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Syncthing ... where are the users? (lemmy.ml)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
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Just installed Syncthing on my Scale server. It looks like it doesn't have users but rather folder IDs that are then used to sync devices. One of the cool features of Nextcloud is the ability to share files with other users. Can this be done with Syncthing?

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[–] 7 points 2 years ago* (16 children)

Syncthing is very, very good at syncing, but I get the sense the developers are very specific about keeping to the core objective. There have been other features that would be nice, like have one device sync and archive old/removed files, that many have asked for but rejected. (There is a way, but it's clunky and sometimes gets out of sync.)

I don't think a cross-user sync solution would ever come to this app. You'll have to create a unique folder and "device" for that.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 years ago (15 children)

    So this is where I'm getting confused. Say I want to share a folder with my wife. We each have a phone: Phone_1 and Phone_2. I need to create two devices (Phone_1 and Phone_2) and 3 folders (my_folder, wife_folder, shared_folder). Phone_1 would sync to my_folder + shared_folder whereas my wifes phone (phone_2) would sync to wife_folder + shared_folder. All shared files would go in shared_folder. Both of us can edit files in the shared_folder?

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  • [–] 10 points 2 years ago (8 children)

    You create a folder on one device and share it with other device. Both can edit files if you set the folder type as "Send & Receive". If you edit the same file at the same time you will end up with 2 copies

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 years ago (7 children)

    Its an unlikely event that both would be editing the same file at the same time. I think I've achieved this. Been messing with Syncthing today. we each have a "shared" folder on our phones and the server has one too. I selected to share with both devices.

    The trick now is when you have a PC with multiple users that want to share that "shared" folder. I need to work that one out ... :-)

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago*

    Oh forgot to add that the last case that you mentioned, where multiple users sharing a PC, and keeping the folder in sync with all, is not straightforward. This needs another always-on (server like) device.

    At least in Windows each user gets a different Syncthing ID. So if you sync the file with an always-on device, the other user can get the update when they come online from that.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (5 children)

    Here one crucial element that needs to be highlighted is Syncthing is decentralised by design. I mean it is different from a server-client way of thinking. It is very much like how git stores content, if you are familiar with it.

    For example, let us say I have 5 devices and there is a folder I want in all my devices kept in sync. Since there is no server, to propagate updates made in one device (let us call it Source Device) to other devices, it has to happen either directly, or indirectly. Here I'm assuming all 5 devices are configured to communicate with each other directly.

    Whenever one of the other 4 devices (Device 1) becomes 'online' at the same time as of Source Device, the sync will happen. This is the direct way. The indirect one is, let us say after the sync happened between Source Device and Device 1, the Source Device goes 'offline', but the Device 1 continues to be 'online', now if Device 2 comes online, the change will be propagated from Device 1 to Device 2.

    Note that the assumption, one device configired with all other devices is not the case, propagation of change has to take a path that similar to indirect way, even if all the devices are simultaneously online.

    This configuration, where each device is configured to communicate with all other, is a pain to maintain, since Syncthing is not designed like a publish-subscribe model. What people usually do is, an always-on device (usually a server) is used as one of the devices that need to be kept in sync. Again, this is not a client server model, but each device is a 'node', and the always-on device is also just another node.

    As you already experienced, it is very easy to get sync conflicts, if a folder is shared between multiple users, because of this decentralised design. In my opinion Syncthing works best for a single user. My use cases are, syncing my notes between pc and mobile, sync files scanned with the mobile to my pc, etc.

    If your case is more focused on multiple users, WebDAV server can be an option. But again it's not straight forward and may not cover all use cases. Depending on what you are trying to achieve, a tool more suitable might be available. For example, if the aim is collaborative development there is Iroh (Still in early stages of development)

    I hope this helps.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 years ago (4 children)

    I actually do have an always on server and I was planning on using it as a client-server type system. I think that the file sharing option is complicated to implement. I tried to launch syncthing in my wifes environment on the laptop and while I get a new ID, when I register it with the server, it complains saying that there are conflicts with the IDs for the device. I wonder if its getting confused by having two IDs against the same IP

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    IP should not cause any issues. IDs are just a hash of certificate used by Syncthing. Can you elaborate a little on the current setup? Device, OS, User, etc. Also if possible can you explain your use case? As I mentioned, Syncthing is very specific to what it can do, so it may not be the best solution for your case.

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 2 years ago (2 children)

    Server is Truenas Scale. Syncthing is running as app. I and wife have it installed on Android phones. We both share a Debian 12 laptop with different logins. We both want to keep respective phone synced with laptop login. We want to have a folder shared on nas where we can exchange files.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    One thing you can try out, if you haven't done already, is configuring 2 different ports for the two users here. GUI has an option to adjust the ports, also you can configure two different services to start depending on the logged in user. I haven't done it myself on Linux, but it looks like people had success. One R*ddit thread for example,

    Syncthing on a multi user Computer

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 years ago*

    Thanks. I'll give this a try over the weekend since it appears to have worked for others. This is something I would have expected the developers to have implemented. Multiuser computers is not that rare ...

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  • [–] 6 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That’s right, all it is is an auto-copy program. It doesn’t host a shared folder like NextCloud; it just saves you the clicks (or commands) of copying your newly-changed files to all the places you want a copy to be.

    If you edit a file on your machine, and your wife edits her copy, you might even find there to be a conflict. (I don’t use Syncthing so I don’t know how it handles this)

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago

    Where do you want to sync the phones to? I assume you have a server where you want to keep these, otherwise my_folder is just your phone's local storage.

    With that in mind what you described is a very straightforward synching configuration. You install it on the server, give it access to the three folders, install it on both phones, and configure it to sync:

    • Phone1 local_folder to Server my_folder
    • Phone1 shared_folder to Server shared_rolder
    • Phone2 local_folder to Server wife_folder
    • Phone2 shared_folder to Server shared_rolder

    Don't understand why you think you need users for that.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Think of it like this:

    • there's a syncthing share
    • you connect any devices you want to that share
    • each device uses a local folder to act as that share
    • the devices need to know each other

    Then, syncthing sorts it all out. You can move a file into the share on phone1, and it'll show up on phone2. Move it out of that share on phone2, and it disappears from phone1. Same deal for any other device connected to that share.

    You can make this all simpler by using the same name for the share and on all folders:

    • A share named Kim-n-Max
    • A folder named /storage/emulated/0/shares/Kim-n-Max on Max's phone
    • A folder named /storage/Kim-n-Max on Kim's phone
    • A folder named c:\Users\Max\Kim-n-Max on Max's computer

    ..all is pretty clear then.

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago*

    You create a physical folder on device one, and in Syncthing create a sync job (which Syncthing calls a folder) and share it to device two, defining how the share works, and Bob's your uncle.

    From syncthing.net:

    Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization program. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time, safely protected from prying eyes. Your data is your data alone and you deserve to choose where it is stored, whether it is shared with some third party, and how it’s transmitted over the internet.

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