Peer-to-peer file sharing
Native Application
Syncthing's native instance offers a similar range of functions to the web interface, but with a slightly different operation. The graphical front end has just two window segments, in which the folders to be synchronized are displayed on the left, while the clients involved appear on the right along with some of their statistical data (Figure 7). Actual operation is via the gear icon in the top right corner of the titlebar.
Selecting Add Shared Folder from the gear icon's context menu lets you add new folders, while Add Devices adds new computers. Some of the setup dialogs are far clearer than in the web interface. For example, when creating a new folder, the synchronization intervals can also be defined in the same menu. File versioning, including the number of file versions to be kept, and permissions handling are also configured in this dialog.
Selecting Service Settings lets you define the intervals at which Syncthing checks the computers involved for content to be synchronized. Here you can also change the bandwidth for the data transfer and the ports the service uses.
Warpinator
Warpinator [5], which is developed by Linux Mint, also performs peer-to-peer file transfers and comes with a graphical interface. The application, written in Python, can be installed directly using the Linux Mint 20 package manager. For other distributions, there is a Flatpak, but there are no native binary packages as of yet. Since Warpinator has numerous dependencies that not all distributions resolve in terms of the required versions, compiling from the source code can be difficult.
After the install and a subsequent reboot, a launcher appears in the menu hierarchy of the respective desktop. Clicking on the launcher opens a spartan-looking window (Figure 8). A scan of the intranet on which Warpinator is running will display all found computers in this window, along with the matching IP addresses and connection states.
To find the settings, click on the hamburger menu top left in the titlebar. Select Settings to open a dialog where you can use sliders to adjust many options, including defining the memory path and specifying when the program should display security prompts. From here, you can also enable Warpinator to automatically start at boot time.
Transfer Awareness
The program creates the Warpinator/
folder in the home directory as the default storage path for the data to be preserved; the path can be changed in the configuration dialog if required. To start sending data, using Warpinator's program window on the source machine, click on the computer to which the content is to be transferred. Warpinator then switches to a list view named File Transfers that lists the data to be sent.
If you now click on the Send files button at the top right corner of the window, a selection menu appears, where you can click to select the content to be sent. The selection menu will show the last files edited on the system.
To transfer any other content, click Browse… at the bottom of the selection menu, which opens a file manager where you can now select individual files and folders. After the transfer, Warpinator displays the files indicating their file or folder size; small icons also appear with each entry, indicating whether the content is multimedia or individual files and folders. On the target machine, the program also transfers the files to the overview, but displays a message in the system tray indicating the impending transfer and asks for transfer approval (Figure 9).
After initiating the transfer by granting the appropriate permission on the target computer, Warpinator works through the list, displaying a progress bar after each entry showing the data transfer rate and how long the transfer will take to complete. This display is also visible on the target machine.
On the target computer, the user can immediately view the transferred data by clicking the folder icon displayed on the right in the file list. The application will then open the destination folder. To stop a transfer in progress, click the Stop button to the right of the matching list entry on the source machine. This not only ends the transfer, but also shows two new buttons for a later transfer and for deleting the entry. On the target machine, Warpinator only signals the cancellation of the transfer (Figure 10).
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe 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.
![Learn More](https://www.linux-magazine.com/var/linux_magazin/storage/images/media/linux-magazine-eng-us/images/misc/learn-more/834592-1-eng-US/Learn-More_medium.png)
News
-
NVIDIA Released Driver for Upcoming NVIDIA 560 GPU for Linux
Not only has NVIDIA released the driver for its upcoming CPU series, it's the first release that defaults to using open-source GPU kernel modules.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 24.07 Released
If you’re into rolling release Linux distributions, OpenMandriva ROME has a new snapshot with a new kernel.
-
Kernel 6.10 Available for General Usage
Linus Torvalds has released the 6.10 kernel and it includes significant performance increases for Intel Core hybrid systems and more.
-
TUXEDO Computers Releases InfinityBook Pro 14 Gen9 Laptop
Sporting either AMD or Intel CPUs, the TUXEDO InfinityBook Pro 14 is an extremely compact, lightweight, sturdy powerhouse.
-
Google Extends Support for Linux Kernels Used for Android
Because the LTS Linux kernel releases are so important to Android, Google has decided to extend the support period beyond that offered by the kernel development team.
-
Linux Mint 22 Stable Delayed
If you're anxious about getting your hands on the stable release of Linux Mint 22, it looks as if you're going to have to wait a bit longer.
-
Nitrux 3.5.1 Available for Install
The latest version of the immutable, systemd-free distribution includes an updated kernel and NVIDIA driver.
-
Debian 12.6 Released with Plenty of Bug Fixes and Updates
The sixth update to Debian "Bookworm" is all about security mitigations and making adjustments for some "serious problems."
-
Canonical Offers 12-Year LTS for Open Source Docker Images
Canonical is expanding its LTS offering to reach beyond the DEB packages with a new distro-less Docker image.
-
Plasma Desktop 6.1 Released with Several Enhancements
If you're a fan of Plasma Desktop, you should be excited about this new point release.