Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization software. It synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time.
The main use case for me - to have it as part of my homelab - is to sync my Obsidian vaults across devices, one device being my iPad.
Installation
The installation process is the same as for Gitea - and for any other future service. What’s required is:
- an Ansible playbook
- a corresponding Ansible role (which generates the docker compose file)
- an entry in the
vault.ymlfile for the service domain - and finally, a routing configuration for Traefik
The DNS and HTTPS configuration happens automatically, since we are utilising a wildcard domain setup (*.l4n.io).
At this point in time our list of service domains looks like this:
# Service domains
vault_service_domains:
traefik: "traefik.l4n.io"
portainer: "portainer.l4n.io"
homepage: "home.l4n.io"
gitea: "git.l4n.io"
syncthing: "sync.l4n.io"Homepage should automagically pick up the new service and display it on the dashboard; this is thanks to the labels applied.
Configuration
There is only one trick that I want to share: if you are planning to use Syncthing internally only - meaning NOT exposing it to the internet - you should disable the following two settigns:
By doing this the complexity and also the network traffic gets significantly reduced.
How does it work?
It works with folders and remote devices.
What you just installed is the “server side”. This is the component that’s always running, doing the synchronization behind the scenes. It also keeps a copy of each shared folder.
The “client side” is an app you install on your devices.
I have one client running on my Macbook, and another one on my iPad. On iPad you should check out Möbius Sync.
Adding a new remote device is quite simple.
Next, you need to add a folder to sync.
In my case I’ve got an Obsidian vault with all of my notes on my laptop, and I want to sync it to my iPad. Plus, just in case I want to keep a copy elsewhere too, this is where Syncthing’s server side “local” copy comes in.
Once the device(s) and folder(s) are added, Syncthing will start synchronizing.
…and, that’s it!
To follow along, please regularly check the akora/homelab repository on GitHub for the latest updates.