DB-유

Synology Drive Setup and Client Sync

· synology, sync, drive

Half the people I support email documents to themselves to get them between the office and home. Synology Drive fixes that with something they'll actually use. It replaces Cloud Station and does what Dropbox does with the files on your own hardware: a synced folder on each PC, a web interface, and per-file version history.

Here's my standard deployment on DSM 6.1 and 6.2. You need DSM 6.1.4 or later; team folders with versioning want a Btrfs volume, and on ext4 you get sync without snapshot-based versions. Turn on the user home service (Control Panel → User → Advanced → "Enable user home service"), since each user's personal Drive folder is their home. And port 6690 TCP must be reachable from wherever clients sync; that's separate from the DSM ports.

Installing the server

Package Center → Synology Drive Server → Install. It installs three pieces: Synology Drive (the user web app), Synology Drive Admin Console, and Synology Drive ShareSync for NAS-to-NAS replication. If Cloud Station Server is present, the installer offers to migrate its database and settings; take the offer, because the client-side data of existing Cloud Station users is preserved and they only need to install the new client.

Team folders

Open Synology Drive Admin Console → Team Folder. Every shared folder is listed, and none are enabled by default. Select the shared folders that should be available for sync, click Enable, and set versioning for each:

Version rotation:      Intelliversioning
Max number of versions: 32

Intelliversioning keeps more recent versions and thins out older ones. I don't bother with "keep the earliest versions"; nobody asks for those. Versions are stored in the hidden @eaDir-style database under the volume, and they count against the shared folder's disk usage, so keep an eye on it for folders with large, frequently changed files.

The homes entry is what gives each user a personal "My Drive". Enable it and set versioning here too.

Client policies

Admin Console → Settings has options I always adjust:

  • Enable file version rotation: on.
  • Maximum file size to sync: leave unlimited for team folders but consider capping user homes.
  • Client → "Allow clients to do on-demand sync": relevant later when the Windows client gains that feature; leave default.
  • Sharing → "Allow public sharing links" only if you want users generating links; for most offices I restrict it to logged-in users.

Under Admin Console → Client List you will later see every connected computer and can unlink one remotely, which is the answer when a laptop is lost.

The port

Control Panel → Security → Firewall → add an Allow rule for "Synology Drive Server" (it appears in the built-in application list, port 6690). On the router, forward 6690 to the NAS if remote clients will not be coming in over VPN. QuickConnect also relays Drive traffic if you prefer not to open a port, at the cost of speed.

Check the listener:

sudo netstat -tlnp | grep 6690

Desktop client

Download Synology Drive Client for Windows, macOS or Ubuntu from the Download Center. On first launch:

  1. Enter the NAS address (nas.example.com or the QuickConnect ID), user name and password. If 2-step verification is enabled the client asks for the code.
  2. Choose a task type. Sync Task mirrors a NAS folder to a local folder; Backup Task is one-way from the PC to the NAS.
  3. Pick the remote folder (My Drive or a team folder) and the local folder. For a new user I point it at C:\Users\<name>\SynologyDrive.
  4. Under Advanced, set the sync direction and, if needed, exclude patterns such as *.tmp, ~$*, Thumbs.db.

Sync starts immediately. The tray icon shows progress and a green tick when idle. On Linux the client is a .deb that runs a synology-drive daemon under the user's session.

For a fleet of Windows PCs, the installer supports silent mode:

Synology Drive Client-2.0.0-xxxx.exe /S

Version numbers vary; check the file you downloaded.

Quick test

  • Create test.docx in the local folder; within a few seconds it should appear in the Drive web app at https://nas:5001/drive/ and in File Station under the team folder.
  • Edit the file three times, then in the Drive web app right-click it → Version history. The three versions should be listed and restorable.
  • Delete the file locally and check it appears in Drive's Recycle Bin, if the shared folder has the recycle bin enabled.
  • Admin Console → Client List shows the machine, user, client version and last sync time.

Problems

  • The client reports "Connection failed. Please check your network connection or try again later" although DSM is reachable in a browser. Port 6690 is blocked somewhere; test with Test-NetConnection nas.example.com -Port 6690 from PowerShell.
  • "The folder you selected is on a volume that does not support Synology Drive" when enabling a team folder. The shared folder lives on an ext4 volume or an encrypted shared folder that is not mounted. Move it to Btrfs or mount it.
  • Files sync but the Windows client marks some with a red X and "Filename is not supported". Windows cannot store names containing : * ? " < > |, or names with trailing spaces or dots, that a Mac or Linux user created. Rename them on the NAS.
  • After a DSM upgrade all clients demand to log in again. The Drive Server database was migrated and sessions invalidated; this is expected once, and the local folders remain intact.

The version history alone justifies it for me. "I saved over the wrong file" becomes a two-click fix instead of a restore from backup.