BitTorrent Sync: Painless File Syncing without the Cloud

Productivity Sauce
Cloud-based file syncing services are a dime a dozen nowadays. Most of them store copies of your data on remote servers and charge for storage space. This approach has two major drawbacks: you have to entrust your data to a third-party service, and the more storage you need, the more you have to pay. The recently released BitTorrent Sync tool offers an alternative solution that solves these problems. Instead of relying on a central server for storing files and syncing them between multiple machines, BitTorrent Sync uses a peer-to-peer protocol to keep files in sync across multiple machines. This is a brilliant solution, indeed. You don't need to run a dedicated synchronization server, there is no storage limit, and all your data stays on your machines. Better still, BitTorrent Sync encrypts all the traffic to keep your data safe.
Deploying BitTorrent on Linux is as easy as pie. Grab the appropriate version of the tool from the project's website, unpack the downloaded archive, and move the btsync executable binary to the directory of your choice. Run then BitTorrent Sync using the ./btsync command. Point then your browser to 127.0.0.1:8888/gui to access BitTorrent Sync's web interface. Here, you can add the folders you want to keep in sync. When adding a folder, you have to create a secret, a randomly generated 21-byte key. This secret is used to link folders between multiple machines.
While you can use the ./btsync command to run BitTorrent Sync with default settings, this is not always a good idea, as this leaves the web interface unprotected. The solution is to create a configuration file and point BitTorrent Sync to it. To view a sample configuration, run the ./btsync --dump-samle-config command. You can use the sample as a starting point for your own configuration file. Here is what my configuration file looks like:
{ "check_for_updates" : true, "download_limit" : 0, "upload_limit" : 0, "webui" : { "listen" : "0.0.0.0:8888", "login" : "username", "password" : "password" } }
To start BitTorrent Sync with a custom configuration file, use the ./btsync --config /path/to/btsync.conf command (replace /path/to/btsync.conf with the actual path to the configuration file).
comments powered by DisqusSubscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
LibreOffice 25.2 Has Arrived
If you've been hoping for a release that offers more UI customizations, you're in for a treat.
-
TuxCare Has a Big AlmaLinux 9 Announcement in Store
TuxCare announced it has successfully completed a Security Technical Implementation Guide for AlmaLinux OS 9.
-
First Release Candidate for Linux Kernel 6.14 Now Available
Linus Torvalds has officially released the first release candidate for kernel 6.14 and it includes over 500,000 lines of modified code, making for a small release.
-
System76 Refreshes Meerkat Mini PC
If you're looking for a small form factor PC powered by Linux, System76 has exactly what you need in the Meerkat mini PC.
-
Gnome 48 Alpha Ready for Testing
The latest Gnome desktop alpha is now available with plenty of new features and improvements.
-
Wine 10 Includes Plenty to Excite Users
With its latest release, Wine has the usual crop of bug fixes and improvements, along with some exciting new features.
-
Linux Kernel 6.13 Offers Improvements for AMD/Apple Users
The latest Linux kernel is now available, and it includes plenty of improvements, especially for those who use AMD or Apple-based systems.
-
Gnome 48 Debuts New Audio Player
To date, the audio player found within the Gnome desktop has been meh at best, but with the upcoming release that all changes.
-
Plasma 6.3 Ready for Public Beta Testing
Plasma 6.3 will ship with KDE Gear 24.12.1 and KDE Frameworks 6.10, along with some new and exciting features.
-
Budgie 10.10 Scheduled for Q1 2025 with a Surprising Desktop Update
If Budgie is your desktop environment of choice, 2025 is going to be a great year for you.