Hi, wanting to set up Syncthing on a Linux Mint laptop to regularly sync a few key files from my android phone, probably via BasicSync (in the wake of the STFork saga), but that’s another story.
On the laptop I used the Mint Software Manager to find “Syncthing” and discovered several packages available. I downloaded both Syncthing Web UI and something called Syncthing GTK, because I’d read somewhere (perhaps in my researching of the best syncthing solution for android) that it was a good option for cross-platform scenarios.
I commenced setting up Syncthing and before long - you guessed it - found myself in the GTK wizard making choices that now seem to have messed up what should have been a simple setup. When I found the webUI looking at an address of 127.0.0.1:8080 instead of 127.0.0.1:8384, I decided to uninstall both and start again with just the Syncthing webUI version. But now, when I try to start Syncthing webUI I’m prompted for a username and password, neither of which I set up during the GTK wizard process, and the address on that prompt screen is still 127.0.0.1:8080.
Any suggestions? I’m only 12 months on Linux so advice will need to be very bite sized. Thanks.
You should just delete your ~/.local/state/syncthing folder and start over again. Move it somewhere out of the way instead if you think there might be something relevant in there. But I doubt that, since you couldn’t even access the configuration page yet.
A killall syncthing on the command line first for good measure, to make sure the existing instance is really stopped. Or simply uninstall and reboot before installing it again if you’re not comfortable with the command line.
I deleted the ~/.local/state/syncthing folder; ran killall syncthing (before this I ran pgrep -l syncthing and found two processes still running, after killall the same check showed no syncthing processes running); then uninstalled and rebooted. I then restarted, downloaded the syncthing WebUI version from the Mint software manager but, after opening, found myself at the same syncthing authorisation screen, requesting a password I never set, and with the same 8080 address (which I understand is an artefact of the GTK package). This has happened three times now and I’m not sure what to do next.
Coincidentally, while setting up a password manager, I notice that in another context the initial syncthing password setup has been a problem for some. I also see there are comments in your forum about username/password problems and various suggestions about the config file and the browser cache, but will defer to you about which course of action to take next.
I’ve run through these suggestions again, trying some variations, eg. instead of just deleting ~/.local/state/syncthing to the trashcan, deleting permanently; and adding a -w to killall syncthing. Same results.
However, I’ve noticed that ~/.config/syncthing and ~/.config/syncthing-gtk somehow escaped the uninstall procedure and are still lurking amongst my hidden folders. Even to my novice eye these seem problematic. I don’t feel confident enough to edit config files but I’m guessing that, at this early stage, I’d have nothing to lose by deleting these folders too, and letting ~/.config/syncthing recreate itself when I run a fresh install of syncthing (without S-gtk to confuse matters). Am I on the right track?
Yes, the old config directories need to go as well. If the new location .local/state/syncthing is not present, but the old under .config/syncthing is, Syncthing will fall back to using it. That’s why you’re seeing the old settings still active.
Kill syncthing processes.
Remove config from both locations.
Restart only Syncthing, not Syncthing-GTK (can be uninstalled).
Not quite sure, but I assume current versions of Syncthing-GTK may cause problems running with newest Syncthing v2.x. Better only use the Web GUI.
Which version of Syncthing does the “Software Manager” install? Is it a DEB package, or from something like Snap or Flatpak?
That did it. All good now, thanks! I’m looking at the Syncthing web GUI, with the 8384 address and without the immediate password prompt. Now all I have to do is follow the instructions . The only remaining concern is the ‘Not secure’ alert next to the address in the search bar, but I think that’s a Firefox thing. I ticked ‘Use HTTPS for GUI’ in syncthing settings and, as I understand it, this is all on my LAN.
Not sure what Syncthing package is in the Linux Mint software manager. It’s not a Flatpak: they all appear in the software manager with a special icon, which isn’t on the package I’ve downloaded. This version number from my download might give a clue: 1.27.2~ds4-1ubuntu0.24.04.3 . And I think I’ve read somewhere that LM doesn’t use Snap directly. So maybe deb? (Some screenshots from linux mint software manager below).
And disregard my earlier comments about the GTK version, which I now understand is a ‘wrapper’(?), not a stand-alone variety of syncthing. More likely that I messed up, rather than anything wrong with it. Perhaps it could have worked for me if I knew what I was doing, but better that I keep things simple and just go with Syncthing for now (+ Fork or Basic Sync on my phone - the next challenge).
Thanks again. Is there a section of the forum where I can follow up with android questions?
. The only remaining concern is the ‘Not secure’ alert next to the address in the search bar, but I think that’s a Firefox thing. I ticked ‘Use HTTPS for GUI’ in syncthing settings and, as I understand it, this is all on my LAN.
