shown in the screenshot above, the directories to modify are:

/media/HDD-Storage/EmbyMedia
/media/HDD-Storage/EmbyBackups

Here, “host” refers to these two specific paths, not the entire AppData or Media directory.

Host terminal showing EmbyMedia and EmbyBackups owned by root with 755 permissions

As shown in the screenshot, both EmbyMedia and EmbyBackups are owned by root with 755 permissions, meaning only root has write access. If Emby runs as a different user, it cannot save NFO files, posters, or backups to these directories.

2. Identify the UID/GID Used by Emby

Run the following command in the ZimaOS host terminal or an SSH session:

docker ps

Find the Emby container name, then run the following command, replacing emby with the actual name:

docker top emby -eo user,pid,uid,gid,cmd

Locate the process containing EmbyServer and note its UID and GID.

Emby container processes with the EmbyServer process UID 1000 and GID 100 highlighted

3. Change Directory Ownership and Write Permissions

Assuming Emby’s UID is 1000 and GID is 100, run:

sudo chown -R 1000:100 "/media/HDD-Storage/EmbyMedia"
sudo chown -R 1000:100 "/media/HDD-Storage/EmbyBackups"

sudo chmod -R u+rwX "/media/HDD-Storage/EmbyMedia"
sudo chmod -R u+rwX "/media/HDD-Storage/EmbyBackups"

Replace 1000:100 with the actual UID/GID you found, and ensure the paths match your Host configuration. These commands change ownership and permissions for both directories and their contents. If other applications share these directories, consider their access requirements as well.

4. Verify in Emby

Try saving NFO files, downloading posters, or running a backup again. Permission changes usually take effect immediately, so there is no need to reinstall Emby.