Syncthing on Ubuntu Touch

A Former User

Thanks for bringing this awesome software to UBports!
I did not know about it until I found it in the store but now I try to learn about it and setup a local backup system. I plan to run a SoC as backup peer on my home network.

After the installation and the first successful start of the app on my OnePlus One I decided to set a user and password for the web interface. But then the app failed. Even a fresh install from the store did not change a thing. There may be some configuration files left that store my password protection. Opening localhost from the browser once asked me to enter username and password but then failed. The app either shows endless loading screen or prints "Not Authorized" on a white screen. Any ideas on how I could fix this?

Additionally I am concerned about the additional power usage as the OnePlus One is already struggling with low battery power. I would not mind to run Updates just once a week or manually in worst case. Is this possible? Sry as I can not run the app I was not able to further test this myself.

Greetings,

Jimmy

[Edit]
I had to reset the whole system and now also Syncthing is running again. I would still be interested in the option to setup https, username and password to enter the web UI. Is this somehow possible?

Additionally I am really interested in the best configuration to save energy. What would you advice?
I already disabled global discovery and relaying.

I read that the Syncthing Android app is able to sync only when the device is charged. This seems to be an awesome feature. But I guess its hard to implement for UBtouch right?

arubislander

Hi @jimmypesto,

Thank you for interest in the app.

First a cautionary note. Syncthing is not intended as a proper backing up service, but as a synchronization service. The difference is about what happens if you accidentally delete a file: In a sync service the deletion is propagated, i.e. you lose the file on the remote location too.

Now to your questions:
Currently the app is simply a QML wrapper around the web interface of the regular syncthing webservice that runs on the device.
To help limit the battery usage I implemented a background job that stops the webservice after 10 minutes if the app is not running. Then it runs it for 5 minutes every hour as long as the app is not running. Using this strategy I haven't noticed a significant increase in battery drain. But if you do, please let me know.

Could you explain why you feel you need to set a username and password for the Syncthing instance running on the device and therefore access it over https? Since the syncthing webservice only listens on localhost and can therefore only be accessed from a browser on the device itself, setting up the extra security seems like overkill.

A Former User

Hi @arubislander,
thanks for making this clear. Sorry for mixing this up.
With enough care this is even better as I share certain "backups" of the past between multiple systems. Keeping these merged/updated is awesome.

Wow you did an awesome job man! I like this idea and did not notice a significant difference in the first few days. Your settings are already a good choice. Only because of my old phone I am interested in saving as much as possible.
I think this is maybe a personal flavor. Would it be hard to add a rather simple interface that allows the user to tweak these settings?

It is arguable to call it paranoia. But as Syncthing supports it, I thought, why not.
I remember I had to change ~/.config/syncthing/config.xml to listen on 0.0.0.0 so I am able to access a headless device from the local network. This file can be edited by the user. You dont need root privileges to do this.
But I guess you are right.

Thanks a lot for your great work an feedback.

arubislander

Happy New Year! Hope this year will be everything the last one was not.

@jimmypesto said in Syncthing on Ubuntu Touch:

Sorry for mixing this up.

No apologies needed, if you look at the original post, I am guilty of doing the same.

Wow you did an awesome job man!

Thanks for the appreciation. Might you be inclined to leave a review on the OpenStore expressing your view, if you haven't already done so?

Would it be hard to add a rather simple interface that allows the user to tweak these settings?

User interfaces, I am terrible with. And that would just be the front end of it. The settings would need to be acted on by the background job.

But if you would add a feature request in the issue tracker and it gets some support, I could look into it when I get the time ...

I remember I had to change ~/.config/syncthing/config.xml to listen on 0.0.0.0 so I am able to access a headless device from the local network.

Could you speak some more on this use case, where you would want to access the Syncthing instance on your mobile device remotely?

A Former User

@arubislander
I failed on finding a way to review Syncthing. Is it possible from the website or just from the OpenStore app itself?
[Edit] Okay I needed to login to the OpenStore account within the OpenStore app. Nice thing that this is not needed to install apps on a phone. But I am happy to be able to appreciate this work.

@arubislander said in Syncthing on Ubuntu Touch:

I remember I had to change ~/.config/syncthing/config.xml to listen on 0.0.0.0 so I am able to access a headless device from the local network.

Could you speak some more on this use case, where you would want to access the Syncthing instance on your mobile device remotely?

You told me it is save to use Syncthing locally (without https). From my experience of setting up my home server to act as a backup/ share point between different devices I just know that Syncthing config is not highly protected to listen on another IP. But I guess its still okay. I m not really into all this. This is what I wanted to say.

I don't mind just using it as an app. It could be interesting to be able to tweak the settings on the mobile from the PC and enable some sharing so you do not have to do anything on the phone at all. But as the Syncthing interface is pretty easy I think this is not needed.

arubislander

@jimmypesto said in Syncthing on Ubuntu Touch:

You told me it is save to use Syncthing locally (without https). From my experience of setting up my home server to act as a backup/ share point between different devices I just know that Syncthing config is not highly protected to listen on another IP.

Ah, I got your meaning. Well, it is safe ot use without https only if the instance running on the device is not accessible from outside of the device. And to this effect the web service is started specifically to only listen on localhost. (in the file: synchting-webd.conf) :

exec /opt/click.ubuntu.com/syncthing.syncthing/current/bin/syncthing-web -gui-address=127.0.0.1:8384 -no-browser

krillin

Hello,
Thank you so much for this app!
Can I write on microSD card using this app?
Best,
hasan

arubislander

@krillin I have never tried it. But it is unconfined, so I think it might work.

Moem

I'm liking this app more and more. It's not fast, and I need to switch wifi on to use it, but then I can just leave it to do its thing and it works fine.

arubislander

@moem Thank you for your kind endorsement.
I use it to sync the .ssh/authorized_keys, and SturmReader books accross all of my devices. I like being able to add a document, or public key on one device and have it available on any other device when I pick them up. I also sync the config of AuthenticatorNG across all my devices. No more needing to remember which specific device a code is on.

Maybe I should start a new thread asking users of the app what their sync strategy is.

Peter Gamma

@arubislander Thanks for this great app. My expectations about Ubports phones are down to the floor currently, since I realized that it was easier to manage and sync files with my Galaxy S5 Android 4.4 with external SD card which was read and writable, and file exchange with a PC was easy. With Syncthing things are getting better again.

arubislander

A new version 1.27.8 has been uploaded to the OpenStore.

I realize I have neglected this thread a little, but rest assured, Syncthing has been updated following the upstream project all this time.

In other news, I am considering discontinuing the maintenance of the Syncthing snap. I lack the time to keep that one up to date and it has been lagging behind for some versions now.

Fortunately there is a 'competing' snap: and the maintainer keeps it quite up to date with upstream. I have already moved my servers over to this snap. So this is a heads-up to anyone who might have also been using my snap. I will provide migration instructions when the decision has been finalized.