Synology Drive ShareSync

Synology Drive ShareSync is the application to sync data across multiple Synology NAS. It is automatically installed along with the Synology Drive Server package in DSM.

Glossary:

  • Local Synology NAS: The Synology NAS on which you are operating Synology Drive ShareSync. Data on this Synology NAS will be synced with other Synology NAS devices.
  • Remote Synology NAS: Other Synology NAS devices whose data you wish to sync with the local Synology NAS.
  • Local folders: The shared folders on the local Synology NAS.
  • Remote folders: The shared folders on the remote Synology NAS.

Contents

Before you start

  1. Install Synology Drive Server on all Synology NAS that you wish to sync with.
  2. In Synology Drive Admin Console > Team Folder on each remote Synology NAS, enable shared folders as Team Folders.

Setting up Synology Drive ShareSync

To sync files between the remote and local Synology NAS, you need to establish the connection first.

To create a new connection on the local Synology NAS:

  1. The first time you open Synology Drive ShareSync, the setup wizard will appear. Click Start Now to begin. To create additional connections in the future, click the + icon on the dashboard.
  2. Enter the IP address (or QuickConnect ID), username, and password of your remote Synology NAS. For domain users, sign in with your domain name\username. For LDAP users, use "username@Base_DN" to sign in. You can also connect via IPv6 or proxy service. Click Next.
  3. On the Select remote folders page, a list of shared folders on the remote Synology NAS that can be synced will appear. Select the folders you wish to sync by ticking the checkboxes under the Enable column. Click Next.
  4. Review the sync settings. If you wish to modify the folder path or sync settings, select the folder and click Edit. For details on modifying sync settings, please refer to the Sync Folders section. Click Done to finish the setup.
  5. Once a connection to a remote Synology NAS has been successfully created, the IP of the remote Synology NAS will be listed in the connection list on the left panel.

Note:

  • You must sign in to the local Synology NAS using an account belonging to the administrators group to create Synology Drive ShareSync connections.
  • To locate your QuickConnect ID, sign in to the remote Synology NAS using an account belonging to the administrators group, and go to Control Panel > External Access > QuickConnect.
  • If you are unable to connect to the remote Synology NAS or authorize the connection with your user credentials, please check your network settings, or go to Control Panel on the remote Synology NAS, click on Application Privileges > Synology Drive and make sure your access to Synology Drive has been enabled by the DSM administrator.
  • Mounted shared folders and folders without write permission cannot be used as sync folders on the local Synology NAS when you try to create connections.
  • Each local Synology NAS can connect with multiple remote Synology NAS, but a remote Synology NAS and a local Synology NAS can only be paired once. Also, a local shared folder cannot be set as the sync folder for multiple remote Synology NAS at the same time. For example, folder abc on local Synology NAS A is used as the sync folder for synchronization between local Synology NAS A and remote Synology NAS X. Thus, it cannot be used as the sync folder for the connection between local Synology NAS A and any other remote Synology NAS.
  • The synchronization will be download-only if the account used to sign in to the remote Synology NAS does not have write permission to the remote shared folder. Likewise, it will be upload-only syncing if you don’t have write permission to the local folder on the local Synology NAS.

Overview

To manage connections:

Once a connection has been successfully created, it will be listed in the connection list on the left panel. You can view the connection information and modify the connection. If you have not set up connections, refer to the create a new connection section.

  1. Select the connection you wish to edit from the connection list on the left panel.
  2. Under the Overview tab, do any of the following:
    • Pause syncing: Pause the syncing between your remote and local Synology NAS.
    • Resume syncing: Resume the syncing between your remote and local Synology NAS.
    • Edit connection: Enter user credentials and enable SSL if desired.
    • Unlink: Disconnect the connection with the remote Synology NAS, and remove it from the list on the left panel.

Note:

  • After you unlink a connection, data in the local shared folder on the local Synology NAS will remain while the connection configuration will be deleted.

Sync Folders

To sync a shared folder:

You can specify which shared folder on the remote Synology NAS you would like to sync with, as well as the folder on the local Synology NAS that is to be synced with the remote Synology NAS.

  1. Once a connection has been successfully created, it will be listed in the connection list on the left panel. Select the connection you wish to edit from the connection list on the left panel. If you have not set up connections, refer to the create a new connection section.
  2. Under the Synced folders tab, you can find all shared folders on the remote Synology NAS that can be synced.
  3. Tick the checkbox next to the shared folder you wish to sync under the Enable column, and then click on the folder icon to select a local sync folder. Click OK.
  4. Click Save to apply the change.

Note:

  • A local shared folder cannot be set as the sync folder for multiple remote Synology NAS at the same time. For example, folder abc on Synology NAS A is used as the sync folder for synchronization between local Synology NAS A and remote Synology NAS X. Thus, it cannot be used as the sync folder for the connection between local Synology NAS A and any other remote Synology NAS.
  • If you have set up a mount point on the local Synology NAS, files and folders under the mount point will not be synced.
  • You can sync the homes folders between the local Synology NAS and the remote Synology NAS via Synology Drive ShareSync. To ensure data consistency, a sync mode is automatically set depending on your scenario and cannot be modified.
    • When syncing the homes folder on the local Synology NAS and the homes folder on the remote Synology NAS, the sync mode will be set as Two-way sync.
    • When syncing the homes folder on the local Synology NAS to a non-homes folder on the remote Synology NAS, the sync mode will be set as Upload-only.
    • When syncing the homes folder from the remote Synology NAS to a non-homes folder on the local Synology NAS, the sync mode will be set as Download-only.

To sync specific folders or files:

After selecting a local shared folder, you may select specific sub-folders to sync, as well as specify the maximum file size and file types that are to be synced.

  1. Click on the Synced folders tab, select the shared folder that you wish to modify, and click Edit.
  2. In the Folder tab, you can edit the folder location.
  3. Under the Folder-Based Selective Sync section, you can select or deselect specific sub-folders or files that you wish to sync.
  4. In the File filter tab, you may modify the following settings:
    • Filter By File Size: In the blank field next to Don't sync files over, enter a number between 0~10240000 (MB). 0 means unlimited.
    • Filter By File Type: Untick the file types to be excluded from the synchronization. You may also enter file names or file extensions in the field below and click Add. Files with the specified file names or types will not be synced.
  5. Click OK and Save to apply the settings.

Note:

  • Files scattered in the root layer of a shared folder will always be synced unless they are filtered out by File Filter.
  • We do not recommended synchronizing and collaborating on Synology Office files across multiple Synology NAS. Modifications made to the same files via different Synology NAS might cause unexpected synchronization results.
  • Files will not be synced by Synology Drive ShareSync under the following circumstances:
    • The folder or file path contains any of the following characters:
      \, /
    • The file type is any of the following:
      .tmp, .temp, .swp, .lnk
    • The file name starts with a tilde (~)
    • The file or folder name is or contains any of the following:
      • @tmp
      • @eadir
      • .SynologyWorkingDirectory
      • #recycle
      • desktop.ini
      • .DS_STORE
      • Icon\r
      • thumbs.db
      • $Recycle.Bin
      • @sharebin
      • System Volume Information
      • Program Files
      • Program Files (x86)
      • ProgramData
      • #snapshot
    • The file path is longer than 2,048 characters.
    • The file name is longer than 255 characters.

To sync shared folder privileges:

Synology Drive ShareSync allows you to sync files between two Synology NAS with flexible sync mode settings.

  1. Click on the Synced folders tab, select the shared folder whose privilege setting you wish to modify, and click Edit.
  2. Go to Sync Mode > File sync mode, select a sync mode for syncing your local shared folder.
  3. Click OK and Save to save your settings.

Note:

  • The account used for signing in to the remote Synology NAS must belong to the administrators group.
  • If the privilege settings on the remote Synology NAS and local Synology NAS are not compatible, such as the syncing shared folder on one Synology NAS is in Windows ACL mode whereas the syncing shared folder on the other Synology NAS is not in Windows ACL mode, the privilege settings cannot be synced. Please go to Control Panel > Shared Folder on both remote and local Synology NAS, select the shared folder, click on the Action drop-down menu, and click Convert to Windows ACL to adjust the privilege settings for the remote and local shared folders to Windows ACL.
  • If your local and remote Synology NAS are in different domain groups, shared folder privileges cannot be synced, even if this option is enabled.

To set sync direction:

  1. Click on the Synced folders tab, select the shared folder whose sync direction you wish to modify, and click Edit.
  2. Go to Synced Mode > Sync direction, select a direction for syncing your local shared folder.
  3. Click OK to save your settings.

Note:

  • The synchronization will be download-only if the account used to sign in to the remote Synology NAS only has read-only permission to the remote shared folder. Changes you make to the shared folder or files on the local Synology NAS will not be synced to the remote Synology NAS. If you have set up a mount point on the local Synology NAS, files and folders under the mount point will not be synced either.

To perform advanced consistency check:

Synology Drive ShareSync compares additional criteria such as hash, execute bit, and file permissions in different scenarios where merging is required to ensure the ultimate accuracy of synchronization. This may take additional time and resources to complete synchronization tasks.

  • Click on the Synced folders tab, select the folder that you wish to enable advanced consistency check, click Edit. In the Sync Mode tab, tick Enable advanced consistency check. Click OK.

To delete the database:

You may delete the sync task database on a shared folder on the local Synology NAS. Doing so deletes the connection history and settings of previously configured sync task of the local shared folder.

  • Click on the Synced folders tab and click the Delete Database button.

Note:

  • The Delete Database option is only available when you create a task and then disable it.
  • After you delete the sync database, data in the local shared folder will remain on the local Synology NAS.

Sync Log

Synology Drive ShareSync keeps a sync log, allowing you to keep track of the files you synced and the events which took place.

To view the Sync log:

  • Click the Sync log icon at the upper-left corner to view the log. You may filter the events by local shared folder from the drop-down menu at the upper-left corner.

Settings

To modify database location:

  1. Click the Settings icon at the upper-left corner.
  2. Choose a volume from the Database location drop-down menu.
  3. Click OK and Save to change your syncing repository.

To set up default action for resumed sync tasks:

  1. Click the Settings icon at the upper-left corner.
  2. Select your desired default action when the application restarts or the sync tasks are resumed.
  3. Click OK and Save to save your settings.

To edit file conflict resolution settings:

  1. Click the Settings icon at the upper-left corner.
  2. Select your desired file conflict resolution method.
  3. Click OK and Save to save your settings.

Note:

  • As a remote Synology NAS may also be connected to multiple local Synology NAS, conflicts may take place when the same file is being modified simultaneously. To solve this issue, you may set a conflict resolution rule.
  • Tick Rename to keep the discarded version to ensure that in the event of a file conflict, Synology Drive ShareSync will rename the file by the following rule: [file name]_[local NAS name]_[time stamp]_Conflict.[file extension]. For example, document1.txt will be renamed as document1_local NAS name_20210101_Conflict.txt.
Before you start
Setting up Synology Drive ShareSync
Overview
Sync Folders
Sync Log
Settings