Published multiple files

Author: IDtheTarget

src/site/notes/Laptop/3. Syncthing.md

@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 ---
-{"dg-publish":true,"permalink":"/laptop/3-syncthing/","updated":"2025-11-09T17:29:27.251-06:00"}
+{"dg-publish":true,"permalink":"/laptop/3-syncthing/","updated":"2025-11-09T17:46:42.656-06:00"}
 ---
 
 # Discussion
 I have several systems that I want to synchronize between my phone, my laptop and a tablet.  Many of those systems have their own way of synchronization, i.e. Obsidian's [Obsidian Sync](https://obsidian.md/sync). Systems like that work fine, but there are two disadvantages: First, I don't want to have to maintain multiple systems if I don't have to. Second, I want to be in control of how I back them up. I realized that if I can sync them to the Raspberry Pi, I can then back them up from there.
 
 After looking a a few alternatives, [Syncthing](https://syncthing.net/) (and [syncthing-fork](https://github.com/Catfriend1/syncthing-android) for android) seemed to be the clear winner. It was a bit of a stretch to get my head around how to make it work on all my devices, but the [Getting Started page](https://docs.syncthing.net/intro/getting-started.html#getting-started) helped.
 
-Please note that this page is only for the initial set-up of Syncthing on the my [[Laptop/0. Design Considerations\|Linux Mint Laptop]]. See also the initial set-ups for my [[Self-Hosting/3. Syncthing\|Raspberry Pi]] and [[Phone/4. Syncthing\|Phone]]. I cover the steps to share individual folders in their respective sections, i.e. [[Self-Hosting/4. Note-taking\|Self-hosting/4. Note-taking]] and [[Laptop/4. Note-taking\|Laptop/4. Note-taking]].
+Please note that this page is only for the initial set-up of Syncthing on the my [[Laptop/0. Design Considerations\|Linux Mint Laptop]]. See also the initial set-ups for my [[Self-Hosting/3. Syncthing\|Raspberry Pi]] and [[Phone/4. Syncthing\|Phone]]. I cover the steps to share individual folders in their respective sections, i.e. [[Self-Hosting/4. Note-taking\|Self-Hosting/4. Note-taking]] and [[Laptop/4. Note-taking\|Laptop/4. Note-taking]].
 
 # Installation
 - I opened "Software Manager" and searched for "Syncthing". Several items popped up, including "Syncthing" and "Syncthing Tray". The problem was that, as I looked at them, the "Tray" package (which puts an icon in the tray for management and informational purposes) is using a "Flatpack" that's over 1GB of download and 3.7GB on the disk! For just the tray. Syncthing itself was only 23MB on the disk. So, I went to the command line and looked for syncthing by typing `sudo apt search syncthing`. And sure enough, there's a package named syncthingtray, that only needs about 204MB. So I went the 'apt' method instead of the "Software Manager" method.
@@ -16,10 +16,15 @@ Please note that this page is only for the initial set-up of Syncthing on the my
 - Click on "Start Syncthing"
 - Then click on "Syncthing Web UI"
 - The web UI comes up and asks to set a user name and password for the GUI. ~~While I'm the only person using the system, it's still a best practice to enable "[defense in depth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_in_depth_(computing)", so I set it up.~~
-	- ~~In the box on the webpage entitled "GUI Authentication", click the "Settings" button at the bottom right
-	- ~~Click on the "GUI" tab
-	- ~~Enter the "GUI Authentication User" and "GUI Authentication Password"
-	- ~~I checked the "Use HTTPS for GUI", even though I'm not using a CA-signed certificate. I may have to go back and turn that off later, but I like multiple layers of encryption.
-	- ~~Click "Save".
+	- ~~In the box on the webpage entitled "GUI Authentication", click the "Settings" button at the bottom right~~
+	- ~~Click on the "GUI" tab~~
+	- ~~Enter the "GUI Authentication User" and "GUI Authentication Password"~~
+	- ~~I checked the "Use HTTPS for GUI", even though I'm not using a CA-signed certificate. I may have to go back and turn that off later, but I like multiple layers of encryption.~~
+	- ~~Click "Save".~~
 - It turns out that I couldn't get Syncthing Tray to work if I had a password set on the GUI. So I spent the next hour trying to find the way to remove the username and password without breaking Syncthing. I even did a `sudo apt purge syncthing syncthingtray` but that didn't work, it didn't get rid of the configuration file. I *finally* found the file in ~/.local/state/syncthing/config.xml
-- 
+- In the Syncthing web GUI, find the "Actions" drop-down at the top right and select "Settings". You are going to need the **API Key** later for Syncthing Tray
+- Start SyncthingTray from the Start Menu -> Internet -> Syncthing Tray icon.
+- I tried the guided setup, but had problems because of my password. After I cleared the Syncthing GUI username and password, I had to go back into the manual settings for Syncthing Tray. 
+- Syncthing URL: https://127.0.0.1:8384
+- API key: what you copied from Syncthing GUI Settings about two bullet points above.
+- Click "Apply" and "OK", and it looks like I'm ready to add folders!