Using 'sync to odrive' to create a synched folder between two PCs

[yukihyou]

Given these comments:

@Tony

When using “sync to odrive”, you will need to keep in mind that the local system will be considered the “newest” source if there are file differences between the cloud and the local system when the relationship is created, even if the dates on the files are older. So, if sync to odrive was enabled (or re-enabled) on a local folder and the files differed from what it on the remote, odrive will assume that the user’s intent was to upload the local files to the remote storage. We’ve talked about creating more customization where you can specify which side should be the authoritative source in cases like these, where there are files differences, which would’ve been helpful for your use case.

I’d just like to confirm that the correct steps for configuring a sync folder with no loss of cloud data would be as follows.

• Given two computers (pcA, pcB), each with a respective program data folder (fA, fB) and a cloud storage location (cA):
• pcA and pcB both have an application installed, which creates fA and fB respectively in %APPDATA%
• It is desirable to have these appdata folders in sync between the two computers
• All normal caveats of updating data in both locations at the same time apply as they would for any other folder within odrive root

So, I would:

• Browse to fA on pcA, right-click, sync to odrive
• Find the cloud location cA in the browser where I wish to store the files
• Wait for the initial sync
• Pause sync on pcA (optional, but I presume desirable to ensure no modified data is uploaded between syncs)
• Browse to cA within odrive’s local folder on pcB
• Sync folder and contents locally
• Copy folder contents from cA into fB
• Right-click in fB to sync with odrive
• Browse to same cloud location cA with the existing data
• Wait for odrive to confirm the data is the same
• Resume sync on pcA
• Optional: Unsync the local copy of cA from pcB to prevent duplicate storage of data

I’m hoping there is a more streamlined way to do this?

[Tony]

Hi @yukihyou,
My apologies, I missed this earlier.

Your steps look correct. The trick would be to merge the existing cloud data into the target local folder(s), in the way that you need, prior to sync.

I think the only way to simplify would be if you considered the data in the cloud, in its entirety, to be the “official” data. In this case you could just empty out fA and fB, so that they are just empty folders, and then create the “sync to odrive” relationships with the remote storage and download the contents.

If the data is a bit of a mishmash, where there are files with the same names/paths on all sides, and the “official” copy of the file can potentially be in any of the three places (fA, fB, or remote), you would need to create one local folder (either fA or fB, to be the “golden” set that you want to propagate out.

[yukihyou]

Thanks @Tony

@Tony

In this case you cloud just empty out fA and fB, so that they are just empty folders, and then create the “sync to odrive” relationships with the remote storage and download the contents.

I think this is the key part I was missing - I didn’t realise that an empty folder would pull down the cloud version. This simplifies the second PC setup then, by just removing the existing data and synching to the empty folder.