How to Install Syncthing on NetBSD

Syncthing is an open-source file synchronization tool that allows users to synchronize files between different devices. In this tutorial, we will go through the steps to install it on NetBSD.

Step 1: Install Required Packages

Before installing Syncthing, you need to install the required packages on NetBSD. Open the terminal and run the following command:

pkgin update
pkgin install syncthing

This will update the package database and install Syncthing on NetBSD.

Step 2: Create a Syncthing User

We need to create a separate user for Syncthing to run as a service. Run the following command to create a user:

useradd -r -s /usr/sbin/nologin syncthing

This will create a new user named 'syncthing' on your system.

Step 3: Configure Syncthing

Now, we need to configure Syncthing before we can start using it. We will create a configuration file in '/usr/pkg/etc/syncthing/config.xml'. Run the following command to create the configuration file:

mkdir -p /usr/pkg/etc/syncthing/
echo '<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration version="30">
    <gui enabled="true" tls="false">
        <address>0.0.0.0:8384</address>
    </gui>
    <options>
        <listenAddress>tcp://0.0.0.0:22000</listenAddress>
        <globalAnnounceServer>https://announce.syncthing.net/</globalAnnounceServer>
        <localAnnounceServer>https://announce.syncthing.net:8443/</localAnnounceServer>
        <publicServer>https://discovery.syncthing.net/</publicServer>
        <relayServer>dynamic</relayServer>
        <maxSendKbps>0</maxSendKbps>
        <maxRecvKbps>0</maxRecvKbps>
        <minHomeDiskFree unit="GiB">1</minHomeDiskFree>
        <reconnectionIntervalS>60</reconnectionIntervalS>
        <startBrowser>false</startBrowser>
    </options>
</configuration>' > /usr/pkg/etc/syncthing/config.xml

This will create a basic configuration file for Syncthing. You can modify this file according to your requirements.

Step 4: Enable Syncthing Service

Create a new file '/etc/rc.d/syncthing' and add the following code:

#!/bin/sh
#
# $NetBSD: syncthing,v 1.1 2022/04/10 12:34:56 user Exp $

rcvar=${rcvar:="syncthing"}
command="/usr/pkg/bin/syncthing"
command_args="-home /home/syncthing/config -no-browser"
pidfile="/var/run/syncthing.pid"
required_files="/usr/pkg/etc/syncthing/config.xml"

. /etc/rc.subr

name="syncthing"

start_precmd=run_prestart

run_prestart() {
    install -d -o syncthing -g syncthing /home/syncthing/config
}

load_rc_config $name
run_rc_command "$1"

This script will start Syncthing as a service using the configuration file that we created earlier. Make sure to adjust the 'command_args' option to define the path of the configuration file.

Set the 'syncthing' service to start on boot:

rcctl enable syncthing

Step 5: Start Syncthing Service

Finally, start the Syncthing service using the following command:

service syncthing start

You can verify that Syncthing is running by checking the process using the following command:

ps -ef | grep syncthing

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we have learned how to install Syncthing on NetBSD. You can now use Syncthing to synchronize files between different devices or share files with other users.