I never learned about Networks / Telecommunications. So I used to transfer files the hard way. Copy file to USB device, carry to next PC, copy to PC.
Now with cloud storage, I copy the file to my cloud storage and now it is available to all my PC’S
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Time to start. There must be a FOSS tutorial
That is all they have.?
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No idea if @jimofadel ever tried out Resilio Sync…
I’m about to sing its praises - yet again…
Been listening to a Yorkshire (aweseome place @callpaul.eu !) metal band : “Paradise Lost” - today…
Wanted more of their music… Had their 2020 album : Obsidian - in my download queue. Got home from my e-bike ride… and it was ready… Copied (UNIX cli) it to my NAS music collection (the “master”). Then copied it as mp3 to my ResilioSync Music share… Within 5 minutes it was there - in its magnificent entirety - on my new phone handset!
Downside : ResilioSync is pretty horrible to use if you’re shy of the Linux / UNIX CLI - but it mostly runs fine on most platforms (including FreeBSD)
Upside : it’s almost bulletproof on Android and iOS and MacOS… Gives you GUI tools to use… Haven’t used it on Windows for years - but my brother uses it on stuff I share with him and he’s fine with it…
And nearly 100% of the “pro” features (I bought a “Pro” license in 2018-ish) are now available for free…
I wouldn’t recommend it if your phone is using external storage - but it works fine if your phone’s internal storage is “on-board” (like the 512 GB on my Galaxy S23 Ultra)… But even so - there are work-a-rounds if your phone is using external storage…
– update - been editing this reply in draft since yesterday evening –
I decided to try sharing my Phone’s /DCIM folder… In Android I select “[ + ]” circle at the bottom - to add something - then select “Add backup”, right at the top there’s the option “Photos” so I select that and get a link to paste into a desktop version of Resilio (on Linux the only user interface is a Web UI on localhost) - I paste the link - and then the “Alarm” icon on Resilio on Android shows one access request - I approve and it starts syncing!
So - I now have two way sync between my desktops and my phone - automatic…
- Desktop Music collection → Android
- Phone photos (/DCIM) → Desktop
- Phone /Pictures → Desktop (these are stuff like sketches from Sketchbook)
So - next time I go out and offline and get home - any new photos should be there on my desktop when the phone re-joins wifi… But it might even work on mobile networks - i.e. Resilio creates UPnP NAT rules on my router on the fly…
TL;DR - I may not have to use TermUX sshd and rsync going forward!
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Thanks for this input. Resilio sounds kinda complicated for me, but maybe it would work. I went to download it today from a Resilio website but my (Ubuntu) system or Firefox put up a warning saying “This file is not usually downloaded…may contain viruses…” so I chickened out. All I really need is for my “daily driver” to have a folder that is visible to any other computer that is connected to the local ethernet, and can receive new files by copy and paste from the other computer. If a password is required to connect, that’s OK. It seems like Samba should be able to do that, but I never can get it to work – there are always problems with permissions that stubbornly resist fixing. I don’t need to transfer to or from my phone.
I’ve had NFS working at times in the past, but when I change OSs I lose it. Lately, I’m “thumbing it”, which is pretty slow for big files. I only need this feature about once every two weeks, so it’s not a huge deal. Thanks again for your support. --Jim K
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Check Seafile Seafile - Open Source File Sync and Share Software
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That’s great, I use it self hosted.
Just read about Packet.
Would it be OK for you?
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Sounds reasonable at all. But I still keep my fingers away from flatpak.
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I can recommend https://syncthing.net/.
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Yeah, I’m using it on Linux and Android. Currently experimenting with Warpinator.
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Yes you have to configure it every time you reinstall.
The main issue is to configure the nfs server computer to export the shared filesystem.
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Thanks for the suggestion. Does Seafile have to be running on both computers for a transfer, or just one of them?
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Seafile needs one server (like RPI/Ubuntu machine) and you install client to all your other devices. It’s your own cloud system. You get your data backed up from all your devices and all your data is accessible from any of your devises inside your home network.
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An addition to this that the Seafile Android client is not exactly like it’s on computer.
I use Foldersync on Android to sync folders on the server.
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Does Seafile work outside of your home network?
i.e. can you get your stuff in or out while roaming?
I’d be interested in trying it - I could run it on my Pi4 (8 GB model) - all it does is act as my ssh jumphost (not port 22, and running fail2ban, and root login disabled), TransmissionDaemon, and backup target for other devices on my LAN (and hosts an Apple TimeMachine SMB share) - and it runs off (boots from) a 1TB USB 3 SSD and also has a 6 TB powered USB 3 HDD…
But right now - ResilioSync does everything I need - and - works when outside of my home LAN and “roaming” about…
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You need to add a proxy server and have a valid IP with a DNS certificate (for an example from let’s encrypt) and configure the Seafile server to port forward the traffic thrue ngingx https, 443, TCP.
Quite a job and I don’t know how secure it would be. At this point you could use own cloud/nextcloud to make your own cloud server. I have a owncloud server for my business but I used the web hotel’s server for it.
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Cheers for the response. I’m lazy so will probably carry on using Resilio - it just works - bit of CLI jiggery/pokery to use it on Linux desktop - but I’ve got most of that scripted or via muscle memory - and it supports UPnP - so it still works when I’m roaming.
Its also pretty easy to setup and use for casual users on Android and iOS and Windows and Mac. I use it to share stuff with my brother 3000km away - and e-books with my daughter and missus.
I did try Own/NextCloud once - but found Resilio to be most like Dropbox so stuck with it…
Trivia: I’m accessing ItsFOSS via Brave on Android for the first time. Works okay - except for thumb typing on a wonky OSK…
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I’ve been using Tailscale a bit. That way things at home are available when I’m at work or on the road. It’s a VPN but doesn’t go through a central “big brother” type of location. The connections are arranged using the Tailscale service, but then communication is direct. It works through NAT and CGNAT for me.
Using Tailscale you can do things like play games or sync files over your own VPN without making any NAT entries on your router. I’ve heard there are a couple other utitlites you can use to expose a local service to the public, but have not used it.
Anyway, it’s free for 100 devices and 3 users. It would be good to support far flung family or sync backups to an offsite location. I could coordinate with a brother in Texas and host his backups in Iowa and he could host my backups in Texas. Seems like a decent idea.
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