Linux tips

Versiobit provides many powerful features for Linux users.

Preserving file ownership and permissions

For each file we automatically store the writable and executable flags. Thus, the essential file permissions are preserved accross devices.

Running as root

The desktop app can be run within the context of a user or with root privileges. Running as root allows you to sync the files of multiple users easily without running several installations of the sync client in parallel.

When downloading files the client assigns the same user as file owner as for the parent directory. Just make sure that the top folder that you're syncing has the correct owner.

Running as systemd service

You can run Versiobit as a system service and for example sync multiple user folders without worrying about file ownership and permission issues.

First, configure Versiobit with

sudo versiobit

If you're on a server without GUI you can use the CLI instead.

Then create a file /etc/systemd/system/versiobit.service with content:

[Unit]
Description=Versiobit
After=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/opt/versiobit/bin/Versiobit run
Restart=always
RestartSec=300
SyslogIdentifier=versiobit

Finally start it with

sudo systemctl start versiobit

To automatically start it on boot do

sudo systemctl enable versiobit

Alternatively, if you are running a desktop you can also create a user scope systemd service and invoke versiobit with sudo. This way the tray icon will be visible in your desktop session.