How To Do This ?

[cetipabo]

Hello,

we are a small company and i would like to share a folder in our local network with a server with Debian Linux on internet .

I set up everything and it works like a charm.

 

Now we have some salesmen in the company, i want them to get the files from our internet server and not from our local network (to save our internet bandwidth).

here is a draw about what i would like to do:

How can i do that ?

Actualy we are dropping the files in our local server and they are synced in Read only on the internet server. what i need to do now to share this folder with our salesmen and be sure that they will sync with the Linux server on internet and not our server in our network.

 

Thank you very much for your help.

[cetipabo]

i tried to create a new share in the linux server, with the same folder but with a new key but obviously it din't work.

 

if i add a predefined host/port in the salesmen PC, pointing to the Linux server, will they get the files from it ? or from both servers ?

[piotrnik]

If you turn off the tracker, dht, relay, etc, and only have a predefined host of the linux server for the salesmen computers, then yes, they should only connect to the linux server.

[cetipabo]

Thank you very much for your answer !

 

i did what you said but how can i be sure that the files will come from the linux server ?

 

i tried to put a file straight in the linux folder, but it didn't sync...maybe it's a normal behavior as i'm doing something that shouldn't happen.

[cetipabo]

well, it doesn't seem to work...i clicked on the device tab and i can see that i'm connected to both servers...

in the windows server i unchecked everythign except "predefined ip/port" and added the linux server ip/port.

On another PC i made the exact same configuration and unfortunately it connects to both servers, i can see both devices in the device tab. 

 

Could it be an issue related to the peer list cache ?

i saw [removed link to 1.4 documentation, RomanZ] that there is a parameter for that :

peer_expiration_days

Amount of days to pass before peer is removed from peer list

Edited August 8, 2014 by RomanZ
1.4 Documentation is not available for public access yet

[cetipabo]

Got it working !

 

First i had to change the peer_expiration_days value to 0 on the windows server and on the clients, i didn't do it on the linux server.

Restart Btsync on the server and client, both were not able to connect to the linux server anymore...so i changed the value to 1.
Restart Btsync once again on both win Server and client and they both connected on the linux server, and there is only 1 device in the device tab which is the Linux server.

 

Thank you very much piotrnik

[ChrisH]

Can't you do it the other way round and set the internal Windows server to only sync with the external Linux server via the known host entry and disable all other options?

Then the salesmen can set whatever they want in their local BTSync installation and still all they can connect to is the Linux box, because the Windows box won't connect anywhere else. Use additional firewall rules on the Windows server if needed.

 

That way YOU will have control over the critical configuration settings, not your salesmen out in the world.

[cetipabo]

From my point of view it will be harder to do it that way.

you don't say to the Windows server to ONLY sync with the linux box. you set it to NOT search for any source than the one added. Which is a little bit different.

From the salesmen side if everything is enabled then they will be able to connect to the win server, because their btsync will find it. So i'll have to play with the firewall which will make things more complicated.

[ChrisH]

If you can rely on the salesmen not to change anything on the configuration side, fine. I would feel better if I had the control in my hands.

I have a similar setup: Several internal BTSync servers, two public BTSync servers and lots of clients that should only connect to the public servers. The internal servers can only access the internet through the central firewall anyway, so it was not that hard to stop them from accepting any external BTSync connections.

 

But if your setup works for you, by all means do it your way.

[cetipabo]

well, i confirm what i said above:

you don't say to the Windows server to ONLY sync with the linux box. you set it to NOT search for any source than the one added.

 

in the win server i unchecked everything and added the Linux server IP/Port.
on another PC i used the default configuration and it immediatly found and connected to both servers...

So you have to disable the search on both sides, if one is able to search then it will find all the servers.

 

EDIT:

i would like to know how this peer cache is working, because since i have played with the settings now what ever i'm doing the win server and the clients are connecting each other   

[cetipabo]

EDIT2:
Well i have to follow step by step what i said when i got it working, now it works.

1) Change peer_expiration_days value to 0 on the server and clients

2) STOP Btsync on server and clients

3) on the linux server, STOP BtSync and reSTART it

4) Start BtSync on the server and clients, change peer_expiration_days value to 1 

5) STOP and START BtSync on Server and Clients

 

I had to do it that way else all servers and clients are connected each other.

 

It would be nice to have a beter way to control the peers list. is there a file where they are stored ? and an easier way to clean it ?

[RomanZ]

@cetipabo

 

peer_expiration_days value is not going to help as this value is from 1.4 client, it is not supported by 1.3. In general, when you disable automatic peers discovery (Tracker, DHT and LAN) - you can configure your mesh with whatever configuration possible. The main drawback here would be that you have to put all the configurations to all peers manually. 

[cetipabo]

well,

so what was happening to me ? when i disabled all automatic peers discovery (Tracker, DHT, lan) the clients were still connecting to both servers. so i guess there is a peer cache somewhere which needs to be cleaned. if the peer expiration setting is useless then How to do it ?

[RomanZ]

@cetipabo

 

My apologies - peer_expiration_days is present in 1.3 starting from 1.3.109. It can't be accessible thru the UI, but can be used in configuration file to flush the cache.