Knowledge Center

Cloud Station ShareSync

Note: Cloud Station Server will now be succeeded by a new application, Synology Drive Server, which covers the original key functionalities. We recommend upgrading to Synology Drive Server for optimal performance and various new features. Please visit this tutorial to learn about feature differences and how to upgrade before you start.

Cloud Station is a file sharing service that allows you to synchronize files between a centralized Synology NAS device and multiple client Synology NAS devices, computers and mobiles. To seamlessly sync your data among multiple Synology NAS devices, a Synology NAS device has to be chosen as the host server, and the rest of the paired Synology NAS devices will act as client devices. Before syncing files with client devices, Cloud Station Server package is required to be installed on the host server, while Cloud Station ShareSync package has to be installed on each client Synology NAS device you want to sync with.

Create New Connections

To sync files between the host and client Synology NAS devices, you need to create connections first.

To create a new connection:

  1. On the Cloud Station ShareSync user interface, click on the Create icon at the bottom-left corner to start the wizard.
  2. Enter the IP address (or the QuickConnect ID), username and password of your host Synology NAS device. For domain users, use your domain name/username to log in. For LDAP users, use "username@Base_DN" to log in. You can also log in with IPv6.
    • If you cannot connect to the host Synology NAS device you can go to Control Panel > Network > General to enable proxy. Enter your proxy settings to connect to your host Synology NAS device.
  3. Choose the remote and local shared folders you want to sync, and then tick Enable.

Note：

  • To find your QuickConnect ID, log in to the host server's DSM as admin (or a user belonging to the administrators group), and then go to Control Panel > QuickConnect to check the information.
  • If you are unable to connect to the host Synology NAS device or authorize the connection with your user credentials, check your network settings, and make sure your access to Cloud Station Server has been enabled by your DSM administrator (at Control Panel > Privileges > Cloud Station Server).
  • User home folders, mounted shared folders, and folders without write permission cannot be used as local sync folders when connections are being created.
  • One host and one client Synology NAS device can only be paired in one configuration. On each client device, you can create multiple connections all with different host servers, but not duplicate connections with the same host Synology NAS device. Local folders cannot be synced with more than one host.
  • Enable advanced consistency check ensures ultimate accuracy of synchronization, where Cloud Station Drive compares additional criteria such as hash, execution bit and file permissions in different scenarios where merging is required. This takes more time and resources in completing synchronization tasks.
  • You can only set sync direction to download only if the login account does not have write permission to the remote shared folder; likewise, you can only set sync direction to upload only if you don't have write permission to the local folder.
  • For EDS14, you need to configure EXT4/EXT3 internal or external storage extension before running Cloud Station ShareSync.

Manage Connections

Once a connection has been successfully created, you can view the connection information and modify your syncing tasks.

To manage connections:

  1. Select the connection you want to edit from the connection list on the left panel.
  2. Under the Overview tab, click Manage to do any of the following:
    • Pause syncing: Pause the syncing between your host and client Synology NAS devices.
    • Resume syncing: Resume the syncing between your host and client Synology NAS devices.
    • Unlink: Cancel the connection with the host Synology NAS server, and remove it from the list.
    • Edit Connection: Enter user credentials and enable SSL if desired.

Sync Shared Folders

You can easily specify which local shared folders you want to sync.

To manage and sync shared folders:

  1. Select the connection you want to modify from the connection list on the left panel.
  2. Under the Sharing tab, all the shared folders on the host sever that can synced will be listed here.
  3. Tick the Enable checkbox next to the shared folder you want to sync, and then click on the Change folder path icon to select the local sync folder. Then click OK.
  4. Click Save for the settings to take effect.

Note：

  • You cannot choose a shared folder that has already been used as a sync folder by other host Synology NAS devices.
  • Files and folders under a mount point will not be synchronized.

File Sync Mode Settings

Cloud Station ShareSync allows you to sync between two Synology NAS devices using different file sync modes.

To sync shared folder privileges

  1. Go to the Sharing tab and click the advanced settings icon next to the shared folder you wish to apply shared folder privilege settings to.
  2. Go to Permission Settings and from the File sync mode drop down menu, select the shared folder file type on the host Synology NAS you want to sync to and click OK.
  3. Tick the Enable checkbox next to the shared folder and click Save apply your settings.

Note:

  • You must be in the administrators group connected to host Synology NAS to sync shared folder privileges.
  • You cannot sync folders with incompatible privilege settings. Please go to Control Panel > Shared Folder to adjust the privilege settings for your host and client shared folders to Windows ACL.
  • If your client and host Synology NAS devices are in different domain groups, then shared folder privileges cannot be synced, even if this option is enabled.

To set sync direction

  1. Go to the Sharing tab and click the advanced settings icon next to the shared folder you wish to apply shared folder privilege settings to.
  2. From the Sync direction drop down menu, select a sync direction for your shared folder and click OK.
  3. Tick the Enable checkbox next to the shared folder and click Save apply your settings.

Note:

  • If you only have read-only permission for the shared folder on the host Synology NAS device, you can only sync from the host to your local Synology NAS. Any changes you make to the shared folder or files on your local Synology NAS will not be synced to the host. Files and folders located in a mount point will not be synced.

Selective Sync

You can choose the folders you want to sync and then limit the files and file types that you don't want synced. You can also set a maximum file size limit to prevent files over a certain file size from being synced.

  1. Click on the Sharing tab, then click on the Advanced icon next to the shared folder you want to apply the settings to.
  2. In the Folder tab, tick the boxes next to the folders and sub folders you want to sync.
  3. In the File filter tab, you can do the following:
    • Filter by file size: In the box next to Don't sync files over, enter a file size between 1~10240 (MB). 0 means unlimited.
    • Filter by file type: Uncheck the file types you don't synced. You also enter file names or file extension in the box below and click Add. Any file with the designated file name or file type will not be synced.
  4. Click Apply and then Save to save your settings

Note：

  • If your client Synology NAS device is not in the same domain group as the host Synology NAS you are pairing with, the privilege settings will not be synced even though this option has been enabled.
  • It is not suggested to synchronize and collaborate on Synology Office files among multiple Synology NAS servers. Modifications made to the same files via different Synology NAS servers might cause unexpected synchronization results.
  • Files will not be synced by Cloud Station ShareSync under the following circumstances:
    • The folder or file path contains the following characters:
      \ /
    • The file type is any of the following:
      .tmp .temp .swp .lnk
    • The file name starts with any of the following:
      ~
    • The file or folder name is or contains any of the following:
      • @eadir
      • .SynologyWorkingDirectory
      • #recycle
      • desktop.ini
      • .DS_STORE
      • Icon\r
      • thumbs.db
      • $Recycle.Bin
      • @sharebin
      • System Volume Information
      • Program Files
      • Program Files (x86)
      • ProgramData
      • #snapshot
    • The file path is longer than 2048 characters.
    • The file name is longer than 255 characters.
  • When setting file names you don't want to sync: on Windows if a file name is capitalized and another has the same name in lower case, it will be considered the same file name (ex. A.txt and a.txt) but on Linux and Mac systems they will be considered to be different file names.

Sync Log

Cloud Station ShareSync will keep a sync log, allowing you to keep track of the files you have synced.

To view the Sync log

Click the log icon on the bottom left corner to view the log.

Settings

To modify database location:

  1. Click the settings icon on the bottom left corner.
  2. Choose a volume under Database Location Settings.
  3. Click OK to change your syncing repository.

To edit file conflict resolution settings:

  1. Click the settings icon on the bottom left corner.
  2. Select your desired file conflict resolution.
  3. Click OK to save your settings.

Note:

  • If more than one computer makes changes to the same file, conflicts may occur. To solve this problem, you can set a conflict resolution rule.
  • If you are worried that when a conflict occurs, your local files will be overwritten, you can select Rename to keep the discarded version. Once selected, if a conflict occurs, Cloud Station ShareSync will rename the file in the following way: [filename]_[computer name]_[modified date].[file extension]. (For example, "a.txt" will be renamed to "a_ComputerName_20121001.txt").

Enable SSL Encrypted Connection

A certificate can be used to secure data transfer between your Synology NAS devices, and having a certificate allows users to validate the identity of the host server before sending any confidential information. You can import a certificate issued by a trusted authority (at Control Panel > Security > Certificate) on your DSM, enable secure connection on Cloud Station ShareSync, and then the system will verify the given certificate to ensure your Cloud Station connection is protected.

To enable SSL data transmission encryption:

  • For new connections:
    1. On the Cloud Station ShareSync user interface, click on the Create icon at the bottom-left corner to start the wizard.
    2. Enter your user credentials, and tick the Enable SSL data transmission encryption checkbox.
  • For existing connections:
    1. Select the connection you want to modify from the connection list on the left panel.
    2. Under the Overview tab, click Manage > Edit connection to modify.

Note:

  • If Cloud Station ShareSync fails to verify the SSL certificate, it may mean that it is an untrusted self-signed certificate, or someone may be trying to intercept your connection. Please go to Control Panel > Security > Certificate for more information.
  • Cloud Station ShareSync uses RC4 128-bit and MD5 for SSL encryption.

Create New Connections
Manage Connections
Sync Shared Folders
File Sync Mode Settings
To sync shared folder privileges
To set sync direction
Selective Sync
Sync Log
Settings
Enable SSL Encrypted Connection