Syncthing Tutorial: Open Source & Private File Sync Made Simple

[@cameronfrye5514]

I've been tinkering with Synchthing for a bit, but never really understood it. Watching this made me realize I'm making it more difficult than it needs to be. Thanks!

[@privatehuff]

Last night I decided to become a SyncThing guy and today the Gods of content provided me this 🙏

[@tyreebecker8465]

Same boat, just found out about this today and saw the video. The Gods have shown me their favor

[@privatehuff]

@@tyreebecker8465 hey so btw it actually works, it's even easier than this video makes it look lmao, i am already syncing photos from my phone and started a POC of joplin synced from a central server... so easy i am shocked!

[@BurningBOB]

I used syncthing to migrate 30TB from 3 different windows servers to unraid using syncthing for docker. Its an absolute life saver.

[@ryanmalone2681]

So slow though.

[@BurningBOB]

@@ryanmalone2681 agreed but at least I was able to keep my old server online and active making the cutover time much shorter.

[@DavidM2002]

I have 2 NAS's that store my media files. They were mostly in sync having done so with another app previously. I decided to use Syncthing to take over the job. Even though there were only about 40-50 files out of sync out of a collection size of about 5,000+ total files, it still took at least 24 hours to complete. No big complaint because it didn't affect my other work but others should be aware of the time it takes.

[@paulminott150]

@@DavidM2002 How did you do that? This is exactly what I want to do. I tried but didnt seem to work.

[@DavidM2002]

@@paulminott150 Not sure how to answer that. I just started with the main NAS and added the backup NAS as a remote device. Then on the main NAS, added the folder and which device to share it with. On the backup NAS, I just accept the invitation. I also make sure that all of my devices are using the same Ignore list. One oddity is that my Synology uses the path for the folders to be shared as " /volume1/xxx/ " which is the name of my volume. But, on my QNAP, Syncthing uses " /share/xxx " to start the folder path in spite of the fact that the volume is named DataVol1. If that makes sense.

[@ciro0]

I set this up last week for a business suffering from the onedrive's shared folder problems ( appearing as a URL link ), its awesome, easy to set up and worked very well.

[@elmestguzman3038]

As part of my home lab and self hosting journey i was looking to add file synchronization from my phone and other devices. This tutorial fits the bill perfectly. Thank you

[@jbonn5365]

You've done a couple videos on syncthing, and I've been using it since your very first one! I use it at home and work, across a bunch of different devices and OS'es... it's absolutely fantastic!

[@jim7smith]

Looking forward to finally getting this up and running. My primary use cases are local syncs and also at least one off site sync. I might have to view this multiple times to get that figured out and working, but I am hopeful! Thanks, Tom for your great videos and all the work you put into them.

[@Jaabaa_Prime]

This is a really good introduction to Syncthing! Thanks Tom. I'm looking forward to the TrueNAS tutorial 👍

[@fonte935]

SyncThing works really well over TailScale and ZeroTier too!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Yes it does!

[@DavidM2002]

I use Tailscale but have not setup Syncthing to use it. I have a Synology NAS as the hub and 5 PC's syncing to the NAS. When setting the "addresses" from their default "dynamic", do you leave any devices as "dynamic" or do you use the Tailscale IP addresses for all of them ?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

@@DavidM2002 You would set each of your 5 PC's to have the address of the Synology, but leave Syncthing on the Synology as dynamic.

[@DavidM2002]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Thankyou.

[@ShaferHart]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS why though? wouldn't you still need to input the machines addresses if global discovery is disabled?

[@AJeff]

I used this for 10 game servers. Was handy. For player data, server configs and files.

[@skorpion1298]

Syncing all my Backups OffSite with Syncthing since 2017. Love it!

[@grayrabbit2211]

SyncThing's the glue which holds my office & personal networks together. At my office I use it to have servers push their backups to a master backup server. Workstations also perform their own backups and push it to the server as well. This way, nothing is exposed. It's all push. The server is running TrueNAS ZFS with snapshots, so bad backups can't overwrite the good ones.

[@Dennis-ur4zu]

thank you for the upload. syncthing is one of the best things that ever happened to me. i sync my important data between 3 devices, that is all the redundancy I'll ever need without having to build a NAS. always remember to enable file versioning (trash bin) to avoid malicious or unintended deletes, if you don't do that then a file will be deleted on all nodes if you delete it on one node. with file versioning the deleted files go to a offline folder for you to review before you delete it for good. best regards:)

[@nickswebtsv]

Thanks for the updated video on Syncthing I’ve since setup the ssh config trick for my remote system configuration and tunnelling.

[@InhumanBean]

Wow, such a high quality presentation. I appreciate all the effort that must have gone into making this. Thank you!

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[@themrhenryadams]

Back in the day, Syncthing struggled with getting through corporate firewalls, whereas Resilio Sync just works out-of-the-box without tinkering. I've used Resilio Sync for years without any issues, but since it's closed-source, I think it's time to give Syncthing another try. Thanks so much for the video tutorial, Tom!

[@Dennis-ur4zu]

This is because the relay servers (for non LAN traffic) are slow and not made for professional use. I recommend VPN tunneling.

[@libertine5606]

Thanks Tom. I remember you talking about Syncthing on your podcast. I do "binge listen" on your podcast when I do the 15 hour marathon drive from L.A. to Bend, Or. Now I need to learn how to do a VPN connection with Syncthing on my 3 property servers in Colorado, Oregon, and California.

[@MainelyElectrons]

I love syncthing! I use it to handle my backups for UNRAID and to sync my windows workstations critical “workspace” that need local/fast storage over a 10gig link back to UNRAID1 which has a 10gig link to UNRAID2(for near realtime replication of new files sent to UNRAID1) which has a dedicated 1gig link to UNRAID3(cold spare). The primary server that is always on (UNRAID1) also sends the data over to a windows host running storage spaces with a bunch of external drives in a striped pool with backblaze workstation/pc backup. The windows PC doubles as the CCTV server so its not just sitting idle most of the time. UNRAID2 is also a backup plex server incase UNRAID1 is down.

[@garanceadrosehn9691]

Very useful video on a very useful file utility! I wasn't aware of the feature of an untrusted syncthing server.

[@BillboBaggins-j5w]

Thanks for taking the time and being so professional - I now know about a new tool I can use.

[@kevinhughes9801]

Excellent video loved your vids a few years ago this was great refresh and update thank you

[@geepeezee5030]

Use syncthing to dump content (one way sync) from several pc's to a nas (truenas) for archiving. Nas generates daily snapshots. Once a week these snapshots are replicated to another nas.

[@Shadow.Dragon]

Great video! I think Syncthing is just what I need to do some targeted backups!

[@rklauco]

Thanks for sharing this! I will use my vacation to set this up. Very useful!

[@sirBumpyCase]

I'm a photographer and I use Lightroom classic on two different computers. I've been looking for a way to be able to sync my catalog files between them, since they cannot be run from a network share. I was about to pay for AOMEI software, this looks like it will work just fine!

[@EricTheGrey]

I've been using a program call Synctrazor which appears to be cut from the same cloth, and it's worked perfectly for the handful of documents I keep synced between my desktop and laptop, but Syncthing seems like it would be a good upgrade, since it can also be installed on an android tablet. That would be a nice time saver for the single file I have to transfer to my wife's tablet every so often. Thanks for the tutorial.

[@Chickenkeeper]

Synctrazor *is* Syncthing - it's essentially a wrapper for Syncthing that adds some quality of life improvements like desktop notifications and a tray icon

[@SeanClarke]

I recently added SyncThing to my home network to sync between my Linux desktop and my Macbook Pro. I also have Samba networking and I use Synergy from Symless to control both machines from the same keyboard and mouse.

[@dawidlelito]

very good tutorial and application. I just install it on my desktop and TrueNas to backup my data

[@meRyanP]

Looking forward to the TrueNas tutorial for syncthing!

[@christopherpeterson6004]

@meRyanP Yeah. And maybe a Nextcloud sync solutionon TrueNAS. I was contemplating using S3 MinIO for shared storage, built-in replication.

[@WolfgangRohm]

Great video, thanks. For Truenas scale dragonfish and electric eel (when it's out there)

[@taylorprevost2118]

Awesome video thanks! Setting this up to move away from other cloud services!

[@ShaferHart]

I want to thank you not only for providing such a concise tutorial but for WARNING US that they enable global relay servers by default. That was quite shocking to hear but thanks to your warning I just disable it first thing. Very sneaky of them to do that though.

[@Dennis-ur4zu]

Have you read the wiki page about relaying? it is end to end encrypted and only used if a direct LAN connection cannot be made. the relay server operators(and volunteers) see how much flows from X IP to Y IP but can never see what's inside. Syncthing does this to be convenient and welcoming to new users.

[@DavidM2002]

I use ST on several devices ( desktop, NAS's, laptops ). When it works, it works well. When it doesn't work, it's a pain. The most recurring issue that I have experience and seen in online forums is out of sync files and folders and this is quite a widespread problem. Even when everything is in sync, ST will often say that it's not. And, fixing a real or non-existent problem is often not very intuitive. It's a community project and the coders seem to think that we users are all familiar with accessing and using the command line interface to issue commands to fix a buggered up database index. Could they add a command to the GUI ? Undoubtedly, but they don't. I do really appreciate their efforts but it would be nice to add these little things for the not quite as technically astute users.

[@nymnicholas]

Very Cool. Yes. Worth a try soon. Let's see if i have more Storage somewhere.

[@Velolent]

Thanks for the great video.

[@KS-wr8ub]

Syncthing is a really great tool for replication! The biggest problem with these syncing tools is that people tend to use them for backup. I always try to point it out, this is NOT backup! Even Syncthing themself points this out in their docs.

[@sherrykda3511]

Sorry if it was said in the video and I missed it, but is there also a way to automatically trigger syncs or schedule them to start syncing like every Saturday or last Saturday of a week? I have a second server which I only power on when I need to sync data/the HDDs are spun down and I dont want to run them all the time. I would be ok with it having a manual way to start a sync but if it has a way to scedule it, it would be perfect.

[@sku2007]

one way might be to start/stop syncthing on that machine on a schedule basis. as it starts syncing as soon as it`s running and found the other machine(s)

[@Monarchias]

Hi Tom! I was patiently waiting to hear something about the Send & Recieve options on what if you set it up differently both side then Send & Recieve. Why would I choose other variations? Like when it's worth to set it as one side send other side recieve, or other setups.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I don't use their "Send Only" function. I find revisions to work fine and I have backups of my data.

[@rcdenis1]

Tom's my IT hero.

[@teamvigod]

How do you feel Syncthing compares to Reslio Sync?

[@skittle-brau]

I’ve used both. I’d say the biggest differences in terms of function (for my use case) is that Resilio Sync handles selective sync much better and has an official iOS client. You can sort of do selective sync with SyncThing by manipulating the ignore list, but it’s way easier to do this on a per-file or per-folder basis on Resilio Sync. My needs have changed so I now use SyncThing only.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Reslio is a closed source solution that I have not tested.

[@moradtamer]

What is the tool used to make the visualizations starting from about 1:40 please.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

lawrence.video/drawio

[@moradtamer]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Oh wow. I never expected anyone to actually reply, let alone you. Thank you so much man.

[@aaronkoch3273]

Can you use it as a remote filesystem? For example, have a library of files on one server, and a second server that can access the files on the first without having to have them all copied over? Thinking about plex with library offsite and encrypted..

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

There might be a way to make that work.

[@evanjrowley]

The type of file access you're looking for can be provided by WebDAV, although I'm not sure how well that protocol will perform with streaming media. I know WebDAV in conjunction with Syncthing is pretty nifty for synchronizing notes across mobile devices where you don't want to have full-blown Syncthing runnnig.

[@TheAdamRBell]

Look at rclone

[@Caffeine226]

It sounds to me like you're wanting to do something similar to accessing your NAS remotely. I connect via VPN to my homeland and then can access the NAS.

[@rezenclowd3]

My latest FUN use for this has been to sync my emulator saves/states between my Deck and PC(s). Even doing this with PS3, Switch etc. I wrote a guide where these are set for the deck on Emudecks wiki. I then have them hardlink into separate easy to find folders for my use case as well with versioning, no wiki for that though.

[@ErikSmitt]

I have four Linux Mint computers on a home network. Each computer has the three+ user logons; the three share syncthing. I wish for any of the three users to use any computer. Syncthing set up three computers with device identities for each user; one computer set the same device identity for all users. Which is correct? 12 device identities for 3 repeat logins or four devices? How should I get this straightened out.

[@dariantel]

With dropbox you get 3 free devices where you can install dropbox directly. when that is not enough it is perfect to use syncthing to just sync from one computer with dropbox active to the rest, easy way to have an online backup of everything but still a local copy on all devices. Also, ever had to move tons of photos from a family memebers computer when you setting up a new computer for them? syncthing is awsome in those cases, just move the photos so quick.

[@Dr1vrAI]

Does it support on-demand syncing for „clients“? I want to run the „server“ on a NAS but not all devices should have to sync all data. I understand we call everything a device here, but is that possible (on Mac clients)?

[@fdethan2645]

I've been hanging out for this video 🎉

[@somalsharma3175]

can this run on windows without being logged in, as a service

[@Caffeine226]

Thanks for the nice clear tutorial Tom. I know I'm being pedantic, but Jay will understand why this bugs me. Can you please look up "explicit vs implicit". When you enter a specific IP address, that's explicitly defining it. 😉

[@EdwinPallens]

Thank you very much for this tutorial Im ready to set it up make me feal confident

[@c-LAW]

i've used syncthing for 2 years. but out-of-sync folders persists as an issue. and it replcates bad changes from old to new instead of the reciprocal.

[@rmp5s]

Does it require an HTTPS IP/URL on the hosts to work? If not, I could run it through my Zerotier network and that would solve a HUGE problem for me. Can't port forward on my network, unfortunately...

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

It will work fine through ZeroTier

[@rmp5s]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS Oooooooo...I am INTRIGUED!! lol I started to set up a Nextcloud install a while back when I found out I can't port forward on my network...so, anything that requires HTTPS won't work. Not that I know of, anyway. Ran into the problem again recently while trying to set up Vaultwarden...it needs HTTPS...sucks.

[@subynut]

That's cool! I'm goinna have to take a closer look!

[@awesomearizona-dino]

Nice Tutorial. Thanks

[@ryanmalone2681]

It’s really easy to set up but very slow, after tuning it I consistently get 30mb/s. I used it to sync my primary media NAS to my backup NAS and to update the backup NAS once a month. When I turn it on once a month it has to scan the source before syncing and it seriously affects system performance. You can’t watch Plex if it’s running a scan on the same server (36 core Xeon V4 Supermicro server with 256GB RAM and a 10G network) and it will consume 40-50% CPU until it’s done, which is often days as I have 120TB of media.

[@cingtobelieve]

Any idea why my syncthing sync only gives me a bunch of .tmp files and "out of sync" notice on the receiving end? Since it seems to already have started why cant it finish the process?

[@mactech8167]

Hey Tom, when will they include time scheduling sync tasks as an option?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I don't know

[@tomleaney4780]

Great stuff. Thanks.

[@JohnGraziano-s5z]

Will this work with Synology too?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

I am not sure if Synology still has support or not, but it should work using Synology Docker.

[@ayoubthegreat]

On Windows, SyncthingTray is really good. More features

[@adamputnam341]

I've been using Syncthing to synchronize my use of Joplin between my Android phone and laptop since one of your previous videos. Unfortunately ever since Android introduced scoped storage the two applications aren't allowed to view each other's folders. My solution so far is to run a horribly outdated version of Joplin, not subject to the scoped storage rules. Do you know of a better way to deal with this?

[@Caffeine226]

I've not used Joplin, but with Aegis I set it up to automatically backup to a shared access area, e.g. /Backup

[@nebhead77]

I'd like to use the untrusted device feature to store my personal documents on my brother-in-law's server (and vice versa) for backup purposes. However, I'd like to figure out how we can seed the data so that we aren't blowing through our Xfinity data caps. Any thoughts on this?

[@Caffeine226]

Perhaps sync with a portable device, e.g. laptop with Syncthing while at home. Then take the laptop to his house, connect to his WiFi and sync with his server..

[@TheSillybits]

After starting Syncthing it wants to connect to an awful lot of IP numbers, I do not understand as I did not add any remote folders yet. Why? I hope you know, as I feel rather unpleasant about it.

[@Dennis-ur4zu]

Syncthing by default uses relay servers run by volunteers. It's convenient and encrypted but if you don't feel it just disable it and use VPN tunneling for example.

[@VorpalForceField]

Excellent .. Thank You for sharing .. Cheers :)

[@ZenAdm1n_]

Would this be an enterprise replacement for MoveIT?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

No

[@ytxzw]

Why my comment has been removed after I attached the link to github issue which as for me is critical one?......

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Because KZbin (not me) removes links.

[@ytxzw]

@@LAWRENCESYSTEMS meh, ok ok.

[@garanceadrosehn9691]

I've seen the same thing happen _(where comments are instantly removed if they have a link to _*_anything_*_ outside of KZbin)_ on many youtube channels. I've had it happen on totally innocuous comments which answered a question that was asked in the video. It was definitely not the video-creator who removed the comment.

[@JordanHenionStormChasing]

Throughput limitation around 200 Mbps even over LAN. It’s useful but could be better in that department.

[@lssl8934]

What about FreeFileSync which is an open source?

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Never used it.

[@oleksandrlytvyn532]

Tom, could you please make video how you backup aegis authenticator on smartphone? If I'm right you are using aegis authenticator on Google Pixel

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Just use their backup and copy it somewhere safe.

[@Caffeine226]

Under Aegis Backups enable automatic backup and then tell it to store in a location you can access with Syncthing. For example I store mine under /Backup/Aegis on my Pixel 7.

[@Alex-td1pi]

The only thing I wish it could do is sync at certain times of the day. So every morning at 1am it would sync. Other than that it’s great

[@TheOnlyEpsilonAlpha]

4:34 that already answers my use: untrusted encrypted servers

[@beStoic1]

Thank you

[@neadfiles]

Realizing that "...Made Simple" is a relative term

[@Anonymous_programmer1]

2:06

[@BogdanSerban]

There's a really big issue with syncthing corrupting its database randomly, an issue that they haven't fix it yet. I've stopped using it because of this.

[@LAWRENCESYSTEMS]

Not an issue I have encountered in my over 8 years of use, you should contact their support.

[@nicoladellino8124]

THX bro.

[@kristof9497]

thank you.

[@ayoubthegreat]

I use this on Anfroid to sync my KeePass database

[@meh.7539]

Now I gotta change the code to my luggage.

[@tonipanayotov8943]

I think, you forgot to explain " Out of Sync Items" I don't understand it very well.

[@Anonymous_programmer1]

5:45

[@Anonymous_programmer1]

3:25, 3:51

[@ChrisJackson-js8rd]

haha how not to have to use their nut mice to know theyre there if you need them lol couldnt have put it better myself :)

[@drumpf4all]

I’ve been installing syncthing in various scenarios for the last 6-7 years and I gotta admit, your instructions are confusing particularly around ssh port forwarding. Syncthing has a TLS encrypted transport layer. You DON’T need to use vpn’s (idk what a mesh vpn is). Normies will not understand this video.

[@billychristmas]

Syncthing sucks on Windows in my experience.

[@jj-icejoe6642]

Again ?

[@chrispro2766]

First. Lets gooooo.