| | 1 | <!DOCTYPE html> |
| | 2 | <meta charset="utf-8"> |
| | 3 | |
| | 4 | # Install and configure `syncthing` |
| | 5 | |
| | 6 | Created by [Steven Baltakatei Sandoval][bktei_2020_homepage] on |
| | 7 | 2020-04-27T14:37Z under a [CC BY-SA 4.0][cc_20131125_bysa] license and |
| | 8 | last updated on 2020-04-27T17:59Z. |
| | 9 | |
| | 10 | ## 1. Summary |
| | 11 | |
| | 12 | Syncthing is a decentralized file-synchronization program that permits |
| | 13 | sharing of files over the Internet with computers that have been |
| | 14 | configured to trust one another. |
| | 15 | |
| | 16 | ## 2. Instructions |
| | 17 | |
| | 18 | The following are instructions for installing Syncthing onto a |
| | 19 | GNU/Linux Debian 10 machine. |
| | 20 | |
| | 21 | ### 2.1. Install `syncthing` via `apt-get` |
| | 22 | |
| | 23 | Update the local repository package lists with `$ sudo apt-get update`. |
| | 24 | |
| | 25 | Install the `syncthing` package with `$ sudo apt-get install syncthing`. |
| | 26 | |
| | 27 | Note: As of 2020-04-27, Debian 10 Buster uses Syncthing version `1.0.0`. |
| | 28 | |
| | 29 | ### 2.2. Enable automatic startup via `systemd` service. |
| | 30 | |
| | 31 | Syncthing can be started automatically via `systemd` as a system |
| | 32 | service upon boot or a user service upon login. If `syncthing` was |
| | 33 | installed from the Debian 10 repository (ex: via `apt-get`), then the |
| | 34 | necessary service files (ex: `syncthing@.service` ) should already be |
| | 35 | installed. If not, see the detailed autostart instructions for where |
| | 36 | to download a copy of the service |
| | 37 | files.<sup>[[1]](#syncthing_20200331_autostart)</sup> |
| | 38 | |
| | 39 | #### 2.2.a. Enable automatic startup via `systemd` upon boot (system service). |
| | 40 | |
| | 41 | For a system service, identify the user under which to run |
| | 42 | `syncthing`. Even though `syncthing` will be run upon startup (without |
| | 43 | needing a user to login first), files cannot be created or modified by |
| | 44 | `syncthing` with permissions of a specified user. In this example, |
| | 45 | `baltakatei` will be the user. This means an appropriate directory for |
| | 46 | a `syncthing` shared folder would be `/home/baltakatei/Sync/`. |
| | 47 | |
| | 48 | Alternatively, if `syncthing` were running as a headless server where |
| | 49 | no user is expected to directly modify files in the server's file |
| | 50 | system, then a dedicated dummy user named `syncthing-user` might be |
| | 51 | appropriate. |
| | 52 | |
| | 53 | The commands to create a `systemd` system service under user |
| | 54 | `baltakatei` are: |
| | 55 | |
| | 56 | $ sudo systemctl enable syncthing@baltakatei.service |
| | 57 | $ sudo systemctl start syncthing@baltakatei.service |
| | 58 | |
| | 59 | The following notifications may appear while running these commands: |
| | 60 | |
| | 61 | $ systemctl enable syncthing@baltakatei.service |
| | 62 | Created symlink /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/syncthing@baltakatei.service → /lib/systemd/system/syncthing@.service. |
| | 63 | |
| | 64 | The status of the new system service can be verified via: |
| | 65 | |
| | 66 | $ systemctl status syncthing@baltakatei.service |
| | 67 | |
| | 68 | The resulting status data will resemble: |
| | 69 | |
| | 70 | $ systemctl status syncthing@baltakatei.service |
| | 71 | ● syncthing@baltakatei.service - Syncthing - Open Source Continuous File Synchronization for baltakatei |
| | 72 | Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/syncthing@.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) |
| | 73 | Active: active (running) since Mon 2020-04-27 09:01:00 PDT; 3min 34s ago |
| | 74 | Docs: man:syncthing(1) |
| | 75 | Main PID: 2799 (syncthing) |
| | 76 | Tasks: 23 (limit: 1132) |
| | 77 | Memory: 45.3M |
| | 78 | CGroup: /system.slice/system-syncthing.slice/syncthing@baltakatei.service |
| | 79 | └─2799 /usr/bin/syncthing -no-browser -no-restart -logflags=0 |
| | 80 | |
| | 81 | #### 2.2.b. Enable automatic startup via `systemd` upon login (user service). |
| | 82 | |
| | 83 | For a user service, identify which user under which to run |
| | 84 | `syncthing`. In this example, `baltakatei` will be the user. This |
| | 85 | means an appropriate directory for a `syncthing` shared folder would |
| | 86 | be `/home/baltakatei/Sync/`. |
| | 87 | |
| | 88 | The commands to create a `systemd` user service under user |
| | 89 | `baltakatei` are: |
| | 90 | |
| | 91 | $ systemctl --user enable syncthing.service |
| | 92 | $ systemctl --user start syncthing.service |
| | 93 | |
| | 94 | The following notifications may appear while running these commands: |
| | 95 | |
| | 96 | Created symlink /home/baltakatei/.config/systemd/user/default.target.wants/syncthing.service → /usr/lib/systemd/user/syncthing.service. |
| | 97 | |
| | 98 | The status of the new user service can be verified via: |
| | 99 | |
| | 100 | $ systemctl --user status syncthing.service |
| | 101 | |
| | 102 | The resulting status data will resemble: |
| | 103 | |
| | 104 | $ systemctl --user status syncthing.service |
| | 105 | ● syncthing.service - Syncthing - Open Source Continuous File Synchronization |
| | 106 | Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/user/syncthing.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled) |
| | 107 | Active: active (running) since Mon 2020-04-27 09:57:08 PDT; 14s ago |
| | 108 | Docs: man:syncthing(1) |
| | 109 | Main PID: 3284 (syncthing) |
| | 110 | CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service/syncthing.service |
| | 111 | └─3284 /usr/bin/syncthing -no-browser -no-restart -logflags=0 |
| | 112 | |
| | 113 | ### 2.3. Configure `syncthing` |
| | 114 | |
| | 115 | Some initial tasks should be performed with a new `syncthing` instance |
| | 116 | in order to configure it to work with other `syncthing` instances. |
| | 117 | |
| | 118 | a. Connect to the Syncthing **WebUI** |
| | 119 | b. Determine the instance's **Device ID**. |
| | 120 | c. Add a **remote device**. |
| | 121 | d. Create a **shared folder**. |
| | 122 | |
| | 123 | #### 2.3.a. Connect to the **WebUI** |
| | 124 | |
| | 125 | Syncthing may be configured via a "WebUI", which is a configuration |
| | 126 | page accessible by a web browser such as Firefox. The address that |
| | 127 | must be entered into a web browser's address bar may be: |
| | 128 | |
| | 129 | http://localhost:8384 |
| | 130 | http://127.0.0.1:8384 |
| | 131 | |
| | 132 | If the `syncthing` instance is running on a headless machine |
| | 133 | accessible only via `ssh`, then the WebUI may be accessed by setting |
| | 134 | up an "SSH tunnel". One end of the tunnel will be the headless machine |
| | 135 | and the other end will be a machine equipped with a keyboard, monitor, |
| | 136 | and a web browser. In order to establish an `ssh` tunnel with a remote |
| | 137 | headless machine's `syncthing` isntance, run one of the following |
| | 138 | commands (both are equivalent). |
| | 139 | |
| | 140 | $ ssh -L 9999:localhost:8384 username@yourserver |
| | 141 | $ ssh -L 127.0.0.1:9999:127.0.0.1:8384 username@yourserver |
| | 142 | |
| | 143 | Then, open your web browser and enter `http://localhost:9999` into the |
| | 144 | address bar. This will cause the WebUI of the `syncthing` instance |
| | 145 | running on the remote machine `yourserver` to appear. |
| | 146 | |
| | 147 | NOTE: The details of setting up machines to connect via `ssh` are not |
| | 148 | described here. |
| | 149 | |
| | 150 | #### 2.3.b. Determine the **Device ID** |
| | 151 | |
| | 152 | Upon setting up a new `syncthing` instance on a new device, a unique |
| | 153 | identifier is generated (derived from the hash of the instance's |
| | 154 | public key). This identifier is called a "**Device ID**". This ID is |
| | 155 | what one `syncthing` instance uses to connect to another. The ID may |
| | 156 | be found by selecting the "Actions" menu at the top right of the WebUI |
| | 157 | webpage and selecting "Show ID" from the dropdown menu. A 64-character |
| | 158 | string of numbers and capitalized letters will appear as well as a QR |
| | 159 | code encoding this same string. |
| | 160 | |
| | 161 | #### 2.3.c. Add a **remote device** |
| | 162 | |
| | 163 | Once you have a `syncthing` instance's Device ID, then you can enter |
| | 164 | it into another instance in order to establish a connection between |
| | 165 | the two instances through which files in shared folders may be |
| | 166 | synchronized. |
| | 167 | |
| | 168 | A "Remote Device" (a remote `syncthing` instance) may be added via the |
| | 169 | WebUI by clicking on the "Add Remote Device" button and entering the |
| | 170 | Device ID in the "General" tab. Shared folders may be specified in the |
| | 171 | "Sharing" tab. The Device IDs of `syncthing` instances already |
| | 172 | detected on the local network may already be populated in the General |
| | 173 | tab but if you care about the security of your data you should |
| | 174 | double-check that the Device ID matches before clicking "Save". |
| | 175 | |
| | 176 | #### 2.3.d. Create a **shared folder**. |
| | 177 | |
| | 178 | The "Shared Folder" fulfills the primary function of `syncthing`: |
| | 179 | synchronizing file changes of specified directories between different |
| | 180 | machines across the internet. |
| | 181 | |
| | 182 | You may create a "Shared Folder" by clicking the "Add Folder" |
| | 183 | button. A window called "Add Folder" should appear with four tabs: |
| | 184 | "General", "Sharing", "File Versioning", and "Ignore Patterns". |
| | 185 | |
| | 186 | The following fields of the "General" tab should be populated as |
| | 187 | follows: |
| | 188 | |
| | 189 | * **Folder Label**: A label that appears in the WebUI. I would suggest |
| | 190 | something like `username_PURPOSE` since this label is suggested to |
| | 191 | Remote Devices when a folder is first shared. |
| | 192 | |
| | 193 | * **Folder ID**: A unique alphanumeric string that is automatically |
| | 194 | generated by `syncthing`. You shouldn't have to change this. |
| | 195 | |
| | 196 | * **Folder Path**: The path within the file system of the machine in |
| | 197 | which `syncthing` is running. For GNU/Linux Debian machines, I would |
| | 198 | suggest something like: `~/Sync/username_PURPOSE` which should |
| | 199 | auto-expand into `/home/username/Sync/username_PURPOSE`. |
| | 200 | |
| | 201 | You may also specify with which Remote Devices to share this new |
| | 202 | Shared Folder by clicking on the "Sharing" tab. |
| | 203 | |
| | 204 | In the "File Versioning" tab, you may specify rules for keeping local |
| | 205 | versions of files in this sparticular Shared Folder. By default, no |
| | 206 | versions are kept. |
| | 207 | |
| | 208 | In the "Ignore Patterns" tab, you may specify rules for ignoring files |
| | 209 | based upon their file names. By default, no ignore patterns are |
| | 210 | specified. |
| | 211 | |
| | 212 | ## 3. References |
| | 213 | - <a name="syncthing_20200331_autostart">1.</a> ["Starting Syncthing Automatically"][1]. Date: 2020-03-31. [syncthing.net](https://syncthing.net). Date Accessed: 2020-04-27. [Archive link](https://web.archive.org/web/20200414114635/https://docs.syncthing.net/users/autostart.html). Archive date: 2017-04-14. |
| | 214 | |
| | 215 | [1]: https://docs.syncthing.net/users/autostart.html |
| | 216 | [bktei_2020_homepage]: http://baltakatei.com |
| | 217 | [cc_20131125_bysa]: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ |
| | 218 | |
| | 219 | |
| | 220 | <hr> |
| | 221 | <p xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#">This work by <a rel="cc:attributionURL" href="http://baltakatei.com"><span rel="cc:attributionName">Steven Baltakatei Sandoval</span></a> is licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=ccchooser" target="_blank" rel="license noopener noreferrer" style="display: inline-block;">CC BY-SA 4.0</a><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/?ref=ccchooser"><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left: 3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;opacity:0.7;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc_icon.svg" /><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left: 3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;opacity:0.7;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc-by_icon.svg" /><img style="height:22px!important;margin-left: 3px;vertical-align:text-bottom;opacity:0.7;" src="https://search.creativecommons.org/static/img/cc-sa_icon.svg" /></a></p> |
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