Syncing Local Folders with Network Folders ?

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Posts: 5
Joined: 9 Mar 2017

Chipmunk

Hi, I'm new to this program. I was suggested this program after I was informed to use a Sync program as Symbolic links wouldn't suffice to what I wanted. I have two questions; first question, how do I setup freefilesync so there is always a sync between two folders whether those folders are local or in my case on a network without manual intervention ? And this probably isn't so much a question as, I assume freefilesync must be running at all times to accomplish my question ?
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Joined: 22 Aug 2012

Plerry

FreeFileSync (FFS) only syncs between specified locations at the time it is run;
it does not and should not run continuously.
RealTimeSync (RTS) is a tool that comes with FFS, that runs as a background task, "continuously" monitoring selected folders (and its subfolders) for any changes, and launch (e.g.) a run of FFS upon detecting any changes.
Posts: 5
Joined: 9 Mar 2017

Chipmunk

In Order to use Real-Time Sync, I must have a command line but before I can have a command line I must create a ffs_batch file ?

Does Real-Time sync run in the system tray so it's always active ?
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Plerry

Sure, you must first "develop" and check your desired FFS sync, and then save it as ffs_batch file.
RTS needs to call the FFS executable and pass the ffs-batch filename as parameter.

RTS runs from the moment being launched, until you kill the RTS task by signing off or restarting your PC.
If you want RTS to run "always" when you're logged on, you can add it to AutoStart,
or always when your PC is on, you can add it to the Task Scheduler and launch it at startup.
In the latter case, mind that you provide proper user credentials under which the task is to be run, having the proper read and write access in the relevant locations.
Posts: 5
Joined: 9 Mar 2017

Chipmunk

Error When trying to sync within command prompt;
Image
T: is a network folder/directory. What am I doing wrong ?
As laid out here https://freefilesync.org/manual.php?topic=command-line;
For Step 1.

Assuming this enables me to strictly run Real-Time sync without ever having to start FreeFileSync ?
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Plerry

Be aware that no image is shown in your reaction above: "image not found or removed", so I have to speculate.

As you are referring to T as being a network share, there is apparently a drive mapping of T: to the network location.
Note, that drive mappings are user dependent.
If your FFS sync (and or RTS) is run under other user credentials, T: might be undefined or refer to another location.
So, you not only need to make sure the user under which RTS and FFS are run has write access to the relevant locations, but if you use drive mappings, that the correct drive mappings have been defined for that user.
Alternatively, you can use the full network address of the network location, e.g. \\[network_IP_address]\[share_name]\[foldername] .
Posts: 5
Joined: 9 Mar 2017

Chipmunk

I modified the ffs_batch file and changed the path to include the UNC Network path. When running the command I get the following error;

Image

As a side question, I assume with RTS you can sync a FTP account folder with a local folder as in when you copy a file to the local folder or override a file on the local folder it will get uploaded and over written on the FTP account folder ?
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Plerry

Let's take this step by step.

1) If you press "Retry", does it then run?
If your network location is e.g. a NAS, it might be it has to wake up from hibernation.
Spinning up the disks (which normally happens sequentially) might take some time,
and only then the network resource is really available.

2) If you enter \\crex2cloud\Backup_Sync in the address bar of Windows Explorer, does it find and show the content of that location?

3) If you open the *.ffs_batch file in the FFS gui, does it run properly/ as expected?

4) How do you start RTS?
If that is from the task scheduler, under which user credentials do you run the RTS and thus FFS task?
As an experiment, you might let RTS open Window Explorer at said location, and see if Windows Explorer
does find/show the location. If it does, it might be an FFS problem, if not, it would be a user and/or permission problem.
Posts: 5
Joined: 9 Mar 2017

Chipmunk

I was able to get a Sync between the unc network path and the local path using both FFS and RTS. There is a sync.ffs.db file in both the unc network path & the local path as well as a duplicate sub-folder in both locations, I assume is what should occur ?

There is one problem, when I copy a file to the unc network path, the file isn't automatically copied \ duplicated to the local path even though I have them linked successfully, as I didn't experience any errors even after loading the *.ffs_batch file into FFS ?