Syncovery User Manual
Syncovery User Manual
II
Command Line....................................................................................................................................................... 61
Variables 62
Running the scheduler as a service on Windows .................................................................................................. 64
Block level backup – Block Level Copying with Syncovery .................................................................................... 65
Syncovery Remote Service .................................................................................................................................... 66
Purchasing ............................................................................................................................................................. 68
Company Information ........................................................................................................................................... 68
III
Introduction
This powerful tool now comes with an all-new design and helps you keep your data synchronized in various
locations, including backup storage on fixed or removable media. It runs all versions of Microsoft
Windows starting with Windows 2000 up to Windows 8.1 / Server 2012R2. A Macintosh version is also
available. There are two modes: Wizard Mode and Advanced Mode. Please choose the mode that you feel
most comfortable with in the menu bar.
Left or Right - the program will automatically detect which files are newer on the Left side, and which ones
are newer on the Right side, by comparing the last modification dates of the files. The program will
automatically prepare to copy the newer file to the other side, so that both sides end up with the latest
versions of all files. The only problem is when a file has been modified independently in both storage
locations. In that case, the software cannot merge the various changes within the file. It will simply take the
version with the latest modification date and copy it over to the other side. For this reason, it is
recommended that you take a minute to look at the File List View which shows the results of the comparison
before the actual copying is performed. Please verify that all the actions proposed by the software match
your intentions.
Key Features
(see the Features List on our web site for all the details):
1
Feature Matrix
ONE-WAY SYNCHRONIZATION ✔ ✔
TWO-WAY SYNCHRONIZATION ✔ ✔
REAL-TIME SYNCHRONIZATION ✔
LOG FILES ✔ ✔
EMAIL NOTIFICATIONS ✔ ✔
2
Feature Matrix Standard Professional
VERSIONING)
System Requirements
Syncovery runs on:
Windows
All versions of Windows since Windows 2000 are fully supported, including Windows 8.1 and Server 2012 and
all other versions and editions of Windows that have a graphical user interface. It runs on both 32-bit and 64-
bit operating systems. The software itself (up to version 6) is mostly 32-bit code, but includes some 64-bit
code to enable Volume Shadowing on 64-bit Windows. Version 7 is being released in both 32-bit and 64-bit
editions.
Macintosh
Syncovery runs on all Intel Macs, and on all Mac OS X versions since 10.4 “Tiger” up to including the latest
version (currently 10.9 “Mavericks”).
To install it, you may need to go to the Mac OS System Preferences, Security & Privacy, and specify that you
want to allow apps downloaded from: Anywhere.
An older version 5.73 is also available if you need to run it on older PowerPC Macs. This version also requires
at least Mac OS 10.4 “Tiger”.
Linux
A version of Super Flexible File Synchronizer is available for Linux. It may or may not run on your Linux
distribution. See the Linux download page for more details.
Installing Syncovery
IMPORTANT: You must install Syncovery on each device on which you will use the application.
3
Click Continue and follow the on-screen prompts. Then click Install to complete the installation.
After installation is complete, navigate to your Applications folder and double-click Syncovery to
start the application.
Syncovery V7 can be installed on top of an existing version and will use the same configuration and
database files.
The 32-bit version 7 will replace an existing V6 unless you specify a separate installation folder.
The 64-bit version will automatically be installed into a new folder and can be used side-by-side with
any 32-bit version.
You can always go back to version 6 without any issues, because all configuration and database files
are 100% comptible.
Main Form
Profile Overview Tab
This tab sheet shows an overview of all stored profiles and allows you to manage your profiles.
When editing a profile from the Profile Overview, you will automatically edit in in Advanced Mode and see all
available options.
4
Also make sure you try the context menu which you get by right-clicking on profiles. You have three choices
of how to start a profile:
Run In Background
When run in the background, the profile will be executed by a separate process which will show in Task
Manager as SyncoveryService.exe. You will not see a lot of details, but some progress information is shown in
the Profile Overview. You can stop the profile with the Stop button in the toolbar.
Running profiles in the background is the only way to run several profile simultaneously. The scheduler can
also run profiles in the background and simultaneously, see the option "Start Profiles In Parallel" in the Tools
and Settings menu on the Scheduler tab sheet.
You have the choice between three schedulers: the Background Scheduler (default), the Foreground
Scheduler, and the Service Scheduler (Professional Edition only).
Background Scheduler
This is the default scheduler. It will run in the background in a separate process. All status and progress
information can be seen on the Scheduler tab sheet. You can actually make the background scheduler visible
by right-clicking on its tray icon and selecting "Reveal Background Windows".
The Background Scheduler usually starts when you log in to Windows. You can select this in the Tools and
Settings menu. You can also choose whether to start profiles in parallel (simultaneously).
Foreground Scheduler
While the Foreground Scheduler is running, you cannot access any other parts of the software. For that
5
reason, this scheduler type is no longer recommended but you may use it if you prefer.
Service Scheduler
The service scheduler is a bit more difficult to set up. Please note that the word "install" is used in a double
sense when speaking about services. First, the service's file must be installed (=copied) onto the computer.
Second, the service must be installed (=registered) with the Windows operating system so that it is known as
a service and automatically started when Windows boots up.
Start / Stop
When the service has been installed properly, it can be started and stopped. Start launches the Syncovery
Service process and activates its scheduler. Stop cancels whatever the service is currently doing and
terminates its process. Please note that several seconds may pass after clicking on either of these buttons
before the operation has completely finished.
See also:
The Syncovery Service
In order to edit a Profile, click 'Edit Profile' in toolbar of the Main From.
You will be shown Profile Settings dialog, where you can set-up custom options for synchronization profile.
6
In this area, you can
specify the profile name
choose the paths or folders to synchronize
choose an Internet protocol (cloud server) or choose an MTP Device (such as a camera or smart phone)
choose the copying direction
choose subfolders and files
specify the Sync Operation Mode
Profile Name
In this field, you can enter or change the profile's name. To create profile groups, just create several profiles
whose names that start with the same first word, for example:
Backup Documents
Backup Music
Backup SQL Databases
When you change the name of an existing profile here, you will be asked if you want to also keep it under the
original name when you click OK. The Save As button is an alternative way to creating a second copy of a
profile.
Left-Hand Side
In this field, you enter the left path for the comparison or backup. Click the folder icon to browse for a
folder. In the Professional Edition, you can use the Internet button to access Cloud Storage, FTP, SSH,
WebDAV and many other server types. Click the Device button to choose a folder on an MTP device, such as a
camera or smartphone.
Include Subfolders
Specify if no, all, or selected subfolders on both sides are to be included in the synchronization process.
Standard Copying
Standard copying will compare the files and folders present on each side, using the filenames, the "Last
Modified" timestamps as well as the file sizes for comparison. Newer files and files that only exist on one side
will be copied over to the other side. No files are deleted (except if you choose Real Time Synchronization
and specify so on the Real Time settings dialog).
SmartTracking
SmartTracking uses a local database in order to track changes that have been made between the various
invocations of the profile. That way, the software will know whether a file has been moved on the left side,
or on the right side. It can also detect whether a file has been deleted on one side, or whether the file has
7
actually been added on the other. SmartTracking should always be used whenever you want to keep two
locations in sync, both of which are being used for work. SmartTracking is not needed when you do a backup
or mirror, or any other case where you synchronize in one direction only. SmartTracking has various
additional features which you will see in the SmartTracking dialog box (click on the Configure button).
Exact Mirror
This option is available when copying in one direction only. The purpose is to create an exact mirror of the
source path. This may even include deleting files, or overwriting newer files with older ones. Therefore, the
option should be used with caution. However, before overwriting newer files or deleting files, confirmation
will be demanded from the user - unless the process is running unattended or scheduled, and the Unattended
options allow these actions to be carried out without user confirmation.
WARNING: if you want to run the profile in unattended or scheduled mode, be sure to go to the Unattended
tab sheet and make the appropriate checkmarks there so that the software will indeed delete files etc. - if
you want that to happen.
You can click the Configure... button to fine-tune the Exact Mirror behavior. In particular, you can specify a
delay for deletions, and you can choose that excluded files are removed from the destination even if they
exist on the source side.
Advanced Settings
The Advanced Settings are available on the following tab sheets. The Defaults button resets the options on
these tab sheets. It leaves the remaining options of the dialog box alone.
Schedule
Profile Settings - Schedule
Profile Settings - Schedule/More
Profile Settings - Weekdays and Time Window
Profile Settings - Monitoring / Real-Time Sync
Comparison
Profile Settings - Comparison
Profile Settings - Comparison/More
Files
8
Profile Settings - Files
Profile Settings - Deletions
Profile Settings - Files/More
Folders
Profile Settings - Folders
Job
Profile Settings - Job-Related Settings
Safety
Profile Settings - Safety/Attended Mode
Profile Settings - Special Safety
Profile Settings - Safety/Unattended Mode
Special Features
Profile Settings - Special Features
Profile Settings - Database
Versioning
Profile Settings - Versioning
Profile Settings - Synthetic Backup
Profile Settings - Versioning/More
9
Schedule
Schedule/Schedule
On this tab sheet, you specify whether the profile should run automatically when the Scheduler is turned
on.
Repeat After
Select this radio button and specify the exact interval that you want to have between each profile run. If
you want to run it several times a day, make sure the number for days is zero (0).
10
Schedule/More
Additional Times
You can specify additional times of day where the profile should run. However make sure to specify a main
schedule first. These times will only be used if the profile has a schedule on the "Schedule" tab sheet.
See also:
Upper Part Of Dialog Box Advanced Settings
11
Schedule/Tab Weekdays and Time Window
Weekdays
If you don't want the profile to run each day, please uncheck some of the week days. Specify the time of
day or the interval of profile invocation on the Basic or Advanced tab sheets.
You can choose to Ignore this limitation on Saturdays and Sundays, as well as specify whether running
profiles should be interrupted at the end of the time window, and whether copying should stop even in
the middle of a file.
In addition, you will find the Continuous Sync checkmark, which may be useful when connecting to servers
with Internet Protocols. It causes the syncs to occur as one profile "run" that repeats continuously without
logging out from the server connection - as opposed to the normal behavior where Syncovery completes
each profile run and logs out, and starts a new run at the next scheduled time, or when the next real-time
events occur.
The setting at the bottom, Minimum pause between actions applies to all of these features. It can be
used to avoid constant activity and to make sure that the profile isn't run too often.
For all of these features, the Scheduler must be running because it manages the monitoring and profile
running.
------------------------
12
Run profile as soon as the drives or volumes involved become available
This feature will cause the invocation of the profile to be triggered by the presence of network paths or
other devices such as USB drives.
The profile will be executed as soon as a drive becomes available, or as soon as this computer is
connected to the LAN.
The presence of a drive is detected by simply trying to access it at regular intervals. Specify the delay
between access attempts here. In addition, you will usually want the profile to pause for a longer time
when it has run successfully. You can specify the pause after a successful run by specifying a Minimum
pause between actions.
Volume Shadowing
Volume Shadowing is a feature available since Windows XP which allows the program to copy locked files
(files which are in use by another program). You can specify if volume shadowing should be used, and when it
should be used.
Since volume shadowing takes some time and causes additional CPU and disk usage, the default setting is to
use it only to copy locked files. If there are no locked files, it is not used at all.
However, in many cases it is better to use the option "Use For All, Create Shadow Before Building File List".
This ensures that a consistent snapshot of the folders is copied. It avoids changes or discrepancies between
the building of the file list and the copying phase.
Using volume shadowing for all files also avoids any problems with applications trying to write to a file while
it is being copied.
Volume shadowing is only available for local drives, not for network drives. This means that the software
must be installed on the computer where the data is stored, rather than another computer on the network.
13
Prior to copying, verify that all files can be copied by opening them
This setting is rarely used. It ensures (as much as possible) that the copying is only done if all files can
actually be copied. That way, you will either get all files copied successfully, or none. To make this possible,
a separate step (checking all files) is added before the actual copying starts. If any file is not accessible on
the source side or is not writeable on the destination, then the profile will be stopped. Usually this setting is
used when profiles are run via scheduler, so that another attempt to copy the files will be made at the next
scheduled time.
These settings allow you to have the whole profile re-run automatically if any error has occured. You can
specify whether to re-run only once, or to re-run until it has completely succeeded. Also specify the number
of seconds to wait before each re-run.
14
Comparison
Comparison/Comparison
Normally, files are compared primarily based on their timestamp - the time and date of the last modification.
However, in some cases, the timestamp may be (slightly) different, but the files are really the same. To cope
with that, some special cases can be recognized by Syncovery.
Ignore Seconds
This setting causes the program to ignore seconds when comparing the timestamps of two files.
15
Comparison/More
Binary Comparison Of Existing Files While Building the File List (SLOW)
If you want to verify that the file contents of existing files is 100% identical on both sides, use this setting.
Only files which would normally be considered identical by looking at the file size and timestamp will be
verified. If the binary comparison shows that the files are different, they will be marked for copying in the
profile's main copying direction. If the profile has both directions checked, then the Synchronization Preview
will show such files with the word CONFLICT and it will not do any copying by default. You can then set the
desired copying direction in the Synchronization Preview.
This checkmark should not usually be used for jobs that run regularly, because it causes a lot of disk usage or
network traffic. Moreover, this checkmark does not cause newly copied files to be verified. To verify files
after copying, use the checkmark Verify copied files on the Files tab sheet.
Attribute comparison
This setting causes the program to compare file attributes, such as Read-Only, Hidden, and Archive. When
files are identical except for the file attribute, the file is not copied again. Only the attribute is changed on
the destination side.
16
statistics which are used to verify that the backup or mirror is complete. Any files or folders that still don't
exist on both sides are listed.
Files
Files/Files
A limitation of this feature is that moved files can only be recognized as such if they haven't been edited on
one side. If they still carry the same timestamp and they still have the same size on both sides of the
synchronization, then this software is able to detect that they are identical, even if they are not in the same
folders.
You also need to specify whether the location of moved files should be adjusted on the left-hand side or on
the right-hand side. On the side that you choose, the file will be moved in such a way that its new location
matches that of the other side. Note that these radio boxes are automatically adjusted when you change the
main direction of the synchronization.
If you don't want to specify a fixed side (left or right) where the location of files should be adjusted to match
the other side, you can use SmartTracking.
17
generated MD5 checksum for verification. The checksum can be calculated by the Syncovery Remote Service
running on the other end, or by an FTP server supporting the MD5 command. The MD5 comparison option
must be chosen under Comparison/More.
Automatically resume (copy with temporary filenames, keep incomplete files when stopped)
This checkmark will enable resuming of interrupted copying operations even when the job is stopped and run
again later. During copying, the destination filename will have an additional extension, flagging it as a
temporary file. When the copy is complete, the destination file will be renamed to the actual file name. The
checkmark is recommended in many cases, because it can prevent incomplete copies on the destination from
replacing good files, and thus avoid data corruption. It is also useful to prevent incomplete files from being
processed by other software, or from being copied by other profiles.
Do not scan destination - copy all files regardless of their existence at destination
When copying only in one direction or moving files, you can select that the program does not check to see
which files are currently present on the destination side. The purpose is usually speeding the profile up. This
however means that all files will be copied each time unless filters are applied. For backup purposes, you
may want to combine this setting with the Archive filter (Copy Only Files With Archive Flag and Clear Archive
Flags).
Files/Deletions
Double-Check the Non-Existence of Files Before Deleting them on the Other Side
18
This checkmark causes the program perform a double-check of files before deleting them from the other
side. Deletions can occur in Exact Mirror and SmartTracking mode if files have been removed from one side.
However to rule out any uncertainty the program can double-check if such files are really no longer there.
This might be necessary if unstable network connections might cause files not to be seen even though they
are still there.
Files/More
Speed Limit
If you want to limit the bandwidth that the copying process will use, you can specify it here. Note that while
the copying is running, you will still be able to turn this limitation on or off.
Always Append Smaller Destination Files (Use Only For Log Files)
19
This setting causes destination files to be resumed when the source file is larger. The program does not verify
if the file is still the same, so this option is not usually employed in order to resume transfers. For general
resuming, use the Auto-Resume feature from the Files tab sheet. A good example of where the Auto-Resume
feature cannot be used so that you must use the setting "Always Append..." would be log files which get
bigger each day, and you only want to copy the new information each time. In some cases, you may need to
combine this option with the following one so that the program uses the suitable copying direction.
Folders
If you would like folders that are emptied during the profile run to be removed also, activate this setting.
One use case for the setting is the operating mode "Move Files To Destination" where you can choose to
delete emptied folders on the source side with this checkmark.
20
name. You must combine this setting with the two "Archive" flag settings on the Filters tab sheet. The
"Archive" flags will signal to the software that a file needs to be backed up. Because older backups are
contained in various separate folders, the software cannot check whether a file is already contained in an
older backup. Therefore, it must depend on the "Archive" flag if you are directing each backup into a
separate folder.
Ensure Folder Timestamps Reflect the Most Recently Modified File in the Subtree
This option offers a solution to the following problem: in Windows, folder timestamps are updated when a
file in the folder changes or a new file is added. However, only the direct parent folder of changed files are
updated. Folders further up in the hierarchy will still show an older modification date. For this reason, folder
timestamps cannot safely be used as a filter because an older date in a folder doesn't mean that there aren't
newer files in any subfolder.
When making a copy of a folder hierarchy, Syncovery can make sure that on the destination side, the folder
timestamps do really reflect the most recently modified file in the complete subtree. This folder timestamp
adjustment is only made on the destination side. The use case for this is that if you use additional profiles to
distribute your files further from this profile's destination, then you will be able to use folder timestamps for
filtering.
Job
Job/Job-Related Settings
Run As User...
21
If you need to run this profile under a different user account in order to be able to access specific files, then
you can specify the credentials here.
Network Connections...
Click here to specify network connections that should be made when the profile is run. In most cases, this is
not needed because network connections are already active.
22
Masks & Filters
Mask&Filters/Inclusion Masks
Filename Mask(s)
Specify which files to process. Normally, (all) or * means all files. Alternatively,
you can specify filename masks such as *.doc or *.xl?. You can also specify complete
file names here, but no folders.
The masks, or the file list to copy, can also be read from a text file. In that case, start the
line in the Inclusion Masks edit field with a colon : and type the full path of the text file
directly after it.
If the text file contains only subfolder selections, start the line with :+ like this:
:+C:\subfolders.txt
Restrictions...
Rarely used. Allows you to specify separate file masks for one of the two possible copying
directions.
23
Mask&Filters/Exclusion Masks
Trailing backslashes are not allowed. Folders are specified in the same way as files.
Wildcards are only allowed in the name itself. So if you specify a full path, only the
last part (the name) can contain wildcards.
The recommended way to enter full paths is to use them relative to the profile's base paths.
So you start with a backslash and then type only those folders in the path that are relative
to the base.
Examples:
*.tmp
\TEMP
\Users\All Users
.*
\My Documents\*.jpg
The exclusion masks can also be read from a text file. In that case, start the line in the
Masks edit field with a colon : and type the full path of the text file directly after it.
24
Mask&Filters/General Filters
25
points from other applications, as an example.
File Age
Rather than specifying a fixed date range, you may want to choose a certain age for the files that you want
to synchronize. The age that you specify is always seen relative to the current date when the profile is
executed.
Folder timestamps under Windows are not consistent in such a way that they would be reliable for filtering.
Applying timetamp filters to folders will often result in undesired exclusions of files.
However, there are some use cases where you may want to apply the filter to both files and folders, or even
to folders only. For example, if you are distributing files from a copy of your folders made by another
Syncovery profile, then you may filter by folder timestamps if the other profile has the option "Ensure Folder
Timestamps Reflect the Most Recently Modified File in the Subtree" chosen on the Folders tab sheet.
26
Safety
Safety/Attended Mode
These options specify which warnings Syncovery is going to generate in certain situations encountered during
file synchronization. These options are only in effect when the program is running in attended mode (i.e. not
scheduled, and not otherwise invoked in unattended mode).
Warn before running a profile that moved files and deletes from source
This warning will come up when a profile with the "Move Files" mode is started. The warning can be
confirmed and disabled for the future when it appears, so you do not need to remove the checkmark on this
tabsheet (it will be removed when the warning is permanently confirmed).
27
Safety /Special Safety
To turn the safety checks on for Unattended Mode, please see Profile Settings - Safety/Unattended Mode.
When a profile is executed and more files are going to be deleted than allowed by the new safety checks,
then the user must confirm the deletions even in unattended mode. Without the confirmation, the profile
will be executed without the deletions.
The safety checks have been designed to catch the following situations:
files have been accidentally deleted on one side of a synchronization
incomplete or empty FTP directories are received due to bad communication
Especially when incompletely received FTP directory listings could cause the profile to delete files, it is
recommended to turn these safety checks on (but you can change the pecentages that trigger the warnings).
Again, to turn the safety checks on for Unattended Mode, please see Profile Settings - Safety/Unattended
Mode.
Safety/Unattended Mode
These options specify how Syncovery behaves in unattended mode, and at which times unattended mode is in
effect.
28
Overwrite Larger Files With Smaller Ones If File Dates Require It
When this option is checked, the software will automatically overwrite larger files with smaller ones when
running in unattended mode - if the files' modification dates require it. In attended mode, it always
demands a confirmation from the user in this case. When this option is unchecked and the profile is run in
unattended mode, then such files are skipped.
The program will never delete all files from either side of the synchronization, even if you specify 100%
here. If deletion of all files can occur and you really want it to happen, then you need to create a dummy
(text) file which always stays on both sides and which disables this security mechanism, simply by being
there. If this is not feasible and you really need the profile to delete all files regularly, please contact
[email protected] for a solution.
Special
Special/Special Features
This setting will speed up running a profile by using a database as cache for the destination file list. It can
be used in the following case:
you are copying only from source to destination (not in both directions)
nobody else, and no other profile, is modifying the files on the destination
you want to speed up building the file list, and it needs the speed-up because the destination is
29
relatively slow (such as FTP or WebDAV)
Note that the cache may actually slow down building the file list in some cases, so you need to try it out.
Local scanning and even folder scanning over a local network, or with a recursive listing from an Internet
Protocol, is usually faster when done directly rather than with the cache.
There are many other ways to speed up building the file list. Please see the documentation on our web
site:
https://www.syncovery.com/documentation/faq/fastlist/
If the Destination Machine Modifies Received Files, Changing Their Sizes Upon Reception, Then Copy
Such Updates Files Back
In some cases, when uploading documents to a server such as a Sharepoint Server, the server may add
some additional information to the file. The file size then no longer matches. To fix the mismatch, this
checkbox will cause Syncovery to copy the updated file back from the server shortly after having uploaded
it.
Special/Database
These settings enable the program to share the same database between several profiles. Normally, you
don't need to edit any of the fields on this tab sheet. When saving a profile under a new name, you will be
30
asked if you would like to continue using the same database.
Sharing the same database may be useful or necessary only in special cases, for example if you have more
than one profile that work on the same folders but with different file masks or subfolder selections.
In most cases, you will want to avoid two jobs from using the same database. You will find a checkmark on
the Database tab sheet of the Program Settings dialog to "never allow two profiles to share the same
database". If two profiles do share the same database, only one of them can run at the same time.
Versioning
Versioning/ Versioning
Add Timestamp
This way of renaming adds the timestamp to the filename.
Filename Encoding: On Right Side, Put Timestamp Into All File Names
(Also Preserves Timestamp on Servers That Normally Lose It)
Filename Encoding is the recommended way to do a versioning backup as well as preserve the timestamps on
sites that don't accept timestamps.
Putting the timestamp into the file names can serve two purposes when backing up data:
Some cloud servers don't accept the original file timestamps natively. To serve as a fully transparent side
for the synchronization, the timestamp has to be retained somehow. Filename Encoding can be the solution
because the time stamp will be shown fully correct in future runs of the profile. The encoded filename will
be decoded by Syncovery and the original filename will be shown with the correct timestamp.
To keep multiple versions of the same file on the destination.
31
Filename Encoding is also the way of renaming used when using Synthetic Backup.
See also Versioning and Filename Encoding on our web site.
Synthetic Backup is the combination of Partial File Updating with Versioning, Filename Encoding and Zipping.
It can be used with any backup storage location, including FTP and other Internet Protocols. The zip files can
be encrypted. Synthetic Backup can be described as Differential Versioning.
Checkbox to choose:
- tab sheet Versioning->Synthetic Backups: "Use Synthetic Backups"
Be sure to keep all zip files on the destination as they may all be needed to reassemble the
file upon restore. However, the number of older incremental parts that need to remain on the
backup storage can be limited thru the new "Checkpoint" feature. You will find its settings
on the new tab sheet Versioning->Synthetic Backup.
A checkpoint is an incremental backup just like the daily backups. However, it is a little larger because it
includes the changed blocks of a longer period of time, so that many preceding incrementals become
unnecessary.
Any older version can be restored by choosing the desired target date in the Restore Wizard, or by right-
clicking the file in the Sync Preview and choosing the desired version. The option "Keep multiple files" is
implied and does not need to be checked. It cannot be used to limit the number of older versions. However,
if this option is specified on the Versioning tab sheet, it will be used as a minimum number of versions to
keep even if the Checkpoints feature would allow to keep fewer versions.
A restore of the synthetic backup files can be done independently from the original job, to any destination.
No database is needed for the restore - just the files.
Block-level copying is applied to files which are at least 400,000 bytes in size. The granularity of the
differential backup is determined dynamically for each file, based on its size. The smallest block size used
will be 2048 bytes.
Each partial backup includes an MD5 checksum for each file, so that restored files can be verified to be 100%
correct. You can see this in the file MD5.TXT that the partial zips contain.
The Zip file sizes can now be limited too so that large files can be split (only in conjunction with Partial File
Updating). The transfer can be stopped any time and zip parts already uploaded won't be lost.
32
Versioning/More
Remove parenthesized version numbers before extension on the right side: file(2).ext
Rarely used. This option will remove the version numbers in parentheses, like the example, from files on the
right side, when copying right to left. Note that this checkmark is unrelated to any other versioning settings.
The parenthesized version numbers are not something that Syncovery uses itself, it can only remove them.
Remove the versioning tags -1 and -2 and rename such files immediately while building the file list
Rarely used. This option helps cleaning up versioned files. These versioning tags may have been added by the
conflict detection in SmartTracking mode.
Files Backup Up With V4 Used UTC/GMT (World Time) For Encoding (Like V5)
Up to version 4, filename encoding could use either the local time or world time. Because this was
ambiguous, the filename encoding was changed to always use world time in version 5. If you still have older
files, this checkmark is used to tell the program how to interpret the encoded timestamps.
33
Zip/Encryption
Zipping
There are two ways of using ZIP files. You can either
ZIP the source files individually. On the right side, one ZIP file will be created for each file that is copied
from the left-hand side to the right-hand side. The advantage of this method is that in future
synchronizations, the zipped files are fully transparent and they will be shown in the Synchronization
Preview as normal files. Since future synchronizations will see the zipped files as normal files, they will
know exactly if they are still identical to the left-hand side. When copying these zipped files back (from
right to left), they are unzipped automatically.
Put many files in each ZIP file. The program calls these files ZIP Packages. In future runs, the files inside
the ZIP Packages are not seen by the software. Therefore, you need to resort to the "Archive" flag in order
to determine which files are new or changed and need to be backed up. ZIP Packages cannot be encrypted
by Syncovery. ZIP Packages can also be used in order to speed up file transfer over a small or medium
bandwidth network connection. If used that way, the Syncovery Remote Service must be installed on the
destination machine and be configured properly.
34
Encryption
Encryption can be performed when files are copied from the left-hand side to the right-hand side. Copying in
the opposite direction or using the Restore Wizard will decrypt the files.
Encryption is always done along with zipping. The recommended method is ZIP-Compatible AES encryption
(256 bit). This encryption can be decrypted with some popular zipping tools, such as WinZip, WinRAR, and
PowerArchiver.
The password phrase should be longer than normal passwords since it is used to generate an encryption key.
However, the maximum length that can be saved in a profile is currently 63 characters.
Information
SmartTracking
SmartTracking is used when synchronizing two locations, and new or updated files can be expected on both
sides. SmartTracking can detect on which side a file has been changed, moved, or deleted.
SmartTracking uses a local database in order to track changes that have been made between the various
invocations of the profile. That way, the software will know whether a file has been moved on the left side,
or on the right side. It can also detect whether a file has been deleted on one side, or whether the file has
35
actually been added on the other. SmartTracking should always be used whenever you want to keep two
locations in sync, both of which are being used for work. SmartTracking is not needed when you do a backup
or mirror, or any other case where you synchronize in one direction only. SmartTracking has various
additional features which you will see in the SmartTracking dialog box.
SmartTracking keeps information in a database linked to the profile name. On the first run, SmartTracking
will record the state of each file. Starting with the second run, the SmartTracking settings will become
active. Do not rename the profile, because then it will not be able to find its original database. Do not use
more than one profile for synchronization of the same folders.
SmartTracking can detect these cases, but ultimately you are responsible for what the program does, so
please verify the actions in the Synchronization Preview before starting it. To ensure that no important files
can get lost accidentally, the software will not actually delete these files. It will move them into a special
folder which you need to specify as the last setting in this dialog box. That way, you can always retrieve files
that have been deleted but for some reason shouldn't have.
So, you can choose to have such files be labeled as CONFLICT. Then, you will need to look closely at the
Synchronization Preview window and resolve these conflicts manually by specifying a copying direction for
each file. Or you can specify that both versions of the file, from the left and right sides, should be kept. To
keep both versions, one of them is renamed and then both are copied.
Consider different files with the same name, not present in database, a conflict
This covers a very specific case, where a file exists on both sides, but it is not identical, and it's not in the
database either. Normally the program would simply copy the newer version of this file and overwrite the
older version on the other side with it. To prevent that, you can use this checkbox. It will make the program
consider these files a conflict and treat the conflict according to the settings in the upper part of this tab
sheet.
OPTIONS
36
the program will know that the file has not changed.
Real-Time Synchronization
Real Time Synchronization will monitor folders for changes and copy new or modified files with a very short
delay after the change has occurred. Because the folders are monitored, they don't have to be scanned - the
"Building File List" step does not occur. Real Time Synchronization can be very convenient and speeds up the
synchronization process considerably. However, it will only copy new and modified files and it may not be
appropriate in all situations.
Real Time Synchronization is chosen in each profile, on the right-most tab sheet among the Schedule settings.
The scheduler must be started in a separate step to start the monitoring.
Because Real-Time Scheduling does not compare the source and destination folders completely, it is
recommended to also schedule a complete profile run, for example once a day. This can be done on the
"Schedule" tab sheet.
Syncovery can detect which parts of a larger file have changed, and copy only the changed blocks rather than
the complete file. This feature works similar to Rsync (but it's not the same).
Copying only the changed blocks can save bandwidth and time, especially over a slow connection. When
copying between local disks or in a LAN environment, it can save bandwidth too, but may not always save
much copying time, because the source file has to be read in its entirety every time in order to determine
the changed blocks.
37
Only block-oriented file types are eligible for block-level copying. These include database files such as SQL or
Outlook PST, as well as drive images and virtual hard disk images (VMs). Stream-based files, on the other
hand, will usually cause all blocks to be changed whenever they are modified (for example text documents,
spreadsheets, zip files, and photos). Thus block-level copying won't be able to save much bandwidth with
stream-based files.
In Syncovery, block-level copying is called "Partial File Updating". In many cases, you need to choose only this
one checkmark, which is on the Special settings category in the profiles (in Advanced Mode).
The program needs to have fast access to at least one of the sides of the synchronization. The other side may
be a low-bandwidth connection. If you are using an Internet Protocol, please note that only SSH/SFTP
supports block-level updating directly. The other protocols can only be used with Synthetic Backup (see
further down below).
Please note: Block level copying with SSH/SFTP has only been implemented for uploads, not downloads.
The other (local) computer, where the main Syncovery program is running, needs to have normal file system
access to the remote computer (LAN or VPN), or it can use SSH. It needs to have write access to the remote
computer so that it can save the checksum request file there. The MD5 checksums are created when needed,
so that no database is being used.
38
Instructions for Mode 2
On the remote system, run the Setup program and install the Syncovery Remote Service along with its control
panel. Start the control panel from the Syncovery group in the Start menu. On the tab sheet Configure
Checksummer, enter the base folders that will be used for synchronization. Click Apply. On the tab sheet
Service Configuration, click on Install Service and Start. The service will be using the Windows System
account by default. If this account doesn't have sufficient access privileges, you may have to change the
account in Windows Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services.
On the local system, you are running the main Syncovery program. In your profile, the right-hand side must
be the remote system. Specify one of the folders which you have specified for the remote service to monitor.
The left side should be your local folders, or a network drive with relatively fast access. On the Specials tab
sheet in Advanced Mode, make the following checkmarks: Use Partial File Updating and Right side uses
Remote Service.
Choose "Synthetic Backup" on the tab sheet Versioning->Synthetic Backup. This will automatically place these
additional checkmarks:
- Use Partial File Updating (under Special)
- Filename Encoding (under Versioning)
- Zip Each File Individually (under Zip/Encryption)
This window shows all files found on both sides. You can see on which side(s) a particular file currently exists
by looking into the Date and Size columns. On the left, you have various options to control which kinds of
files will be shown. When you hit the Start button, only the files shown will be affected, and only if they
have an Action specified in the Action column (see below the screenshot). To change actions for specific
files, select the files and use the Menu button or right-click the file list invoked by the right mouse button.
39
Possible Actions
MOVE
File will be moved into a different folder on one side. Use the radio buttons on the lower left to control on
which side moved files will be adjusted.
DELETE
File will be deleted. This can only occur in Exact Mirror Mode, or if deletion has been manually selected for a
file.
CONFLICT
The items and the left or right side are different, but the software cannot detect the correct action. This can
be because on one side, it is a file, and a folder on the other side, or it can be caused by a failed binary
comparison of a file. SmartTracking also causes this label when a files has been changed on both sides.
time-> / <-time
The timestamp of the folder should be adjusted.
case-> / <-case
The spelling of the file should be adjusted to match the case of the source side.
This is the context menu that you can use with selected files in the file list view. To bring it up, select some
items and click the right mouse button within the selected rows. Or, click on the Menu button.
Using this context menu, you can manually select the action that should be performed with the selected files
and/or folders. In addition, you can remove the items from the list, as well as delete files immediately. The
menu also informs you about the keyboard shortcuts that can be used in the File List View.
40
Note that these menu items can be very useful:
Select All Files In This Folder (F3):
This command extends the selection so that it includes all files in the folder that belongs to the top of the
selection. Combining F3 with some of the other commands, you can quickly change the action for or deselect
or remove complete folders in the list.
These are some settings that affect how Syncovery behaves in general. None of these options are profile-
specific.
41
For other advanced information, please see Advanced Information.
Store Preferences
You can select the location where to store the profiles and settings. To do this, select the appropriate option
here.
The new INI file location (the exact file path) will be displayed here when you restart the program. Note that
the INI file location can be overriden using the /INI=xxx command line option, see Advanced Information.
Startup Options
These options specify how the background scheduler should behave when Windows is started.
Log files
On the Options tab sheet, you can also activate logging:
Each log file will contain detailed information about all operations that the program carries out while running
a profile, including the start and end time and date.
Notification Preferences
If desired, the program can send an email whenever a profile has been run. Be sure to go into the Email
Settings dialog and specify the recipient(s) and the SMTP server details.
Miscellaneous
You can specify a folder where the databases are stored (when using SmartTracking, Cache Destination
File List, or Partial File Updating).
You can also specify an external diff tool which is used to show a text comparison of two files with the same
name on each side. In the Sync Preview, you can use the right-click (context) menu to invoke the diff tool.
Advanced Options
Use Windows API File Copying Function (slower)
If you experience any problems with the file copying, try this option. In particular, it may solve performance
problems with MacOS 10.3 (Panther) network drives, as well as solve compatibility problems with buggy
drivers for removeable media. Sometimes it may also improve working with Netware servers. For normal
copying, this option should not be used, since it slows copying down a bit.
Buffer size for copying files
The main reason that the integrated copying algorithm is faster than many others is the large buffer that is
normally used. You can adjust the size to optimize working with some types of media.
SmartTracking
SmartTracking is used when synchronizing two locations, and new or updated files can be expected on both
sides. SmartTracking can detect on which side a file has been changed, moved, or deleted.
SmartTracking uses a local database in order to track changes that have been made between the various
invocations of the profile. That way, the software will know whether a file has been moved on the left side,
or on the right side. It can also detect whether a file has been deleted on one side, or whether the file has
actually been added on the other. SmartTracking should always be used whenever you want to keep two
42
locations in sync, both of which are being used for work. SmartTracking is not needed when you do a backup
or mirror, or any other case where you synchronize in one direction only. SmartTracking has various
additional features which you will see in the SmartTracking dialog box.
SmartTracking keeps information in a database linked to the profile name. On the first run, SmartTracking
will record the state of each file. Starting with the second run, the SmartTracking settings will become
active. Do not rename the profile, because then it will not be able to find its original database. Do not use
more than one profile for synchronization of the same folders.
SmartTracking can detect these cases, but ultimately you are responsible for what the program does, so
please verify the actions in the Synchronization Preview before starting it. To ensure that no important files
can get lost accidentally, the software will not actually delete these files. It will move them into a special
folder which you need to specify as the last setting in this dialog box. That way, you can always retrieve files
that have been deleted but for some reason shouldn't have.
So, you can choose to have such files be labeled as CONFLICT. Then, you will need to look closely at the
Synchronization Preview window and resolve these conflicts manually by specifying a copying direction for
each file. Or you can specify that both versions of the file, from the left and right sides, should be kept. To
keep both versions, one of them is renamed and then both are copied.
Consider different files with the same name, not present in database, a conflict
This covers a very specific case, where a file exists on both sides, but it is not identical, and it's not in the
database either. Normally the program would simply copy the newer version of this file and overwrite the
older version on the other side with it. To prevent that, you can use this checkbox. It will make the program
consider these files a conflict and treat the conflict according to the settings in the upper part of this tab
sheet.
OPTIONS
43
Partial File Updating
Syncovery can detect which parts of a larger file have changed, and copy only the changed blocks rather than
the complete file. This feature works similar to Rsync (but it's not the same).
Copying only the changed blocks can save bandwidth and time, especially over a slow connection. When
copying between local disks or in a LAN environment, it can save bandwidth too, but may not always save
much copying time, because the source file has to be read in its entirety every time in order to determine
the changed blocks.
Only block-oriented file types are eligible for block-level copying. These include database files such as SQL or
Outlook PST, as well as drive images and virtual hard disk images (VMs). Stream-based files, on the other
hand, will usually cause all blocks to be changed whenever they are modified (for example text documents,
spreadsheets, zip files, and photos). Thus block-level copying won't be able to save much bandwidth with
stream-based files.
In Syncovery, block-level copying is called "Partial File Updating". In many cases, you need to choose only this
one checkmark, which is on the Special settings category in the profiles (in Advanced Mode).
The program needs to have fast access to at least one of the sides of the synchronization. The other side may
be a low-bandwidth connection. If you are using an Internet Protocol, please note that only SSH/SFTP
supports block-level updating directly. The other protocols can only be used with Synthetic Backup (see
further down below).
Please note: Block level copying with SSH/SFTP has only been implemented for uploads, not downloads.
44
In this mode, the speed-up is available when you copy files from a location to which you have fast access
(preferably your own hard disk). The destination can be a slow connection, but it must be a normal file
system (either LAN or VPN) or SSH/SFTP. For other connections, you can use Synthetic Backup.
The other (local) computer, where the main Syncovery program is running, needs to have normal file system
access to the remote computer (LAN or VPN), or it can use SSH. It needs to have write access to the remote
computer so that it can save the checksum request file there. The MD5 checksums are created when needed,
so that no database is being used.
On the local system, you are running the main Syncovery program. In your profile, the right-hand side must
be the remote system. Specify one of the folders which you have specified for the remote service to monitor.
The left side should be your local folders, or a network drive with relatively fast access. On the Specials tab
sheet in Advanced Mode, make the following checkmarks: Use Partial File Updating and Right side uses
Remote Service.
Choose "Synthetic Backup" on the tab sheet Versioning->Synthetic Backup. This will automatically place these
additional checkmarks:
- Use Partial File Updating (under Special)
- Filename Encoding (under Versioning)
- Zip Each File Individually (under Zip/Encryption)
Syncovery just provides the software – the choice for a specific storage provider is made by the customer.
You can pick almost any storage you want, because most types of online storage can be accessed via these
standard Internet protocols
45
OneDrive http://onedrive.live.com
DropBox http://www.dropbox.com
Rackspace http://www.rackspace.com
SygarSync http://www.sugarsync.com
Flickr http://www.flickr.com
IDrive http://www.idrive.com
CopyCom http://www.copy.com
Bitcasa http://www.bitcasa.com
Asus http://www.asuswebstorage.com
Most of cloud storages nowdays requre OAuth athentication with internet browser involved. That guarantees
high level of security access to your personal cloud. When setting up connection to OAuth based cloud service
for the first time it is adviced to make sure you are logged off( signed out) your account of the cloud service
in browser, becasue browser keeps your cookeis and in some cases establishing connection might be rather
messy.
To set up a backup job over the Internet, have your access details for the online storage ready and follow
these steps:
choose your local data folder on the left-hand side
click the Internet button on the right-hand side
choose the Protocol to use and specify the folder, user name and password
click OK to make some more settings in the profile
under “Zip/Encryption”, choose: “ZIP Each File Individually”
under “Encryption”, choose: “Encrypt Files Copied Left to Right”
specify a password phrase for the encryption
under “Versioning”, choose if you want to keep older versions of updated files
for some servers, it is also necessary to choose “Filename Encoding” in order to preserve the files’
modification dates.
You can now save your backup job, start it manually, or give it a schedule and/or choose real-time
synchronization.
46
Authenticating with Google Drive
Set up target folder ( Left or Right side ) for Google Drive in profile settings dialog,
Start synchronization session.
You will be presented OAuth login/password window in your standalone browser.
Input your personal login and password into web form and press 'Sign In'
On the next web page presented press 'Accept'
On the next web page there will be message confurming that connection is successfull.
Close your browser.
Synchronization dialog of syncovery with list of files in your cloud will be presented
47
Authenticating with OneDrive
Set up target folder ( Left or Right side ) for OneDrive in profile settings dialog,
Start synchronization session.
48
Input your personal login and password into web form and press 'Sign In'
On the next web page presented press 'Accept'
On the next web page there will be message confurming that connection is successfull.
Close your browser.
Synchronization dialog of syncovery with list of files in your cloud will be presented
OneDrive for bussiness does not require OAuth procedure, you should input your login and password into
Internet Protocol Settings dialog, AccountID/Access Key fields
49
Authenticating Box.Net
Set up target folder ( Left or Right side ) for Box.Net in profile settings dialog,
50
Start synchronization session.
You will be presented OAuth login/password window in your standalone browser.
Input your personal login and password into web form and press 'Authorize'
On the next web page presented press 'Grant access to Box'
On the next web page there will be message confurming that connection is successfull.
Close your browser.
Synchronization dialog of syncovery with list of files in your cloud will be presented
51
52
Authenticating with DropBox
Set up target folder ( Left or Right side ) for DropBox in profile settings dialog,
Start synchronization session.
You will be presented OAuth login/password window in your standalone browser.
53
Authenticating with Rackspace
Rackspace does not require OAuth procedure, you should input your login and password of Rackspace into
Internet Protocol Settings dialog, AccountID/Access Key fields
54
Authenticating with SygarSync
SygarSync does not require OAuth procedure, you should input your login and password into Internet Protocol
Settings dialog, AccountID/Access Key fields
55
FAQ.............
You can specify a folder for the log files on the Program Settings dialog. However, if at any time Syncovery
cannot create a log file in the folder, it will switch to a user-specific folder. Some customers have reported
that the log folder location changes against their wish. To freeze the location, add the following line in the
[Main] section of the INI file:
LockLogFolder=1
Updates and upgrades of the software are included for two years. After that, you can still use the last version
you got, or if you decide to upgrade to the newer version that we may be offering, 50% of your original
payment will be credited against the new order, so in most cases, the new licenses costs 50% of the regular
price.
When a job runs in unattended mode, there can be some conditions which have to be confirmed when the
profile is configured. For example, file deletions have to be confirmed specially, in addition to configuring
the sync operating mode to include deletions.
To give the confirmations, please edit your profile in Advanced Mode, go to the Safety section at the bottom
and choose the tab sheet “Unattended Mode”.
For an Exact Mirror profile, you would usually make sure that the top four checkmarks are chosen and that
the last one is not chosen (Special Safety Checks). The first four checkmarks allow things like replacing files
and deleting files. The last checkmark would impose additional safety checks which can prevent file
deletions, so you’ll want to remove that checkmark.
In addition, you should specify a percentage of files which may be deleted during a profile run. You should
not set this to 100% unless you expect that nearly all files are regularly going to be deleted. This is a safety
percentage. If more files than allowed need to be deleted, the program realizes that something is wrong and
disables the deletions completely. This will protect you against rare error conditions like disk errors or
network communication errors, which can sometimes cause empty folders to be reported on the source side.
Due to the percentage limit, the program will not delete everything from the destination if suddenly the
source seems to be empty, or nearly empty.
However, even if you do specify 100% for deletions, the program will never delete all files in order to protect
your data. If the source side is empty, it will throw an error and refuse to delete everything from the
destination. This should be a good safety measure for most use cases. Some customers, on the other hand,
56
have use cases where deleting all files is a regular, normal requirement. These customers can disable the
100% deletion protection by adding the following line to the [Main] section of the INI file:
UnattendedDeleteAllIsOK_IfDelPercIs100=YES
(Add this only if you need to delete 100% of files in a destination folder in unattended mode!)
There are different ways to keep several versions of your files on your backup storage. Firstly, in the profile
under Versioning, you can specify to keep a number of
older versions for each file. Each file will be versioned independently, and the Restore Wizard can restore
your newest data, or restore according to a specified target date in the past.
However, some customers prefer to have 5 to 7 complete and independent copies of their data. To achieve
this, you can use the variable $WEEKDAY in the destination path. In that case, you would not use anything
from the Versioning tab sheet.
This will keep seven days of complete folder copies, if the profile runs on every day of the week. It will cause
your backup folders to be named Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. and the next week’s backup is simply
going to re-use the same folder from the week before.
On the tab sheet Special in the profiles, you will find a checkmark called “Process Security and Shares”. On
the dialog that pops up, you need at least three checkmarks on the left-hand side (Copy
Owner/Group/Permissions).
In addition, the program needs to be running “As Administrator”. To ensure it runs as admin, you need to
right-click its icon and choose
“Run As Administrator”, unless you have Windows versions older than Vista, or you have disabled UAC.
A lot of customers ask how they can define a job so that it always copies to or from a USB drive, even if that
drive’s letter changes. For example, on one day, your external hard drive might be drive F: and on another
day, Windows changes it to drive G:.
57
The solution is to change the “Base Path” for the external drive in the profile. Instead of the drive letter,
type the volume label (volume name). For example, if your drive is named MyUSBDrive, then you would
type MyUSBDrive:\FolderA instead of F:\FolderA.
One of the new features in Syncovery version 6 is the ability to connect to an FTP server via an HTTP Proxy as
well as SOCKS. This feature is somewhat hidden in the software, so here’s how to find it.
If you are using the FTP protocol, then on the Internet/FTP dialog, change the FTP library to 2. Then on the
Proxy tab sheet, you will see the option to use an HTTP Proxy or to use SOCKS to connect.
If you are using SSH/SFTP, Web Tunneling and SOCKS is also supported via the Proxy tab sheet. In that case,
use library 1 (SFTP).
Since version 6.20, Syncovery can upload files to Amazon Glacier. To set up Glacier as the destination, click
on the Internet button for the right-hand side and choose Glacier as the Internet Protocol.
Amazon Glacier is intended for long term archiving and backup with the expectation that most operations are
uploads and not downloads. Downloads should be a rare exception, since they can be extremely slow. To
download a file, Syncovery needs to initiate a job with Amazon Glacier, and even with small files, it takes at
least three hours for Amazon Glacier to retrieve the item. The same is true for file listings. Therefore,
Glacier cannot be used for two-way synchronizations. It is intended only for backing up and archiving.
Please be aware that there is a download fee from Amazon if you download more than 5% of your data per
month (or something like that). It seems that in some special cases, the download fee can be extreme. If you
intend to make a full backup and restore for testing, please read the fee schedule closely, and also read
articles such as this one:
Is There a Landmine Hidden in Amazon’s Glacier?
Choose S3 inside our software, and use a lifecycle rule in S3 to move files to Glacier to reduce costs.
See the Amazon Web Services Blog
Choose Glacier directly in our software. The rest of this article describes this method.
Because there is no quick way to get a file listing from Glacier, Syncovery maintains a local database with the
information of all the files on Glacier. This database is automatically maintained and it is independent from
the checkmark “Cache Destination File List”. Therefore, with Glacier, there is no need to use the caching
option. The local databases used for Glacier are separate for each vault, but shared among all profiles. When
you create a new profile that accesses an existing vault, it will alraedy know the vault contents, if the vault
has been used on the same machine.
Glacier also cannot rename items which have been uploaded. When you rename or move files on the local
side, they have to be uploaded again.
In version 6.20, the download process is still inefficient if you need to download many files. It will initiate the
download job for each file and wait for it to complete, then download the file, and then proceed to the next
file. You can specify a number of files to copy in parallel in this fashion (on the Files tab sheet), but the limit
58
is 30. So, you can download up to 30 files in 3 to 5 hours, but downloading 300 files will take 30 to 50 hours.
This limitation will be removed in a future update.
In light of this, if there is a chance you will need a complete restore, it may make sense to use “Zip
Packages” with many files per zip archive, instead of uploading individual files.
This information will be updated as support for Glacier is optimized and more experiences are made with
Amazon’s new service.
A Mountain Lion compatible update of Syncovery is now available. The version number must be 6.03 or
higher.
To be able to continue using your old configuration and profiles, please use at least version 6.04or higher.
The migration wizard should appear automatically, or you can invoke it via the File menu. You can also
manually import config files via the File menu.
Since version 6.04, no special action is required any more to migrate your settings.
Syncovery supports the Rsync protocol by using an rsync.exe command line utility. Here’s how to set it up:
On the Program Settings dialog, you need to specify which rsync.exe to use. There’s also a button to
download an rsync for Windows installer.
In the profile, you click on the Internet button for one of the two sides of the sync. Choose Rsync as protocol.
You can securely connect via SSH or use rsync directly (unsecured). The unsecured connection can be used
within a LAN or VPN, for example.
When using it via SSH, you need to have a client certificate and configure it on the Certificates tab sheet, as
well as choose it on the Security tab sheet.
Because of limitations of the rsync.exe command line, some features are not working. For example,
Syncovery cannot delete any files via rsync.
Because of rsync limitations, it is often better to use SFTP/SSH. It can do block level copying, too, and also it
can get a recursive listing similar to rsync (on Unix/Linux servers). The recursive listing checkmark is on the
second tab sheet of the Internet/FTP dialog.
Please see the following page for details about block level copying with SFTP:
Block Level Copying
The limitation with block level copying and SFTP is currently that it does block level for uploads only
59
When a job runs in unattended mode, there can be some conditions which have to be confirmed when the
profile is configured. For example, file deletions have to be confirmed specially, in addition to configuring
the sync operating mode to include deletions.
To give the confirmations, please edit your profile in Advanced Mode, go to the Safety section at the bottom
and choose the tab sheet “Unattended Mode”.
For an Exact Mirror profile, you would usually make sure that the top four checkmarks are chosen and that
the last one is not chosen (Special Safety Checks). The first four checkmarks allow things like replacing files
and deleting files. The last checkmark would impose additional safety checks which can prevent file
deletions, so you’ll want to remove that checkmark.
In addition, you should specify a percentage of files which may be deleted during a profile run. You should
not set this to 100% unless you expect that nearly all files are regularly going to be deleted. This is a safety
percentage. If more files than allowed need to be deleted, the program realizes that something is wrong and
disables the deletions completely. This will protect you against rare error conditions like disk errors or
network communication errors, which can sometimes cause empty folders to be reported on the source side.
Due to the percentage limit, the program will not delete everything from the destination if suddenly the
source seems to be empty, or nearly empty.
However, even if you do specify 100% for deletions, the program will never delete all files in order to protect
your data. If the source side is empty, it will throw an error and refuse to delete everything from the
destination. This should be a good safety measure for most use cases. Some customers, on the other hand,
have use cases where deleting all files is a regular, normal requirement. These customers can disable the
100% deletion protection by adding the following line to the [Main] section of the INI file:
UnattendedDeleteAllIsOK_IfDelPercIs100=YES
(Add this only if you need to delete 100% of files in a destination folder in unattended mode!)
There are different ways to keep several versions of your files on your backup storage. Firstly, in the profile
under Versioning, you can specify to keep a number of
older versions for each file. Each file will be versioned independently, and the Restore Wizard can restore
your newest data, or restore according to a specified target date in the past.
However, some customers prefer to have 5 to 7 complete and independent copies of their data. To achieve
this, you can use the variable $WEEKDAY in the destination path. In that case, you would not use anything
from the Versioning tab sheet.
This will keep seven days of complete folder copies, if the profile runs on every day of the week. It will cause
your backup folders to be named Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. and the next week’s backup is simply
going to re-use the same folder from the week before.
60
Command Line
You can run, create, edit, rename and delete profiles via command line.
Windows
You can invoke either Syncovery.exe or SyncoveryService.exe with the command line parameters shown on
this page. SyncoveryService.exe is only capable of running jobs, while Syncovery.exe can perform all these
actions. SyncoveryService.exe is more lightweight and it can run totally invisible as well as report progress to
the main GUI.
Macintosh
On Mac, you can use the command line parameters in a shell script like in this example:
open ./Syncovery.app --args /RUNX=”Profil Name” /U
61
/MASK=”File1.txt;*.doc”
allows you to override the profile’s inclusion masks, or simply specify one or more files to
copy.
/EXCL=”*.bak”
allows you to override the profile’s exclusion masks.
/SHUTDOWN (Windows only)
Shutdown after running the profile(s) specified with /RUNX=”Profile Name”.
/CHOOSESUBFOLDERS
The subfolder selection dialog is shown prior to running the job. The selection that is made is not
saved permanently unless you also specify the /SAVE parameter. Alternatively, you can add
/SAVEONLY in order to save the new selection without running the job. In all cases, the profile name
should be specified with /RUNX, even if you use /SAVEONLY.
General-Purpose Parameters
/INI=”Path to configuration file”
Specifies the configuration file to be used. For example,
/INI=”C:\ProgramData\Syncovery\Syncovery.ini”
/IMPORT=”Path to XML or CSV file”
Import profiles from XML or CSV. To find out how to make such files, please create a sample profile
and export it by right-clicking it on the Profile Overview.
Command Line Parameters for Managing Profiles
The command line to create any given profile can be seen by creating it manually first, then going to
Information->Show Profile Details… in the profile editor.
Here’s an example:
Syncovery.exe ADD /Name=”Documents Backup” /Left=”C:\Users\Me\Documents” /Right=”D:\Backup\Docs”
/L2R /Deletes /ReplaceNewer /MaxParallelCopiers=2
Alternatives to ADD
RUN (creates & runs a job without creating a permanent profile)
DELETE “Profile Name” (deletes a profile)
CHANGE “Profile Name” (changes an existing profile, keeping any existing settings which are not set on the
command line)
RENAME “Old Profile Name” “New Profile Name”
ADD can be used to completely replace an existing profile with new settings.
Variables
rotation with separate folders for each day of the week, week, month,
quarter (see example). Keeps one copy for each quarter, then one copy for
each month in the last quarter, one copy for each week in the last month,
$DWMQ = and one copy for each day in the last week.
62
$MYDOCUMENTS = current user’s My Documents folder
$LEFTPATH = Adds the left-hand path (for use in right path only)
$RIGHTPATH = Adds the right-hand path (for use in left path only)
63
$RIGHT = right base path of synchronization
Tips
The scheduler can run as a Windows Service. This means that scheduled synchronizations take place
without users having to log on.
The service is installed and started from the Scheduler tab sheet of the main application window. If
the “Background Scheduler” is running, please stop it and then choose Use: Service Scheduler. Then
you will see the service-specific install/uninstall, start/stop buttons.
In order to access network drives, the service must be given a log on account. This is done when
clicking on the Install… button on the Scheduler tab sheet to install the service. To change the log on
account, please uninstall and then re-install the service. Make sure that you specify a user account
where you know that Windows Explorer has access to the volumes that you need. Choose an account
that has network access without Windows Explorer asking for a password for the network drive.
Windows Explorer should have already stored the password.
Also in order to enable access to a network drive, please try using a UNC path such
as\\servername\sharename\foldername rather than a mapped drive letter.
If this is not sufficient, you can provide a username and password for the network resource in each
profile. Use this setting on the Job tab sheet in the profile: Network Connections…However, in many
cases this is not needed. Rather than specifying the full path for the network connection, you can
also try specifying just \\servername
Deleting to the recycle bin is not supported by the service.
Even though the service is normally invisible, you can get a pretty good picture of what it’s currently
doing or planning to do, using the Scheduler tab sheet of the main application window. You can even
connect to a remote computer and control and watch the service running there.
64
Block level backup – Block Level Copying with Syncovery
Syncovery can detect which parts of a larger file have changed, and copy only the changed blocks rather than
the complete file. This feature works similar to Rsync (but it’s not the same).
Copying only the changed blocks can save bandwidth and time, especially over a slow connection. When
copying between local disks or in a LAN environment, it can save bandwidth too, but may not always save
much copying time, because the source file has to be read in its entirety every time in order to determine
the changed blocks.
Only block-oriented file types are eligible for block-level copying. These include database files such as SQL or
Outlook PST, as well as drive images and virtual hard disk images (VMs). Stream-based files, on the other
hand, will usually cause all blocks to be changed whenever they are modified (for example text documents,
spreadsheets, zip files, and photos). Thus block-level copying won’t be able to save much bandwidth with
stream-based files.
In Syncovery, block-level copying is called “Partial File Updating”. In many cases, you need to choose only
this one checkmark, which is on the Special settings category in the profiles (in Advanced Mode).
The program needs to have fast access to at least one of the sides of the synchronization. The other side may
be a low-bandwidth connection. If you are using an Internet Protocol, please note that only SSH/SFTP
supports block-level updating directly. The other protocols can only be used with Synthetic Backup (see
further down below).
Please note: Block level copying with SSH/SFTP has only been implemented for uploads, not downloads.
65
Mode 2: With Remote Service
This mode can speed up updating large files in both directions. The remote computer can be both source
and/or destination. This is achieved by running a small service application on the remote computer, which
will create the necessary checksums on the fly, when requested by the main application running on a
different machine. See more information on the Syncovery Remote Service here.
The other (local) computer, where the main Syncovery program is running, needs to have normal file system
access to the remote computer (LAN or VPN), or it can use SSH. It needs to have write access to the remote
computer so that it can save the checksum request file there. The MD5 checksums are created when needed,
so that no database is being used.
Unzip incoming ZIP packages. This feature is used in conjunction with the ZIP Package capability in
order to speed up the transfer of files.
Generate a Remote Listing. This feature is used to speed up the “Building File List” phase.
66
The Remote Service is installed using the same Setup program from our download page that you use to install
Syncovery. When running the Setup, make sure you include the Syncovery Remote Service and its
Control Panel.
You will find the Syncovery Remote Service Control Panel in the Syncovery program group in your Windows
Start menu. Please run it and install the service with it.
Configure Unzipper
To use the unzipping capability, you need to specify the “folders to watch” on the tab sheet “Configure
Unzipper”. Each folder must be the same one that you specify as destination folder in the Syncovery profile
on the other computer. Except that here, you specify local folders, but they must be the same ones. If you
have several profiles with different destination folders, each one must be specified here on a separate line,
even if they are all on the same drive.
The Syncovery profile on the sending maching needs to be set up to “Use ZIP Packages” and on the ZIP
Package Configuration dialog, you need to use the setting “Syncovery Remote Service will be used”.
The Syncovery main program will put the ZIP packages into a subfolder called “Incoming Syncovery
Packages”. This is actually the folder that the Remote Service’s unzipper will watch, but you don’t specify it.
You specify the same folder that is used in the profile.
67
Purchasing
For purchasing information, please visit our web site:
www.syncovery.com
Company Information
Super Flexible Software Ltd. & Co. KG
Tobias Giesen
Postal address
Buddenstr. 29-31
48143 Münster
Germany
68