Using SyncBackPro > Expert Mode

Using this window you can specify which SyncBack Touch device you want the profile to use.

SyncBack Touch is free when used with the current version of SyncBackPro or SyncBackSE.

•Destination/right files are on a SyncBack Touch device: If the destination/right is a SyncBack Touch device then tick this checkbox and then select the appropriate device in the drop-down list. If you click the Find button then a scan of the local network is made to find all the devices currently running SyncBack Touch and are available. This is achieved via a UDP broadcast on port 24671 (so if this UDP port is being blocked by a firewall then it won't be possible to find the servers). If the device cannot be found, or you are accessing it via the Internet, you can also optionally type in the hostname or I.P. address of the device. If you do manually enter the hostname or I.P. address then you should untick the following checkbox.

•Port: This setting is not enabled if the device is being connected to via its name as the port number will be discovered automatically. By default SyncBack Touch uses port 8080. Note that if you use Rapid Transfer (see below) then the port above it also used, e.g. if you use port 8080 then Rapid Transfer will also use port 8081.

•Find and connect to the SyncBack Touch device using its name: If you have entered the hostname or I.P. address into the above edit-box then leave this checkbox unticked. However, if you want the device to be found via a broadcast then tick this checkbox. By using the broadcast method you don't need to worry about the hostname or IP address (which can change) of the device. You can also have the profile run automatically when SyncBack Touch starts on the device and becomes available.

•Windows and SBMS usernames and passwords are required: If you have configured SyncBack Touch to use both impersonation and SBMS, then enable this checkbox. You will need to supply both the Windows username and password and a SBMS username and password. SyncBack Touch V1.7.7.0 (or newer) is required.

•Username/Windows Username: This is only required if the SyncBack Touch device is configured to verify usernames and passwords with an SBMS server or Touch is on Windows and was installed to support user impersonation. If you have ticked the checkbox Windows and SBMS usernames and passwords are required then enter a Windows username. By default no username is required by SyncBack Touch.

•Password/Windows Logon Password: This is only required if the SyncBack Touch device is configured to verify usernames and passwords with an SBMS server, has been configured to require a password or is using user impersonation. If you have ticked the checkbox Windows and SBMS usernames and passwords are required then enter a Windows password. By default no password is required by SyncBack Touch.

•SBMS Username: If you have ticked the checkbox Windows and SBMS usernames and passwords are required then enter the SBMS username here.

•SBMS Password: If you have ticked the checkbox Windows and SBMS usernames and passwords are required then enter the SBMS password here.

•Transfer Threads: This is the number of threads to use when uploading and downloading files with SyncBack Touch. The default is 5. For this feature to be used you must be using the latest version of SyncBack Touch. Also, if Touch is on an Android device running Lollipop or newer, and files are being uploaded to an external SD card, then only one thread will be used (due to limitations of writing content on external SD cards). The maximum number of threads is 30. Increasing the number of threads from the default of 5 is more than likely to actually slow down the transfer speeds. It is recommended that you experiment to find the optimal number of threads for your network and devices.

•Touch Version: Which features a Touch server supports depends on it's version. You can force SyncBackPro to use a lower version number by selecting a version from the drop-down list. It is recommended you leave this setting at it's default blank value, so it uses the latest version. IMPORTANT: This setting is only available if debug output is enabled in SyncBackPro (because it's use is primarily for support staff to find problems).

•Run this profile when SyncBack Touch starts on the device: If enabled then the profile will be run automatically if the device running SyncBack Touch is found on the local network. This option is only available if you are connecting to the device using its name. SyncBack will send out a UDP broadcast on port 24671 every 3 seconds, so if this UDP port is being blocked by a firewall then it won't be possible to find the devices. If a Touch device reconnects to the same network within 30 minutes then the profile will not be automatically run again.

•Run unattended, i.e. do not prompt me: If you want the profile to run unattended when the device is detected then enable this checkbox.

•The connection is very slow: If you have a very slow network connection to SyncBack Touch, e.g. in the range of kilobits per second, then enable this option. It reduces the network packet sizes, increases the network timeouts and will only use a single threaded connection. This avoids timeouts and gives a better indication of progress.

•Enable Rapid Transfer: Rapid Transfer can greatly increase performance when using SyncBack Touch. However, there are limitations: data is not encrypted over the network, it may saturate your network, it's not recommended for use on devices with slow storage (e.g. Android devices), it cannot be used with delta-copy (see below) and an extra TCP port is used (one higher than your Touch port, e.g. if you use port 8080 then it will also use port 8081).

•Shutdown SyncBack Touch when the profile ends (Android only): If you are copying files to Touch running on an Android device, e.g. your phone, you may want the SyncBack Touch service on the Android device to stop once the profile has finished running, e.g. for security reasons. If so, enable this option. The drawback of using this settings is that you'll need to manually restart Touch on the Android device if you want to run the profile again. Note that this feature only works when Touch V1.3.11 or newer is running on an Android device.

•Use delta-copy for upload and download of files over this size (MBytes) (Windows only): If you are copying files to a remote Windows device running Touch, you may want to use delta-copy to reduce the network usage. For example, if you are copying large files that don't change their contents too much, e.g. Virtual Machines, then it may be considerably faster to use delta-copy. In this case, when a file is transmitted over the network, only the changes are sent. The file is then rebuilt on the other end. It's not efficient to use this method with all file types (hence the filter option) or with small files, which is why you can specify the smallest size to use delta-copy with. This feature only works when Touch V1.3.11 or newer is running on Windows. This feature is not the same as delta-copy versioning. The versioning feature stores the differences, but in this case the differences are transmitted over the network and the file is rebuilt by SyncBackPro / Touch.

Configuration

To configure SyncBack Touch on the device click the Configure button. SyncBack will connect to the device and display a window where you can change the settings. Note that if SyncBack Touch is using SBMS then the user must have the admin role.

•SyncBack Touch Password (leave blank to not change): This is the password that SyncBackPro profiles will need to connect to this device.

•SBMS host name: If SBMS is being used for security then this is the hostname or I.P. address of the SBMS server.

•SBMS port number: If SBMS is being used for security then this is the port number of the SBMS server. By default it is 8100.

•SyncBack Touch port number: The port number used by SyncBack Touch. By default it is 8080.

•Cache Size: The amount of disk space SyncBack Touch will use on the device for caching.

Ransomware Detection

To configure SyncBack Touch to detect ransomware on the device it is installed and running on, click the Ransomware Detection button. Enable or disable the checkbox "Enabled Ransomware detection" to switch on or off ransomware detection. You can click the Re-Create button to recreate the ransomware detection file, e.g. if it has been deleted or changed (and you know it is not due to ransomware, for example).

SyncBack Touch will create a ransomware detection file (an RTF file with a random filename) in the shared documents folder on the device Touch is running on.

The ransomware detection with Touch is performed slightly earlier than when used with a profile. It is done before the source/left and destination/right folders are created.

Android

Note that by default most Android devices will sleep (switch off) Wi-Fi when the screen turns off. That will pause any SyncBack Touch connections. What the setting is called and where it is depends upon the phone and version of Android:

•Gingerbread (Android V2.3.3): Go to Settings, Wireless and network, Wi-Fi settings and then press the menu key. Select Advanced from the pop-up menu and go to the Wi-Fi sleep policy setting. Choose Never to make sure the Wi-Fi connection stays on.

•Kit Kat (Android V4.4): Go to Settings, Wi-Fi and the press the menu image (the burger). Select Advanced from the pop-up menu and go to the "Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep" setting. Choose Always to make sure the Wi-Fi connection stays on.

However, especially on older versions of Android, even with the above setting you may need to set the device to keep the screen on:

•Gingerbread (Android V2.3.3): Go to Settings, Display, Screen Timeout and select an appropriate timeout value.

•Kit Kat (Android V4.4): Go to Settings, Display, Sleep and select an appropriate timeout value.

Android and Security

The Android operating system will stop apps (such as SyncBack Touch) from reading and writing to files and folders it has no permission to access. Starting with KitKat (Android 4.4) it also restricts access to external storage (SD cards). SyncBack Touch may not be able to access external storage at all or may only have read-access to it. The only way to get around these security restrictions is to root the Android device and configure Android as appropriate. However, this is not recommended as it will likely void any warranty and may make the phone unusable.

SyncBack Touch Security and Authentication

All communication with SyncBack Touch is encrypted (unless Rapid Transfer is enabled, see above). SyncBack Touch can be configured four different ways in regards to authentication:

•It can be configured to simply accept a user defined password. SyncBack will connect to the device and provide that password. If the password is correct then it can use the device. This is the default (with an empty password) and is ideal for home use and is available to both SyncBackSE and SyncBackPro.

•It can be configured to connect to a remote SyncBack Management Service and verify that the username and password supplied by SyncBack is correct. This is ideal for business/enterprise use as the usernames and passwords are centrally managed. SyncBackSE cannot use this option.

•SyncBack Touch can be installed to allow impersonation. This means SyncBackPro connects using the usernames and passwords of Windows accounts on the computer SyncBack Touch is running on. This is also ideal for business/enterprise use as the usernames and passwords are the same Windows usernames and passwords that are already used by users on their Windows computers. This also adds an extra layer of security because when SyncBackPro connects to Touch then they only have access to the files and folders on the Touch device that Windows allows them access to. SyncBackSE cannot use this option.

•You can configure SyncBack Touch to use both impersonation and SBMS. This adds extra security (as two sets of credentials are required) and also lets you restrict which users can use Touch (as they need an account in SBMS as well). SyncBack Touch V1.7.7.0 (or newer) is required.

Firewalls and Routers

By default SyncBack Touch uses TCP port 8080 for all communication with SyncBack. If you are using Rapid Transfer then an extra port is required. It will use the next higher port number, so if you are using port 8080 then it will also use port 8081. The port number can be changed/set during the installation (see below) or by using SyncBack. If you want to access SyncBack Touch through a firewall then you must open this port (and the one above if using Rapid Transfer). If SyncBack Touch is behind a router then you may need to enable port forwarding. Refer to your routers documentation for details.

To discover SyncBack Touch installations broadcasts are made on the UDP port 24671. You may need to open this port on your firewall (not your router as broadcasts are only made on the local network).

SyncBack Touch Installation

On Windows you can use a number of command parameters with the SyncBack Touch installation program (SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe):

• /verysilent

To install SyncBack Touch without any prompts or messages on the screen use the /verysilent command line parameter with the installation executable, e.g.

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /verysilent

It is important that it is the first command line parameter.

WARNING: When using a silent installation, no prompting can be done. Therefore, if the installer cannot replace a file because it is being used, then it will replace it on reboot. If it needs to reboot to replace the file then it will immediately reboot, without prompting, once the installation is complete. You should also bear in mind that if you disable prompting, it is assumed you tacitly agree to those prompts that would normally be displayed (for example, our terms & conditions) and/or that you are aware of the issues that would normally be mentioned. If in doubt, you should manually install a test instance first and satisfy yourself there are no contentious issues.

•/SBMS_Hostname="hostname"

This is the hostname or I.P. address of the SyncBack Management Service (SBM Service). Only specify this if you are going to use SBMS for security and licensing. For example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /SBMS_Hostname="192.168.0.1"

•/SBMS_Port="portnumber"

This is the TCP/IP port number of the SyncBack Management Service (SBM Service). The default SBMS port is 8100. For example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /SBMS_Hostname="192.168.0.1" /SBMS_Port="8095"

•/SBFS_Port="portnumber"

This is the TCP/IP port number of that SyncBack Touch should use. The default SyncBack Touch port is 8080. For example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /SBFS_Port="8081"

•/Password="password"

This is the password that SyncBack Touch should use. This is ignored if you are using SBMS for security. By default there is no password. For example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /verysilent /Password="secret"

•/ServAccName="username"

This is the Windows user account that SyncBack Touch should use for the Windows service. If this isn't specified then SyncBack Touch will use the System account. This is optional. For example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /ServAccName="machine\username" /ServAccPass="password"

•/ServAccPass="password"

This is the password for the Windows user account that SyncBack Touch should use for the Windows service. For example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /ServAccName="machine\username" /ServAccPass="password"

•/Impersonate

If you want to use impersonation authentication with SyncBack Touch then pass /Impersonate on the installer command line. You cannot use this option if you are using /ServAccName as the service must use the system account (see /ImpersonateAdmins). For example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /Impersonate

•/ImpersonateAdmins

If you want to use impersonation authentication with SyncBack Touch with Windows administrator accounts then also pass /ImpersonateAdmins on the installer command line. For example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /Impersonate /ImpersonateAdmins