git-annex/ tips/ Crude Windows Sync

Here's a workaround to start syncing folders on Windows right now. It's a bit command line heavy, so you might need to set this up for your users. But I would much rather do this than use some other syncing solution and then have to migrate.

(1) Create a remote server git annex repository with the assistant on Linux or Mac.

(2) Install git on the Windows machine.

(3) Install git-annex for Windows on the Windows machine. Don't forget to run the installer as administrator.

(4) Run Git Bash from the system menu, and run these commands to clone your repository.

    ssh-keygen
    cat .ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh username@my-server.com "cat >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"
    git clone username@my-server.com:/path/to/annex
    cd annex
    git annex init

(5) Create a script that will trigger a full sync

    echo '
    #!/bin/bash
    git annex sync
    git annex get *
    git annex add .
    git annex sync
    git annex copy * --to origin
    ' > sync.sh
    chmod +x sync.sh
    ./sync.sh

(6) Copy the "Git Bash" shortcut from your windows menu to your desktop, and change the link target to:

    C:\Program Files\Git\bin\sh.exe" --login -i "annex/sync.sh"

Now ask your users to run this shortcut before and after they change files. You can also put it into the "autostart" folder to sync at boot.

Comments on this page are closed.