Shared Folder Sync

The Shared Folder Sync service allows users to sync shared folders from one DiskStation device (the source) to other DiskStation devices (the destination) within the LAN or over the Internet.

Shared Folder Sync will perform a full sync of the selected shared folders for the first time. Afterwards, only modified files will be synced. Files that have been removed from the source will also be removed from the destination.

Note:

Enabling the Service

To enable Shared Folder Sync:

You have to enable the service on the destination DiskStation first.

  1. Go to Control Panel > File Services > rsync.
  2. Tick the Enable rsync service checkbox to enable the Shared Folder Sync service.
  3. Click Apply.

To unlink shared folders from destination DiskStation:

If different sources simultaneously sync an identical shared folder to one destination DiskStation, there will be a conflict. You will need to unlink the shared folder on the source side before another source can sync its folder to the destination.

  1. Sign in to the destination DiskStation and go to Control Panel > Shared Folder Sync > Connection List.
  2. Select the conflicting connection from a source DiskStation, and then click Unlink to remove it.

Now another source can sync the shared folder to the destination DiskStation.

Managing Sync Tasks

To create a sync task:

  1. Sign in to the source DiskStation and go to Control Panel > Shared Folder Sync > Task List.
  2. Click Create.
  3. Enter a name for the task.
  4. Select the shared folder or shared folders you want to sync to the destination.
  5. Specify the destination DiskStation and select the sync options that suit your needs:
  6. When prompted, select any of the following options to decide when to sync from the source to the destination:
  7. Click Apply. Now you can see the sync task on the task list, which will be performed according to the specified schedule.

To manage a sync task:

  1. On the source DiskStation, go to Control Panel > Shared Folder Sync, click Task List, and select the desired task.
  2. Do any of the following:

More Information

  1. Task name must be of 1 to 32 Unicode characters and must not contain the following characters:
    ! " # $ % & ' ( ) * + , / : ; <= > ? @ [ ] \ ^ ` { } | ~
  2. If you sync shared folders from ext4 to ext3 file system, you may encounter errors when the task contains over 32,000 folders.
  3. If the shared folders in the destination DiskStation have been synced with other DiskStation before, Shared Folder Sync will perform a full sync for the task.
  4. To perform Shared Folder Sync tasks, you need the admin privilege of the destination DiskStation. Either you have its admin account's password, or you are in its administrative group.
  5. When syncing to the destination DiskStation over the Internet, you can enter the server name by its external IP address or its hostname. However, if you choose to enter its hostname, the name must be in FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) format, like "www.synology.com".
  6. For port-forwarding, Shared Folder Sync uses port 22 for encrypted transfer and port 873 for unencrypted transfer.
  7. External storage devices are not supported by Shared Folder Sync.
  8. When the Shared Folder Sync task runs, the encrypted shared folders at the destination will be automatically mounted; however, to access the data inside, you must mount the encrypted shared folders at the destination first.
  9. Scheduled Shared Folder Sync will not run at the specified time if no changes have been made to the selected shared folder.
  10. For best performance, we suggest each sync task include less than 200 shared folders.
  11. The User Home function will be disabled on the destination DiskStation if the homes shared folder is synced from the source DiskStation to the destination DiskStation.
  12. For models with package architectures 88f628x or Qoriq, you can sync up to 100,000 shared folders (including subfolders) using Shared Folder Sync. Please refer to this FAQ to learn about the package architecture your DiskStation uses.
  13. Shared Folder Sync can back up Windows ACL settings when the destination file system is ext4 or Btrfs.
    Note: Data and Windows ACL settings stored on DiskStation cannot be synced to EDS14.
  14. Shared Folder Sync will fail if you are syncing to a destination server which shares the same name as your DiskStation.
  15. Advanced Shared Folder Permissions at the source will not be synced to the destination. Furthermore, a read-only rule for administrators group will be created at the destination.
  16. To ensure the functionality of Shared Folder Sync, the system automatically overwrites the privilege settings in Control Panel > Shared Folder > Edit > Advanced Permissions > Advanced Share Permissions every time a sync task is carried out. The privilege settings for the current user account on the destination will be changed to Read Only. All other users on the destination that have Read Only privilege will have their privilege revoked (unticked).