Sync Setup

Once you have one or more remote servers defined, you are ready to add the remote server syncs to initiate the operation. You must provide the folders for the sync (at least one of which will be a remote server folder), the sync direction, and what cleanup to perform after a one-way sync completes.

Other settings control whether the sync is enabled or disabled, when the sync will be run, fine-tune the file names that will be included, and provide human-readable descriptions to make managing the sync more convenient.

Local Folder

Remote server syncs automatically transfer items between a folder path located on a remote server - the Remote path - and a folder path located in your Files.com site - the Local folder. The Local folder may actually be a Mount folder that is located on a Remote Server, but for the purposes of the sync, we consider it to be "local".

Once you have saved a sync for a specific Local folder, you cannot change the Local folder for the sync. Instead, delete the existing sync and create a new sync using the new folder.

Remote Server and Remote Path

Before adding your sync, a site administrator must configure the Remote server connection. The remote folder path that you wish to use for the sync must be created before the sync can run - a sync run will fail if the remote folder is missing.

The Remote path is relative to the folder/directory your remote user lands in upon authentication to the Remote server. For example, If the remote server has a folder structure folderA/folderB/folderC, and the credentials land your user inside folderA, then to configure your sync to use folderC, you would enter the path as folderB/folderC.

Sync Direction

You have three choices for the Sync direction: Push to the remote server, Pull from the remote server, or Two-way sync.

Push To the Remote Server

Push to the remote server uploads files and folders from the specified Local folder in your Files.com site and saves them to the remote server.

Because this sync runs in one direction, you can choose what cleanup should happen After copying.

Pull From the Remote Server

Pull from the remote server downloads files from the remote server and saves them in the specified Local folder in your Files.com site.

Because this sync runs in one direction, you can choose what cleanup should happen After copying.

Two-way Sync

Two-way sync will copy files from either server to the other so that both servers have the complete collection of all files.

If the same file name exists on both servers with different file contents (as determined by file size), the last modification date is used to determine which version to keep. The file with the most recent modification date is then pushed to the other server.

Two-way sync never deletes files from either server.

After Copying

You can choose whether to delete files or keep them on the source server after a push or pull sync. This removes copied items from the source folder, which can avoid issues caused by folder size limitations.

For a Push to the remote server sync, you can choose to Delete source files from this site or Keep a copy on this site. If you choose to delete, you can also Delete empty folders from the source when syncing.

When the sync is configured to Pull from the remote server, you can choose to Delete source files from remote server or Keep a copy on remote server. If you choose to delete, you can also Delete empty folders from the source when syncing.

Syncing to a Destination Folder That Has Folder Settings

When syncing files to a folder with folder settings that alter file contents or filenames (e.g. GPG Encryption, GPG Decryption, or Filename rewriting rules), you should enable the option to delete files from the source.

A sync to a destination folder with a folder setting that alters file contents or filenames will not run unless the sync is set to delete from source. This prevents repeated syncing of the same files every time the process runs, which could potentially lead to high transfer usage charges with no benefit to you.