"Probably ignored on remote device, but not locally"

Support
1

Got a few laptops which sync to each other and to an always-on Raspberry Pi. The Pi has a big drive with all the files, but due to limited storage I ignore a few folders on the laptops and delete them there.

This means that the Pi is “out of sync” with all the laptop-ignored folders saying

syncing: delete dir: directory has been deleted on a remote device but is not empty; the contents are probably ignored on that remote device, but not locally

This is what I want. So how do I clear the error and get a nice green “Up to Date” status?

I note that a few other people have this issue on the forums, but I didn’t see a nice way of resolving it.

Thanks!

2

If I understand correctly, you want to delete the directories on the laptops but retain them on the RPi?

If so, the RPi will be out of sync until you also delete the same directories or also tell the RPi to ignore them.

3

Yes, that’s right. I don’t want to ignore those folders on the Pi though, as they’re synced to another large storage device. So I guess I’m stuck with it always being out of sync. That’s annoying, because I’d like to know if it’s really out of sync (not just because of ignored folders).

4

At its core, Syncthing is intended to be bidirectional sync, so deleting files on one device but not a peer is outside of its primary function (not that it cannot be done).

The solution is to set up two Syncthing folders for the same filesystem directory…

First, add the ignore patterns to the RPi matching the ones on the laptop(s) so that the RPi reports being in sync.

Second, add a new Syncthing folder (with the same source directory) that’s shared between the RPi and the other large storage device. Configure the ignore patterns as needed (or none at all). Syncthing will warn that the source directory is already being shared by another Syncthing folder, but it’s fine as long as you’re careful with the configuration.

In a nutshell, the RPi will be sharing the same directory with different hosts under different condiftions.

5

The error is complaining the remote is saying the folder is deleted but the contents are not. This is probably due to you ignoring the contents of the folder, and not the folder itself.

You probably want to do this on the laptops:

  1. Create the “ignored” folder. There is no need to put anything in it.
  2. Rescan the folder.
  3. Wait until the Pi shows as Up to Date.
  4. Update the ignore patterns to ignore the folder itself instead of the contents (e.g. /folder instead of /folder/ or /folder/*).
  5. Delete the folder again (as it is now actually ignored).

After doing these steps on the laptops, the “Out of Sync” error should disappear.

1 Like
6

This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.