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Syncthing: A continuous file synchronization program

syncthing.net

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Re: Syncthing: A continuous file synchronization program

#41

While SyncThjng might be encrypted, it’s yet another port or server that’s open. We need ubiquitous private networks, such as wire guard, zerotier, or the buggy back-to-my-mac.

You can disable discovery and hardcode clients to connect to each other using hostnames that resolve to whatever private IPs you have.

Re: Syncthing: A continuous file synchronization program

#42
post #34
post #20

Best sync software in my view. The only downside is that there is no good iOS app. I think the developers made the right decision focusing the software on peer to peer sync (i.e., not expanding to nearby “cloud features”: backup, photos, videos, office, etc).

It also phones home by default unless you turn it off (via crash and usage reporting), and in the default vendor-provided state grants arbitrary remote code execution ability to the developer (via unattended auto update which is on by default). Fortunately most distro packages and docker containers disable this dangerous behavior

It also connects to many "Discovery" servers on the internet in its default configuration, which you don't need enabled if you're just syncing between machines on an internal network.

Re: Syncthing: A continuous file synchronization program

#43
post #20

Best sync software in my view. The only downside is that there is no good iOS app. I think the developers made the right decision focusing the software on peer to peer sync (i.e., not expanding to nearby “cloud features”: backup, photos, videos, office, etc).

Yea, I ended up using an IOS SSH app to a server and interact with the synced folder. Not perfect, but works.

Re: Syncthing: A continuous file synchronization program

#44
post #6

Syncthing is excellent. I’ve used it for years to keep my development folders synced between mac, linux and windows, and except for some initial figuring out of ignore patterns and the occasional hiccup with filenames that windows can’t handle it has been great at doing what it needs to and getting out of my way. (I of course also use git, but syncthing lets me choose when I push while still having all my work on all…

i always heard it fucks up with git repos?

I use it to store most of my private git repos and have been doing so for years now without a single issue. I do this:

    cd ~/Sync/git
    mkdir reponame
    cd reponame
    git init --bare
    cd ~/work
    git clone ~/Sync/git/reponame
I guess this could break if I do a push and then shut my laptop lid before it syncs, and then do some more work on my desktop, push, and then go back to my laptop. That hasn't happened though. If it did, it should be trivial to fix.

There was some other comment near here about ignoring .git directories. I guess they're using it to store the working directory rather than just the repository, as there is no .git directory stored in ~/Sync/ in my situation.

Re: Syncthing: A continuous file synchronization program

#46
post #20

Best sync software in my view. The only downside is that there is no good iOS app. I think the developers made the right decision focusing the software on peer to peer sync (i.e., not expanding to nearby “cloud features”: backup, photos, videos, office, etc).

Is there a way to leverage this software and deploy something like a self hosted Google drive that also allows us to generate public links for sharing ?

Re: Syncthing: A continuous file synchronization program

#47

While syncthing is excellent and I use it backup photos from my phone to my private cloud, it can sometimes glitch and delete files. I haven't got to the root cause yet, so I can't tell you what to do, but there's a way to recover your data in case of accidental deletion by syncthing. Make sure you enable "file versioning" on both your clients and server. I use the "trashcan" option. So in case a file is deleted, syn…

Yikes. Nextcloud used to do that to me. I'd love to find an alternative, but I don't want to go back to those dark days.

Re: Syncthing: A continuous file synchronization program

#49
post #20

Best sync software in my view. The only downside is that there is no good iOS app. I think the developers made the right decision focusing the software on peer to peer sync (i.e., not expanding to nearby “cloud features”: backup, photos, videos, office, etc).

which tool besides syncthing can do automatic backups of my phone? by automatic i mean copy photos and other data to a second device of my choosing as soon as they are created.

the primary use for syncthing on my phone is to make sure data is backed up immediately.

i have yet to find an app that has the resilience and flexibility of syncthing for this purpose.

apart from that the primary issue i have with syncthing is that the app on a device can not tell me if all data in a particular folder is fully copied to the other device. it only tells me if all local folders are complete.

it also gets confusing when you have more than a few devices and sync between all of them. i recently discovered that i had a set up ABC but A and C were not connected. i never noticed because A and C were always in sync, until device B died. but it took me some time to notice that because i didn't realize that i missed to connect A to C directly.

it would be nice to have some way to get an overview of the whole graph to see what syncs to where.

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