syncthing Installation Guide Installation Guide

syncthing is a free and open-source continuous file synchronization. Syncthing provides secure, decentralized file sync without relying on cloud services

Hardware Requirements:

CPU: 1 core minimum

RAM: 256MB minimum

Storage: 1GB for app

Network: TCP/UDP sync

Operating System:

Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)

macOS: 10.14+ (Mojave or newer)

Windows: Windows Server 2016+ or Windows 10

FreeBSD: 11.0+

Network Requirements:

Port 8384 (default syncthing port)

Port 22000 for sync

Dependencies:

See official documentation for specific requirements

System Access: root or sudo privileges required

This guide supports installation on:

RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)

Debian 11/12

Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS

Arch Linux (rolling release)

Alpine Linux 3.18+

openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+

macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)

FreeBSD 13+

Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

bash

# Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install syncthing
sudo dnf install -y syncthing

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now syncthing

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8384/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
syncthing --version

bash

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install syncthing
sudo apt install -y syncthing

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now syncthing

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 8384

# Verify installation
syncthing --version

bash

# Install syncthing
sudo pacman -S syncthing

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now syncthing

# Verify installation
syncthing --version

bash

# Install syncthing
apk add --no-cache syncthing

# Enable and start service
rc-update add syncthing default
rc-service syncthing start

# Verify installation
syncthing --version

bash

# Install syncthing
sudo zypper install -y syncthing

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now syncthing

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8384/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
syncthing --version

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install syncthing

# Start service
brew services start syncthing

# Verify installation
syncthing --version

bash

# Using pkg
pkg install syncthing

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'syncthing_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service syncthing start

# Verify installation
syncthing --version

bash

# Using Chocolatey
choco install syncthing

# Or using Scoop
scoop install syncthing

# Verify installation
syncthing --version

bash

# Create configuration directory
sudo mkdir -p /etc/syncthing

# Set up basic configuration
# See official documentation for detailed configuration options

# Test configuration
syncthing --version

bash

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable syncthing

# Start service
sudo systemctl start syncthing

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop syncthing

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart syncthing

# Check status
sudo systemctl status syncthing

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u syncthing -f

bash

# Enable service
rc-update add syncthing default

# Start service
rc-service syncthing start

# Stop service
rc-service syncthing stop

# Restart service
rc-service syncthing restart

# Check status
rc-service syncthing status

bash

# Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'syncthing_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service syncthing start

# Stop service
service syncthing stop

# Restart service
service syncthing restart

# Check status
service syncthing status

bash

# Using Homebrew services
brew services start syncthing
brew services stop syncthing
brew services restart syncthing

# Check status
brew services list | grep syncthing

powershell

# Start service
net start syncthing

# Stop service
net stop syncthing

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service syncthing
Stop-Service syncthing
Restart-Service syncthing

# Check status
Get-Service syncthing

See the official documentation for advanced configuration options.

nginx

upstream syncthing_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:8384;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name syncthing.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name syncthing.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/syncthing.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/syncthing.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://syncthing_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName syncthing.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://syncthing.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName syncthing.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/syncthing.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/syncthing.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:8384/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:8384/
</VirtualHost>

haproxy

frontend syncthing_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/syncthing.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend syncthing_backend

backend syncthing_backend
    balance roundrobin
    server syncthing1 127.0.0.1:8384 check

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R syncthing:syncthing /etc/syncthing
sudo chmod 750 /etc/syncthing

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=8384/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

See official documentation for database configuration requirements.

bash

# Basic system tuning
echo 'net.core.somaxconn = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

bash

# Check service status
sudo systemctl status syncthing

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u syncthing -f

# Monitor resource usage
top -p $(pgrep syncthing)

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Basic backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/syncthing"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/syncthing-backup-$DATE.tar.gz" /etc/syncthing /var/lib/syncthing

echo "Backup completed: $BACKUP_DIR/syncthing-backup-$DATE.tar.gz"

bash

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop syncthing

# Restore from backup
tar -xzf /backup/syncthing/syncthing-backup-*.tar.gz -C /

# Start service
sudo systemctl start syncthing

1. Service won't start:

bash

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u syncthing -n 100
sudo tail -f /var/log/syncthing/syncthing.log

# Check configuration
syncthing --version

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/syncthing

2. Connection issues:

bash

# Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 8384

# Test connectivity
telnet localhost 8384

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

3. Performance issues:

bash

# Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep syncthing)

# Check disk I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep syncthing)

# Check connections
ss -an | grep 8384

yaml

version: '3.8'
services:
  syncthing:
    image: syncthing:latest
    ports:
      - "8384:8384"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/syncthing
      - ./data:/var/lib/syncthing
    restart: unless-stopped

Maintenance

bash

# RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update syncthing

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade syncthing

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu syncthing

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade syncthing

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update syncthing

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade syncthing

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/syncthing-pre-update-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/syncthing

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart syncthing

Regular Maintenance

bash

# Log rotation
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/syncthing

# Clean old logs
find /var/log/syncthing -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Check disk usage
du -sh /var/lib/syncthing

Official Documentation: https://docs.syncthing.org/

GitHub Repository: https://github.com/syncthing/syncthing

Community Forum: https://forum.syncthing.org/

Best Practices Guide: https://docs.syncthing.org/best-practices

---

Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

1. Prerequisites

2. Supported Operating Systems

3. Installation

RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

Debian/Ubuntu

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

openSUSE/SLES

macOS

FreeBSD

Windows

Initial Configuration

Basic Configuration

5. Service Management

systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

rc.d (FreeBSD)

launchd (macOS)

Windows Service Manager

Advanced Configuration

Reverse Proxy Setup

nginx Configuration

Apache Configuration

HAProxy Configuration

Security Configuration

Basic Security Setup

Database Setup

Performance Optimization

System Tuning

Monitoring

Basic Monitoring

9. Backup and Restore

Backup Script

Restore Procedure

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Integration Examples

Docker Compose Example

Maintenance

Update Procedures

Regular Maintenance

Additional Resources

Related Miscellaneous Guides

ackee Installation Guide

Appwrite Installation Guide

arangodb Installation Guide