StorageSync Copyright (c) Afteroffice Sdn Bhd IntroductionStorageSync is a software application that allows you to backup your computer files to the Online Storage for safe keeping or to be shared with others. It can also effect a reverse operation to restore the files in your computer as part of a disaster recovery procedure.Features
System requirementPC compatibles, running Windows 98, Me, XP, 2000, NT, Vista.At least 300Mhz CPU clock speed, 128MB RAM, and 20MB of free diskspace. Internet connection and a valid account for Online Storage with Afteroffice. Similarly configured hardware running Linux operating system with KDE or Gnome windows manager. RedHat and Fedora distributions is known to work well. Apple computers running the Mac OSX. InstallationFor WindowsDownload the installation program from the appropriate download web page. This is currently http://www.afteroffice.com/storageSyncDownloads.htmlConsult support@afteroffice.com for assistance if you are unable to download the installation program. Run the installation program (e.g. storagesync-VERSION.exe) and respond to the questions asked during the process. In most cases, you can accept the default settings to proceed with the installation by clicking on the [Next] button. By default the installation will have StorageSync starts up automatically when Windows starts. If you do not want this behavior, uncheck the checkbox that says "Starts automatically with Windows starts". Finish off the installation by clicking the final [Finish] button. If StorageSync is not started, you can start it by clicking on the StorageSync desktop icon, or navigate your taskbar menu to start it. NOTE: StorageSync for Windows requires external commandline programs: touch.exe, md5sum.exe, curl.exe, 7za.exe and gpg.exe, which are all bundled and installed automatically. For LinuxDownload the installation package from the appropriate download web page. This is currently http://www.afteroffice.com/guide/storageSyncDownloads.htmConsult support@afteroffice.com for assistance if you are unable to download the installation program. Uncompress the installation file (e.g. storagesync.linux-VERSION.tar.gz) in an appropriate directory which you have full write access to. To execute StorageSync, change into the installation directory and type: ./storagesync.linux & StorageSync for linux requires common external commandline programs: touch, md5sum, curl, 7za and gpg. If these are not available on your computer, please consult your system administrator to install them. For Mac OS XDownload the installation package from the appropriate download web page. This is currently at http://www.afteroffice.com/guide/storage/syncDownloads.htmConsult support@afteroffice.com for assistance if you are unable to download the installation program. Open the downloaded .dmg file (e.g. storagesync-mac-osx-VERSION.dmg) and open in Finder. Drag the entire contain of this volume into a local folder. To execute StorageSync, double-click on the Application named "StorageSync" (StorageSync.app) StorageSync for Mac OS X requires common external commandline programs: touch, md5sum, curl, 7za and gpg. 7za and gpg are bundled together in the installation package. If the other programs are not available on your computer, please consult your system administrator to install them. TerminologyThe words "backup", "restore", and "synchronization" are not used in the user-interface of StorageSync due to the many different interpretations of the words. While the words are used here in this help document, they are to be understood in its common meaning.To avoid confusion, StorageSync only uses the words "copy" or "transfer" of files, and qualifying it further with the direction of the file transfer. The direction of the transfer could be from your computer to the server (backup) or from the server to your computer (restore) or both directions (synchronization). User Interface componentsThe profile listLists the profiles you have created. They may represent backup, restoration, or synchronization settings. Each profile remembers the local folder and the remote folder you have selected and all the optional settings. A login account information (login profile) and the direction of copy is also associated with each profile. Click on a profile name in the list (on the left) and the settings (on the right) will be restored to previously saved selections. You can thus switch between profiles quickly. The currently selected profile is highlighted with a gray background.The profile management buttonsFour buttons at the bottom of the profile list are for managing the creation of the profiles. They are [New], [Delete], [Rename], [Clone][New] Use this button to create a new profile from scratch. Enter a profile name in a popup window to proceed. The new profile will have default settings. The local folder and remote folder fields will be empty and must be filled appropriately before a run. [Delete] Use this button to delete the currently selected profile. [Rename] Use this button to rename the currently selected profile. [Clone] Use this button to create a new profile with ALL its settings being a copy of the currently selected profile. Name this new profile in the popup window to proceed. This function is useful to create a profile that is just a slight variation of an existing one. For example, we could clone a backup profile, and then by simply changing the direction of the file transfer, we could have a corresponding restore profile. The wall clockThis is simply the ticking clock matching your computer's clock. This clock is use to schedule your automated runs, and also to timestamps the files. Ideally, this clock should match the server's setting in terms of timezone and accuracy.The status barThe status bar at the bottom is used to convey some program activity or error messages. This is also used to show the name and time of the next scheduled profile run.The SettingsLocal folderThe Local Folder field specifies the path to a folder in your computer. It could be the source of files to be backup to server or the destination for files from the server. The copy-direction will determine this.Remote folderThe Remote folder filed specifies the path to a folder on the server (Online Storage). It could be the destination folder for the files from your computer, or the source of files to be downloaded to your computer. Again the copy-direction will determine this.Login userThis indicates the user account that you have entered to access the server. If it shows "(Invalid user profile)", then it means you have not entered an account yet. The Login Profile window is used to specify this user account and the corresponding password. The Login Profile window is described in greater detail in later section of this document.Copy DirectionThe icon immediately to the left of the Local Folder and Remote Folder fields shows the selected copy-direction. The computer image represents your computer and the globe represents the remote server. A green arrow between shows the direction of the copy, either from local-to-remote folder or remote-to-local folder. A third case of two green arrows appearing, means bi-directional transfer. This is sometimes termed as "synchronization". In this case, newer files will be transfered and they may be sourced from your local computer or from the remote server, depending on their timestamp. So, in such a run, it is possible there may be file transfer in both directions.The Selection / Schedule / Options tabThere are 3 categories of settings, grouped under these three interface tabs: Selection, Schedule and Options. Each will be explained further in later sections of this document.Saving settingsThe [Save] button will be available to click on, whenever there are changes made to any setting. Any change to settings take effect immediately, but is not save to disk under the current profile. Remember to save any changes by clicking the [Save] button before selecting a different profile or quitting StorageSync. Otherwise the changes are not saved. You may also wish to NOT save changes that are only temporary.Running a profileThe [Run] button will initiate a Pre-Run of file transfer as specified by the settings in the current profile. A Pre-Run window will appear to show the list of files that will be transfered (or not transfered). The Pre-Run phase does not effect any file transfer yet, but merely analyze both the local and remote folders. Clicking on the [Proceed] button in the Pre-Run phase will then effect the transfer (Run phase).An automatically invoked scheduled run will not require any user intervention. But the Pre-Run and Run phase will continue to appear on screen. Browsing and selecting a Local folderClick on the [Browse] button to the right side of the Local Folder field. A folder navigation window should appear for you to make the appropriate selection. The exact look of the local folder navigation window depends on your computer operating system. It should be familiar and intuitive to use.File MenuFile -> ExportThe Export function saves a copy of ALL your profile settings into a compressed formatted file on the storage server under your account. In particular the file is in your Online Storage folder /Private/_storagesync_profiles.7z.The purpose of this file is to allow the restoration of your profile settings in the event that your hard disk crashed and you had to reinstall StorageSync. Instead of reconstructing your profiles again from memory, you can invoke the Import function to restore the last Exported profiles. To automatically Export your profiles everytime changes were made, you can check the [Automatically export to remote after settings changed] option and click on the OK button. A confirmation prompt will remind you that Export is about to take place, after changes to any profile setting are made. You can also do an Export function immediately by clicking on the Export Now button. You may treat the Export function as a backup process for your profile settings. It is recommended that you keep an exported copy of your profiles current by enabling automatic exporting, especially if you have many profile settings. WARNING: The Export function overwrites the existing compressed formatted file on the server. If you are doing a recovery process, and want to import the saved Exported file, you must not do another Export process, which will overwrite the current Exported file. File -> ImportThis the complementary function to the Export function. It will only successfully work if there is a previously Exported file on your Online Storage account.It does the reverse of the Export function by downloading a previously exported file and replacing ALL profiles and thus recreating the profile settings that you previously had. This action should only be used during a disaster recovery process, and not casually used any time. WARNING: The Import function replaces ALL existing profile setting with the ones saved in the Exported file. Import can potentially erase existing profile setting that you may want to keep. File -> QuitTerminate the StorageSync program. Remember that scheduled run will NOT execute if StorageSync is not running.Edit MenuEdit -> Login InfoThis function opens up the main Login Info that must be entered before using StorageSync. The info will also serve as the default login information whenever connection is made to the storage server. All Run Profiles, by default, will connect using this Login Info unless a seperate one is setup for it. ( See section on Login Profile window below. )Three important pieces of Login Info are Server, Login and Password. These information will be given to you if you have a valid account on the storage server. Server is the server name or IP number of the server on which you account resides. Login is usually in the form of an e-mail id. Type manually in the Password field. The enter password is hidden from view with a series of asterisks. Cut-and-paste the password from elsewhere will not work in this field. You can optionally save this password so that you don't need to key it in everytime. SSL Login tells the program to employ Secure Socket Layer when transmitting login information, the username and password, to the server. This adds assurance that the sensitive information will not be discovered by a third party during transmission. Help MenuHelp ->HelpThis function open up this document, which is a guide to using StorageSync.Help -> Video TutorialThis function redirects you to an online video tutorial on how to use StorageSync. Help -> Check for UpdatesThis will invoke the process to connect to our update server to check if there are any newer version of this software. If there is a newver version, you will be guided to the appropraite webpage to download it. StorageSync automatically checks for update at least once a day and will remind you of a newer version, if any. If there is an update available there will be a message "Click Here for Update!" shown at the top righthand corner of the main StorageSync interface window. As what the message says, you can click on it to proceed to download the newer copy. An update is usually a new installation bundle of software that you download and install over the current copy in your computer. An upgrade will preserve your existing Profile settings. To remove all previous profiles, it is recommended to do and Uninstall of the program and manually delete all folder content in the installation folder, typically at C:\Program Files\StorageSync Help -> AboutPops up a small window announcing the version of this software.Browse Remote Storage
Click on the [Browse] button to
the right side of the Remote Folder
field. A remote folder navigation window should appear for you to make
a selection. Accessing a remote folder requires a valid account on the
Online Storage. If access appear to fail, the Login Profile window will
automatically appear to request for login information.
Read the section on Login Profile for more information. Once a valid
login profile has been provided, you can then navigate the remote
folders
freely.
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Wildcard pattern | What it means |
* | means to match anything number of characters. |
? | means to match any one character. |
[xy] | means to match character "x" or "y" only, where "x" and "y" and be any character. |
Example pattern | What it means |
* | matches all names! |
*.* | matches only filenames that has a dot in it. |
*.xl[st] | matches filenames that end with .xls or .xlt |
a* | matches filenames that begin with "a" or "A", matching is case insensitive. |
*.?? | matches filenames that end with two-letter extension. |
myfile.mp3 | matches exactly one file named myfile.mp3 |
Example pattern | What it means |
*.com, *.exe, *.bin | means to match files ending with .com, .exe or .bin |
Action | What it means |
copy -> | indicates that a local file will be transmitted to the remote folder. |
copy <- | indicates that a remote file will be transmitted to the local folder. |
create -> | indicates that a remote folder will be created, to match the local one. |
create <- | indicates that a local folder will be created, to match the remote one. |
resume -> | indicates that the previous transmission of the local file was interrupted, and will be resumed now. |
resume <- | indicate that the previous transmission of the remote file was interrupted, and will be resumed now. |
delete -> | indicates that the remote file (or folder) will be deleted |
delete <- | indicates that the local file (or folder) will be deleted. |