Syncopoli - Rsync for Android

NOTE: Starting v0.5, you must press "Verify Connection" in settings and verify that your host's fingerprint matches before you can sync.

Permissions

READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: for local to remote syncs.
WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE: for remote to local syncs.
READ_SYNC_SETTINGS, WRITE_SYNC_SETTINGS: to set up automatic sync.
INTERNET: rsync needs network access.
ACCESS_WIFI_STATE: get wifi SSID for Wifi only setting.
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION: unfortunately, Android 8.1+ now mandates this permission AND enabling location services for apps to get the SSID. So, if you are running Android 8.1 and above and want your profiles to sync only when you're connected to a specific SSID, this permission AND enabling location services is required.
GET_ACCOUNTS: Needed to register a handle in the account sync service to periodically run rsync

Global Options

Protocol - Rsync or SSH
Server address - The IP address of your server
Port - Port where rsync or ssh daemon is listening
User - This should be your rsync user or ssh user (depending on protocol)
Trust host fingerprint - verify the fingerprint of the host you're connecting to
Clear trusted hosts - clear all fingerprints that were previously trusted
Additional Options - Any additional options you want to give rsync. This is applied to all sync profiles.
Private Key File - Should be your dropbear-compatible ssh key (see below)
Rsync Password - password used to authenticate with the Rsync daemon
SSH Password - password used to authenticate using ssh protocol
Frequency - How often you want to run all the sync profiles (in hours)
Wifi only - whether to sync over wifi only
Charger only - whether to sync only if phone is charging
SSIDs to sync - sync only when connected to the specified SSIDs, e.g. mynetwork;yournetwork;somenetwork
Run as root - This allows syncing directories that are normally not accessible. Requires su binary (see below).

Profile Options

Direction - local means phone, remote means whatever server is on the internet side
Profile name - This is for your own recognition, set it to whatever you like
Origin - The source directory/file
Destination - The destination directory
Additional Options - Set additional rsync options if this profile needs additional options

SSH Key

Syncopoli requires a dropbear-compatible ssh key. You can use dropbearconvert to convert your openssh key to dropbear key.

Root requirement

Syncopoli requires a compatible su binary to be present on the system which preserves environment variables. The only compatible su binary I've found so far is from MagiskSU which carries over environment variables with --preserve-environment. Unfortunately, LineageOS's addonsu doesn't respect environment variables and can't be used with Syncopoli. Busybox on android doesn't provide a su binary.

External binaries

rsync and ssh (dropbear ssh) binaries are built from source on f-droid servers. Cloning this project will include ALL sources used (and their modifications).

Interoperability

As of a01af010, syncopoli can receive broadcast intents from other applications and runs the specified sync service. The application needs to know the name of the sync profile to run. Approximately, the code would look like:

Intent intent = new Intent();
intent.setAction("org.amoradi.syncopoli.SYNC_PROFILE");
intent.putExtra("profile_name", "my profile name");
sendBroadcast(intent);

The following intents are supported (may expand in the future) (merge requests welcome):

org.amoradi.syncopoli.SYNC_PROFILE

I expect the user of your application will set the profile name as has been setup in syncopoli.

Building

See app/build.gradle for dependencies (requires android sdk and ndk, make sure to properly set up both).

$ git clone --recursive # clones sources for rsync and ssh
$ gradle assembleRelease

You have to have gradle installed. See gradle.org or your local fresh repo.

See ./gitlab-ci.yml for a reproducible build with build dependencies.

How to get the latest debug build

gitlab.com/fengshaun/syncopoli -> CI/CD -> Pipelines -> on the right side, download artifacts. There is a file name apk-debug.apk.

How to install apk

adb install <apk>

How to get logcat output for bug report

Run syncopoli on your phone, then run the following commands:

# to get the pid of syncopoli
$ adb shell "pidof org.amoradi.syncopoli"
# to get the logcat for syncopoli
$ adb logcat --pid=<the number you got from above command>

Paste the output in the bug report

FAQ

Q: Syncopoli fails! I get: "ssh: Exited: String too long"!

A: Syncopoli needs an ssh key in dropbear format. See "SSH Key" section above.

Q: How do I use this...thing?

A: Set your global options by going to settings (see Global Options above), then press the plus button to create individual profiles. The play button on top bar runs all sync tasks. Hold your finger over each profile to edit/delete them.

Q: Typing paths is tedious.

A: I know. It's in the works.

Credits

Translators

Spanish - Andrés Hernández
Japanese - naofum
Russian - ashed
German - Christian
Italian - Claudio Arseni
Dutch - Nathan van Beelen

abertschi / syncopoli