Syncthing with Artica
Syncthing is a synchronization tool that keeps files in sync across multiple devices whenever they can see each other—for example, when they’re on the same home Wi-Fi or corporate network.
Syncthing is a synchronization tool that keeps files in sync across multiple devices whenever they can see each other—for example, when they’re on the same home Wi-Fi or corporate network.
It’s especially useful for phone backups, which are time-consuming, require a USB cable, and involve files spread across multiple folders—so in practice, they rarely get done.The concept is similar to Dropbox or Google Drive, except your files never leave your own devices.
Syncthing isn’t a backup tool—it’s designed solely for machine-to-machine synchronization.
Do we need to create an Artica server with Syncthing hosted on the Internet like OneDrive?
Since Syncthing is a replication solution, whatever exists on one computer is automatically mirrored to the other nodes.
A single central point on the Internet isn’t necessary.
This is where Syncthing differs from solutions like OneDrive or Google Drive.
It means that if your data occupies 5 GB, you will have 5 GB of data on your smartphone, server, and your workstation.
When you work over the Internet, your files are stored locally. If you have your Artica server on your local network, then as soon as you reconnect to that network, any new or modified files will automatically synchronize across all the shared nodes in your space.
Main service
- Install the syncthing main service
Artica makes installing Syncthing effortless through its built-in Features section
Syncthing instances
Syncthing itself only knows one “GUI user” and one API key per instance—there’s no built-in concept of “accounts” the way you’d have in Dropbox or Google Drive.
If you need true multi-user isolation (each person having their own GUI login, own config, own data), Artica is able to mange easily each Syncthing instance per user.
- Create or delete a Syncthing instance
You can spin up a separate Syncthing engine for every member, each with its own configuration files, listening port and service identity.
- Create or delete a Syncthing Shared folder
A Syncthing shared folder is a directory on your local filesystem that is synchronized across devices using Syncthing’s peer-to-peer protocol.
- Understand the synchronization mode.
It also called folder type and defines how changes to files are handled between devices.
It impacts both file behavior and permissions across the devices sharing a folder
- Allow/Deny Web access
By default, access to the Syncthing web console is disabled;
if you want to give your users access to it, you need to enable it.
- Secure the syncthing web console with authentication.
By default, the Syncthing web console is open—no login is required.
To secure it with authentication, follow the steps below.
- Accept a shared folder
When a node has trusted your instance and shared a folder, you can accept the invitation to connect the shared folder to your instance.
Syncthing Windows Client
- Download and install using syncthing-windows-setup.exe
Syncthing Windows Setup is a lightweight yet full-featured Windows installer
- Install Syncthing client and tray icon (manual install)
Syncthing for Windows is a free, open-source, peer-to-peer file synchronization tool that runs on Windows systems.
It allows you to automatically synchronize files between multiple devices over the internet or using your Artica syncthing instances.
- Pairing your windows device
Pairing a device means establishing a trusted connection between two devices, allowing them to synchronize files securely.
This guide explains how to pair your Windows device with a Syncthing instance managed by Artica.
- Sync your Windows directory to your syncthing instance
You have a local folder on your Windows machine that you want to share and synchronize with your dedicated instance.