Syncthing setup for all user (Syncthing as service on Windows)

Dear Forum users,

I have tried to use the latest windows setup file, however there was no option to deploy it as service; and it does not have the special files needed for deploy it as service / or configure it.

I had to go for an existing server folder, copy it to a new machine (to a ‘default folder’ in C:\), and then execute the following in an administrator command prompt:

asmt --init --account=SyncthingServiceAcct --name=syncthing --commandline=“”“C:\Program Files\Syncthing\shawl.exe”" run --cwd ““C:\Program Files\Syncthing”” --no-log --priority below-normal --restart-if 3,4 --stop-timeout 10000 – ““C:\Program Files\Syncthing\syncthing.exe””" --home “C:\ProgramData\Syncthing” --no-browser --no-restart --displayname=“Syncthing Service (manual)” --description=“Syncthing securely synchronizes files between two or more computers in real time.”

This works now, however I would like to recommend to have back the option as it was previously available. Thank you,

What advantage does running Syncthing as a Windows Service have over using Task Scheduler to start on boot?

In case there are multiple users using the same machine and the backups should be managed without user interactions this is the only solution what works. Otherwise there will be several synthing instances which might interfere eachother. As well if you run on a server it should not rely on the login procedure, but should start in advance as service with a dedicated user.

Having Syncthing start on boot with Task Scheduler allows all of this.

But all user will have different syn thing, with different machine ID, so the backups handling will be more complicated.

That is not the case.

No, because you can configure Task Scheduler to start Syncthing once as a service. (Yes, Task Scheduler can also start as something as regular user, but that is not what is recommended in this thread

Also: Remember that a synchronized copy in itself is not a backup. For example, consider the case when one device is infected with ransomware: It remains all your files, and the encrypted files propagate to your other devices by Synching, as designed.

Have you been following the instructions from https://github.com/Bill-Stewart/SyncthingWindowsSetup/#windows-service-installation? Basically, if you run the installer as administrator, you should be able to also install Syncthing as a service with it.

Yes, I tried, but it did not offer the selection, and it did not create a service. Nor the dedicated user.

Hi! You’ll need to open the command line and run the setup with the /allusers option eg: Syncthing-x64-v1.x.x.exe /allusers

Uninstall first though