I used to use Syncthing with SyncTrayZor a while ago. I was generally happy with it, except for when it detected duplicates/collisions, which were a pain to manually resolve. At the time, Syncthing did file level synching, not block level synching. Working on code (on multiple PCs) or trying to keep a KeePass password database sync’d were sometimes problematic. KeePass has built in database syncing, and with 2 machines it’s still cumbersome to set up. It’s an exponential amount of config to sync with multiple machines.
I’m looking for a sync solution to also include TrueNAS, and everyone loves to mention SyncThing. With the TrueNAS server being online all the time, that should vastly reduce any sync collisions, but I still was looking for something else.
Doing a search, and using the DDG chatbot, it seems Syncthing might have moved to block level syncing. I have not been able to confirm that it switched though. The chatbot was being a parrot, as usual.
Since SyncTrayZor has been discontinued, is there a good replacement for Windows? I looked into SyncThingTray, and that’s not a good replacement, despite what reddit says. Even the project owner says it’s not a good replacement.
Syncthing Tray (note the capitalisation) is the best replacement we’ve got, although it’s true that it is quite different, especially when it comes to other functionality than just displaying an icon in the system tray.
I’m using syncthing, including on Truenas, including on smb share on truenas.
Let us know if we can be of assistance. It took me a few days to figure it all out, but it’s been working great ever since.
Btw, for my first client, I started with Syncthing Tray. Then realized I wasn’t really using it other than to autostart syncthing itself. Have since removed it and instead using the standard installs from Syncthing | Downloads. For me the standard syncthing web gui is sufficient.
As for “block level”, it’s true that syncthing uses techniques under the covers to minimize the amount of data sent over a network when only a portion of a file is modified.
Also syncthing runs on many OS’s. And many OS’s use many filesystem types. Afaik syncthing does not attempt to modify functionality native to a given filesystem.
Anyways, syncthing and truenas can be tricky to set up. I’d start by seeing if you can get exactly two syncthing folders to successfully synchronize, before attempting anything more complex. And I’d start with throwaway test folders on each device, not data that you care about. Cheers
In doing some research, I think I figured out a better way to articulate it. SyncThing will sync files at the block level, but will not merge conflicts together using blocks. I was getting tripped up on the difference between sync and merge, since they are sometimes, in the common vernacular, used in similar circumstances, and file merging is often done at the block level (or smaller, like record level).
As far as using just the official downloads, I thought the installer for Windows was still 2nd party, not first party. If that was the case way back in the day, that outside-the-norm situation is probably a contributing factor for why I went with SyncTrayZor. GitHub - Bill-Stewart/SyncthingWindowsSetup: Syncthing Windows Setup
I find the tray icon a convenient and familiar way to get to the (web) UI. When I install this on family members, who are nontechnical, it’s also quite convenient for them to understand what’s going on. Even my technical friend has gone mostly luddite and would roll his eyes if I started talking about localhost.
I took a look at the Syncthing App on Truenas’s apps wesbite. Looking at Lawrence’s YouTube videos, it looks pretty straightforward to install.
Like I said, I’ve used SyncThing before, and setting up shares is relatively easy. What did you struggle with? Was that before they packaged it as an app for Truenas?
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