SOLVED: How do I check if Syncthing is running?

Support
1

I’ve been using Syncthing for years on my Linux desktop but now I can’t seem to get it to start on a new install using the Software Manager on my new laptop Lenovo X240, running Linux Mint MATE 22.3 (I was having issues with Syncthing asking for authentication, despite no password being set, so I did a reinstall from apt.syncthing.net)

How do I check if the Syncthing process is running? I’ve used the top command but can’t see anything. I’ve tried starting the Syncthing Web UI after Start Syncthing but the UI doesn’t even launch. I’ve tried using the previous bookmarked Web UI at http://127.0.0.1:8384/ but I get a Can't connect error from Firefox.

I’ve tried reinstalling from the Software Centre but still nothing.

How do I troubleshoot such a big fat blank?!

thank you, in exasperation, Jake

Edit - thinking to try starting from command line to see if any error messages and yes:

[start] 2026/08/26 11:13:10 INFO: syncthing v1.27.2-ds4 "Gold Grasshopper" (go1.22.2 linux-amd64) debian@debian 2025-07-21 04:55:34 UTC [start] 2026/08/26 11:13:10 WARNING: Failed to initialize config: config file version (52) is newer than supported version (37). If this is expected, use --allow-newer-config to override.

I did sudo apt purge syncthing when reinstalling but must have left config files, have deleted them. Running syncthing from terminal did the trick, very happy to be back at square one.

2

Which version have you ended up running eventually? If it’s the v1.27.2-ds4 mentioned above, then that’s super outdated, not supported anymore, using the old-style database, etc.

3

v1.27.2-ds4, Linux (64-bit Intel/AMD) (not so) fresh from the Software Centre.

Should I upgrade do you think to the apt.syncthing.net version?

4

Yeah, I’d definitely suggest to switch and stay up-to-date.

5

For the apt version of syncthing, you’ll need to setup autostart of syncthing as per your needs. Most commonly you’ll want to use systemd for this:

sudo systemctl enable --now syncthing@myuser.service

Replace “myuser” with the user you want syncthing to run as, and syncthing should start and autostart on boot automatically (managed by systemd). For more options see Starting Syncthing Automatically — Syncthing documentation

6

Thank you; I’ve used the Startup Applications control panel, seems to be working okay :slight_smile: