68

I am in Ubuntu 12.04 (precise) 64bit and downloaded the btsync executable from http://labs.bittorrent.com/experiments/sync/ but running it doesn't seem to have any effect. Double-clicking the executable does nothing, and running ./btsync in the terminal also exits immediately without any output.

Has anyone successfully ran this under Ubuntu, and if so, is there any special configuration changes that need to be made to make it work?

4
  • What is the package for BtSync? I cannot find it in apt-get. Jul 7, 2015 at 15:06
  • 2
    NOTE this post is from 2013/2014. Sinze btsync version 2.0 there are considerable changes and the PPA mentioned below does not support version 2.0
    – seb
    Oct 17, 2015 at 12:10
  • @seb Can you please provide a new PPA here? Mar 21, 2016 at 12:09
  • I have a problem in running BTsync with small screens. I opened a new thread about it here askubuntu.com/q/748508/25388 The problem is concerned in the view of BTsync which is fixed without y-axis scrollbar. Mar 21, 2016 at 12:15

8 Answers 8

102

There are 2 ways to use BitTorrent Sync , 1st Install it using PPA & 2nd Download

1st PPA

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:tuxpoldo/btsync
sudo apt-get update

For normal desktop use, you only need to install btsync-user:

sudo apt-get install btsync-user

Alternatively, if you're setting up your BTSync server, install btsync:

sudo apt-get install btsync

During the installation just use the default setting and set the administrative password as well ,You can access it by

127.0.0.1:8888     # This will redirect to the 2nd link

OR

http://127.0.0.1:8888/gui/

Username = admin , Password = ( Use have set during installation )


2nd Download

Download the BitTorrent Sync client

cd Downloads
tar xzpf btsync_glibc23_x64.tar.gz # I have downloaded 64 bit. So check your version 
./btsync

The output will be

./btsync 
BitTorrent Sync forked to background. pid = 5771  # some what like this pid will be change

enter image description here

Open any web browser & copy paste the following line

127.0.0.1:8888     # This will redirect to the 2nd link

OR

http://127.0.0.1:8888/gui/

enter image description here


If you type ./btsync --help you can also run it no deamon mode

./btsync --help
 BitTorrent Sync 1.0.132
 Usage:
 btsync [--config <path>] [--nodaemon] [--generate-secret] [--dump-sample-config] [--help] [--get-ro-secret <secret>]
 Options:
--config - location and name of configuration file
--nodaemon - do not use daemon mode
--generate-secret - generate shared secret
--get-ro-secret - get read only secret for existing master secret
--dump-sample-config - dump sample config file
--help - print this message and exit

Help

forum.bittorrent.com

Video tutorial jupiterbroadcasting.com

Please also have look at Peer To Peer (P2P) Sync and Share Ubuntu

15
  • 1
    Thanks, this was very comprehensive, but my original question was not how to install it, but rather why it wasn't giving me any feedback that it was running. I suppose it's been changed to provide the helpful "BitTorrent Sync forked to background" bit, so thanks for pointing that out. Also, your suggestion to use --help is a valid one; I should have tried that (although I was more curious about the out-of-the-box experience). For these reasons, I'll upvote your answer, but will accept mine (which I had forgotten to do, sorry if that gave you the impression that the question wasn't answered).
    – waldyrious
    May 17, 2013 at 12:44
  • 4
    @waldir When i was writing the answer my aim was there is nothing should be left for you to say anything about "BitTorrent Sync", I always try to write additional information, may be it will not help you ( or an exact answer to your question ) but it will help others and 2nd i don't want to gather all the information again & again for every time..now if some one ask question about installing / configuring "BitTorrent Sync" i will duplicate to this answer ... i hope you understand what i m trying to say ...
    – Qasim
    May 17, 2013 at 12:55
  • 2
    While adding the ppa I saw that there is a btsync and btsync-user package. I bit of research showed that btsync is more for server usage and btsync-user for desktop usage. btsync-user also automatically adds it to start-up and a launcher to the dash. Just mentioning so that you can improve the answer as you feel is needed.
    – chesedo
    Jul 27, 2013 at 9:37
  • 2
    @Dave or Qasim you might want to add an entire section for desktop and server install respectively. The reason, btsync-user is on port 9999 and not 8888 as with btsync, and does not use authentication. Btsync can also run on multiple daemons if I remember correctly. See btsync and btsync-user
    – chesedo
    Sep 30, 2013 at 16:19
  • 1
    That didn't work for me. 127.0.0.1:8888/gui yields nothing. Apr 29, 2015 at 19:23
32

According to the user guide (pdf), there is (at least for now) no native GUI for Linux. The graphical interface for Linux is browser-based, and can be accessed at http://localhost:8888/gui/.

4
  • 3
    There is now a Linux GUI for btsync: btsync-gui.
    – Will
    May 10, 2014 at 20:35
  • 3
    See this link.
    – daviewales
    Aug 2, 2014 at 6:45
  • How would you access a remote computers btsync instance? If you try the IP of the remote computer and the port it doesn't work for some reason.
    – Klyn
    Oct 18, 2014 at 4:12
  • For security reasons the default behaviour is to only listen on the loopback interface, this prevents remote computers from being able to remote connect to the web interface. To enable remote access you need to edit the config file and set the IP to listen on to 0.0.0.0, I recommend a good password and to use HTTPS if you're doing this.
    – wjdp
    Mar 8, 2015 at 15:04
4

As of June 2017 Sync (now owned by Resilio) now provides repositories for many major Linux operating systems, including Ubuntu, Debian, Centos, Red Hat, Fedora, etc.

Install instructions are here, and copied below for Ubuntu. There's a guide on how to use Sync with Linux here.

Ubuntu Install Steps

Create a file called /etc/apt/sources.list.d/resilio-sync.list with the following content to register Resilio repository:

deb http://linux-packages.resilio.com/resilio-sync/deb resilio-sync non-free

Add the public key with the following command:

wget -qO - https://linux-packages.resilio.com/resilio-sync/key.asc | sudo apt-key add -

Install Sync

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install resilio-sync

The page I linked to goes into how to start it and how to have it start automatically.

2
  • The armhf part does not make sense - if you're on a x86* system, the armhf packages are useless and if you're on armhf, then that's the default and you don't need to specify it explicitly.
    – muru
    Jun 27, 2017 at 6:12
  • Thanks @muru, copy and paste error. Should be fixed now.
    – Tim
    Jun 27, 2017 at 7:41
3

Official Packages

As of February 18, 2016, there are official Ubuntu/Debian packages. The instructions below are adapted from the blog's announcement post.

Add Apt Repository

sudo sh -c 'echo "deb http://linux-packages.getsync.com/btsync/deb btsync non-free" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/btsync.list'

It is advised to remove any other 3rd party bt-sync related repositories from /etc/apt/sources.list.d first.

Add Signing Key

Next, you need to add our public key to get the package verified before downloading and installation:

wget -qO - http://linux-packages.getsync.com/btsync/key.asc | sudo apt-key add -

Install

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install btsync

Controlling Sync

Ubuntu 14.10 and Earlier

If your OS uses sysvinit, upstart, control Sync with the following commands:

sudo service btsync (command)

where (command) can be start, stop, or restart

Ubuntu 15.04 and Later

If your OS uses systemd, use the following commands to control Sync:

sudo systemctl (command) btsync

where (command) can be start, stop, enable, disable, or status

Permissions and users

Note, that when you install Sync package it is going to add btsync user to your Linux and run under btsync user. Take care of permissions and groups before you start syncing.

If you are using Ubuntu 15.04 or later it is possible to run Sync under your current user account, if you start it with the command:

sudo systemctl --user (command) btsync

Unfortunately, this option is not available for 14.10 or earlier.

2
  • 2
    Please, could you provide more details from the link that you've posted? Pasting a simple link is not a sufficient answer. You can read how to reference external material here: askubuntu.com/help/referencing
    – Danibix
    May 2, 2016 at 9:53
  • I believe you should be able to change the two http: urls with https: The key works from https, and the repo is on the same server, so would presume it should work.
    – Tracker1
    Dec 19, 2016 at 22:20
2

Create a start-up script and setup Nginx SSL for remote access

nano /etc/init.d/btsync

#! /bin/sh
# /etc/init.d/btsync
#

# Carry out specific functions when asked to by the system
case "$1" in
start)
    /USERACCOUNT/.btsync/btsync --config /USERACCOUNT/.btsync/btsync.conf
    ;;
stop)
    killall btsync
    ;;
*)
    echo "Usage: /etc/init.d/btsync {start|stop}"
    exit 1
    ;;
esac

exit 0
chmod 755 /etc/init.d/btsync
update-rc.d btsync defaults

Start BT Sync

service btsync start

Nginx configuration

/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/btsync.xx.xxx

server {
       listen         80;
       server_name    btsync.xx.xxx;
       rewrite        ^ https://$server_name$request_uri? permanent;
}

    server {
           listen         443;
           server_name    btsync.xx.xxx;

           ssl            on;
            ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem;
            ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key;

            access_log  /var/log/nginx/access.log;

            location / {
                    proxy_pass      http://127.0.0.1:8888;
            }
    }
2
  • 1
    Nice addition, but you might want to explain it more ;) (Also, letting newbies get into vi without warning? Ouch! :P) Feb 11, 2014 at 8:43
  • The first code is a start up script for automating BTSync to start up after a reboot. The Nginx configuration is configuring access to BTSync. Access so you can reach and securly log in to your BTSync WebGUI from outside your local network.
    – nicoX
    Feb 26, 2014 at 15:27
1

I found a very useful walkthrough here:

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/articles/how-to-use-bittorrent-sync-to-synchronize-directories-in-ubuntu-12-04

I know I am not spelling out the instructions from the blog post here. But it ultimately was more useful to me so wanted to share.

1

BitTorrent Sync's unofficial PPA now has a package btsync-gui, which adds GTK GUI (in addition to WebUI). There's a thread about the GUI on btsync's forum.

0

According to the original PPA maintainer tuxpoldo, the new way to do it for version (2.0+) is (must be run in bash):

sh -c "$(curl -fsSL http://debian.yeasoft.net/add-btsync-repository.sh)"
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install btsync-gui
btsync-gui
6
  • This seemed to work, but it's asking for a username and password of which I can't remember setting any. May 1, 2015 at 13:51
  • And there's no way to exit. Even killing the process doesn't work. (kill -1 and kill -9) May 1, 2015 at 14:16
  • Try the app on your phone? I think you can do some sort of identity setup with it
    – Jonathan
    May 2, 2015 at 18:27
  • Don't run random Internet scripts in your shell. Aug 17, 2016 at 19:09
  • @Andrew Technically running scripts from the internet is safer than running any installer binary, because you can actually SEE what it does in advance. Therefore, under your logic, you should never install any binary.
    – Jonathan
    Aug 26, 2016 at 17:20

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .