Edition: Business, Enterprise
User-level: Director, Assistant System Administrator, System Administrator
Your project folders in Total Synergy are all kept in cloud storage. Using the on-premises folder synchronisation feature, new project folders created in the cloud can be automatically created on your local server. This synchronisation runs at regular intervals (by default, every five minutes) but can be customised to your needs.
Despite the name 'FileSync', no files are actually synced. This process only recreates the project folder structure from your projects in the cloud, on your local server.
What happens when I enable the Windows file Server connection?
Folder Sync operates in a one-way direction from the cloud to your local server. When new folders are created in the cloud, they will be automatically replicated on the local server after the FileSync.exe process has run. This includes standard folders generated for each new project, as well as any additional folders created by users within Synergy.
Limitations:
Only projects created after enabling the connection will be synchronised to your local server.
Projects that existed before the connection was enabled will not be included in the synchronisation process.
New folders added to previously existing projects will be synced.
FileSync does not delete or rename local existing local folders, it only creates new folders
FileSync applies only to project folders. Staff or Contact folders are not included.
Installation
The Synergy File Sync component should be installed by your IT team on your local server. This is the server which contains your shared drive being used by all of your users to store project documents on-premises.
Download the FileSync installer from this link: https://synergy5sandboxhelp.blob.core.windows.net/sharedfiles/Total%20Synergy%20File%20Sync.msi
Run the downloaded
Total Synergy File Sync.msifile.Click 'More info' and then 'Run anyway'.
Click Next, select Everyone, then Next again.
Click Next to start installation, then Close when complete.
The Total Synergy File Sync application has now been installed. The next step will be to set it up and configure it.
Setup and Configuration
This must be done first after installation:
Navigate to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Total Synergy Cloud\Total Synergy File Sync(or your custom install path).Right-click and run
FileSync.exeas an administrator. This step will create the initial configuration file.
Navigate to
C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Roaming\SynergyFileSync.Open
configuration.jsonwith Notepad or a preferred text editor, and fill in:ApiURL:
"https://app.totalsynergy.com"(includehttps://exactly)LocalPath: Target path for your project folders (use double backslashes \\) (e.g:
C:\\ProjectsFolders)Slug: Your Unique Organisation Code (from the URL)
Accesstoken: On Synergy app, go to Edit Profile > API Key and copy your Personal (3 year) API Key. The key needs to be taken from a profile with system administrator access.
Office: Leave empty (
"") for default office or specify the office to sync
Save.
Your configuration file should look something like this:
Create a scheduled task
By creating a scheduled task in windows, FileSync.exe can be run on a regular schedule, ensuring that the folders on your local server are up-to-date and accurate.
Open Windows Task Scheduler
Click 'Create Task…'
Name your task, select "Run whether user is logged on or not", and check "Run with highest privileges".
Under Triggers, create a new trigger and set it to repeat every five minutes indefinitely.
Under Actions, add a new action pointing to
FileSync.exe.Under Settings, enable "Run task as soon as possible" and "Run a new instance in parallel".
Click Ok.
Enable the connection
Once you have installed and configured File Sync, you will have to enable the connection in Synergy. In Synergy:
Go to Organisation menu > Connect to PIM
Click the 'Windows File Server' tab
Toggle 'Enable connect and start integration'.
Select a folder naming format. This controls what the name of the created project folders is. There are five options available:
Project number
Project name
Project number and name
Project name and number
Project number and reference
Important Note:
If you change the folder naming format after syncing starts, there are a few things to consider:
Previously synced folders retain their original names. FileSync does not update existing folder names.
New folders adopt the updated naming convention.
If you manually change a folder name on your local server, this can cause a duplicate folder to be generated if the folder no longer matches the naming format set.
To maintain consistency, we suggest choosing one naming format initially and avoid changing it afterward.
Multi-office and FileSync/Windows File Server
Organisations with multiple offices can sync folders to different servers based on each project's office by enabling the setting: "Enable syncing different office directories to different servers".
Enabled: Project directories queue separately per office, syncing individually to each corresponding server.
Disabled: All project directories share a single queue and sync to a single local server.
When this setting is enabled, you'll need to create multiple configuration.json files, one for each office. To specify which configuration file to use, FileSync.exe has an additional parameter used by your scheduled task to indicate the relevant configuration file. This allows you to run multiple FileSync configurations simultaneously on the same server.
For example, this organisation has 3 offices, and it wants Office 1 and Office 2 to sync to “Server A”, and Office 3 to “Server B”. So, FileSync needs to run 3 times with the different parameters.
Server A | Server B |
FileSync.exe - configuration1.json | FileSync.exe - configuration3.json |
FileSync.exe - configuration2.json |
|
Creating configuration files for multi-office
The easiest way is to copy the created configuration file and increment the name, or give the file a name based on the office. E.g., configuration1.json, configuration2.json, configuration-officename.json, etc.
Go to
C:\Users\%yourUser%\AppData\Roaming\SynergyFileSyncSelect the configuration.json file, then copy and paste it. Rename the new file as desired.
Open the new configuration file in your text editor of choice.
Set the LocalPath to the path you want this offices' folders to sync to.
Set the Office to the name of the office as it appears in Synergy.
Save
Go to the Windows Task Scheduler, and follow the steps above to create a new task for this office.
When adding the Action for the task, enter the configuration file name into the 'Add arguments' field.
You will need a scheduled task for each different configuration file. In the above example, Sever A will have two scheduled tasks, one for configuration1.json, and another for configuration2.json. Server B will only have one scheduled task.
When each scheduled task runs, it will run FileSync.exe with the configuration file set in the task arguments.
Folder synchronisation automates the replication of cloud-based project folders to your local servers, streamlining access and collaboration across your organisation.
Where to next?
What other features does this relate to?