New Folder - Won't Sync or do what it should...

[Tango]

I’ve had multiple issues with adding a new folder to Synthing.

I have 2 Macs, both updated to macOS 26.0.1 and Syncthing 1.30.0-1, The primary use Mac is called “Study,” and the other is “Workshop.”

I created a folder on Study at ~/Documents/NewBusiness and set it up in Syncthing. I used the same path for the folder ID and folder path. The label is more descriptive. Under “Sharing,” I clicked the name for the Workshop Mac. Under Advanced, I shared ownership and Extended Attributes. I saved the folder info on Study.

I had a 2nd tab on my browser (on Study) connected to Syncthing on Workshop. Once I saved the folder on Study, Syncthing on Workshop got the info. I went to the tab for Syncthing on Workshop and clicked to add the folder to it.

Immediately I got an error because the directory didn’t exist. (And yet, in the web interface it says if the folder doesn’t exist on the target machine, it will be created. But Syncthing is not doing that.)

Once I create the folder, I get an error because there is no .stfolder file in ~/Documents/NewBusiness on Workshop. So I use touch to create that file. Then it starts to sync, but ALWAYS ends with issues. It seems to have synced all the files, but Workshop reports that folder is “Out of Sync.” On Study, everything is reported as synced.

On Workshop, all folders are listed as Up To Date, BUT when I look under “Remote Devices,” I see 99% sync, so I click on it and see, in that box, “Out of Sync Items,” and it says there are 114 of them. (That’s more files than in the folder tree I’m syncing.) When I click on that, it looks like it’s about to list the synced or unsynced files, but there is no list of anything. A box pops up on the webpage to show something, but nothing is in it.

I tried this setting the folder to “Send only” on Study and “Receive only” on Workshop, but it makes no difference.

So, recap:

• I share a folder on Study (with some subfolders)
• Workshop sees it and asks me to add it, which I do.
• Once added, I have to create the folder on Workshop and create .stfolder in it - Syncthing does NOT create the folder, as it says it will.
• The files are all copied and synced from Study to Workshop, BUT Workshop reports the folder as Out of Sync at this point.
• Trying to start with a Send Only on Study and Receive Only on Workshop does not help.

This feels like it’s really messed up from the start, almost like it’s destined to fail, since it won’t create the folder, making me create it AND the .stfolder file. Once that’s done, it reports an incomplete sync, when it appears all files ARE synced.

I’ve had similar issues before: I often have to make the file with data in it Send Only and, on the other computer, let it be Receive Only. Once the data is synced from the first computer to the 2nd, THEN I can change so that folder on both systems is Send and Receive.

How can I fix this?

[tomasz86 (Tomasz Wilczyński)]

First of all, I would suggest upgrading to the newest version from the Syncthing v2 line, as v1 is no longer supported, and we really don’t want to spend time on debugging issues that may be limited to it and will never be fixed.

Secondly, is Syncthing running as root? This is likely required if you want to sync either ownership or extended attributes. Please check https://docs.syncthing.net/advanced/folder-sync-xattrs.html and https://docs.syncthing.net/advanced/folder-sync-ownership.html if you haven’t already.

Also, if Syncthing fails to create the folder marker (.stfolder) when adding a completely new folder, then this usually is caused by it not having enough permissions to access the path in question (assuming that the path itself is correct, of course ).

[Moisie]

I’m going to go against Tomasz’ suggestion here (sorry @tomasz86 !), and recommend:

• If you’re not already doing so, use the current macOS app version available from here - Release Syncthing for macOS v1.30.0 · syncthing/syncthing-macos · GitHub - this currently stands at Syncthing version 1.30.0 which, whilst now end-of-life, still works for most real-world aspects;

• Set up your folder > Advanced settings to Ignore Permissions and don’t enable any of the Ownership or Extended Attributes options.

This will probably work just as is - but if there is some esoteric functionality you need, I suggest exploring that once you have the basic settings running correctly.

[Tango]

I’m a bit confused here, regarding versions.

First, when I go to the download page, the top section, which seems the “default” place to go, takes me to V. 1.30.0-1, which is the version I’m running now.

The V2 line is farther down. That makes me think that V1 is the stable version and V2 is testing - is that right? If so, how stable is V2 compared to V1?

Overnight, things cleared up - so maybe there was an issue in terms of syncing where going through several cycles cleared it up.

A general note on debugging: I get that it’s a waste of time, now, to debug 1.x when 2.x is out. With that in mind, I did see, over and over, that with 1.3.0-1, that it was not automatically creating the directory on the 2nd unit at all. I had to create the directory and the .stfolder file every single time.

Depending on what I learn about V2 compare d to V1, I may go on and get V2 and test that issue with V2. (If V2 is not just testing, I’ll install instead of V1 - deleting V1 or installing overtop of it, whichever is recommended - I just don’t want to move up to a beta version for this. One thing I like about Syncthing is that once I get folders set up, I can just ignore it and it goes on and does exactly what it needs to without me having to do anything with it.)