Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

schwim · 2017-12-22 13:30:30

Hi there everyone!

I'm trying to find a sync alternative for all my devices and ran across Resilio, which used to be BT Sync. Installing on Windows and android is trivial but linux, as is often the case, is lagging behind in ease of use. The install instructions are a bit confusing and there's no GUI or system tray icon, but a web page instead.

Speaking of confusing, I ran the install on my VM and was surprised when instead of having the app running in my directory, I found a new user had been installed for which it was running under. Trying to move the sync folders to my home directory failed due to lack of permissions.

So I was wondering if someone could take a gander at the install instructions and tell me what I need to do differently to install the service so it will allow me to have the sync running under my user account instead.

I don't see in the instructions where it's creating a new user so perhaps this is handled in the script itself and I'm out of luck but I thought I'd ask just in case.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Last edited by schwim (2017-12-22 13:49:43)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-12-22 13:55:20

schwim wrote:

tell me what I need to do differently to install the service so it will allow me to have the sync running under my user account instead

It looks like the user setup is part of debian/postinst and so changing that will probably break the package.

Have you tried

sudo systemctl disable --now resilio-sync
systemctl enable --now --user resilio-sync

(--now is a recent option for systemd, use `systemctl stop` & `systemctl start` instead if it returns an error)

EDIT: no need for `sudo` when running with the --user option, obviously.

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2017-12-22 13:56:58)

schwim · 2017-12-22 21:27:26

hi there head, and thanks a bunch for your help!

That got it running under my user, so thanks very much for that!

Is that a change to it's operation that will persist upon reboots or would there need to be an additional change I need to make to keep it working this way?

Thanks again for the help!

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-12-22 21:37:40

^ You're welcome

schwim wrote:

Is that a change to it's operation that will persist upon reboots or would there need to be an additional change I need to make to keep it working this way?

The --enable option for the `systemctl` command should make it persist upon reboots so no further action is needed.

We can check with:

systemctl list-unit-files --user --state=enabled

Depending on the systemd version, --state=enabled may be be available but this can be used in a pinch:

systemctl list-unit-files --user | grep enabled

EDIT: or the abstraction-free variant:

ls -l ~/.config/systemd/user

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2017-12-22 21:39:58)

schwim · 2017-12-22 23:43:24

That shows it as being enabled, so I think it's all set!

I did think of one more question that I should have included from the beginning; What would be the most complete and safest manner of removing the user that the install process added for the service? Would userdel -r -f username suffice?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-12-22 23:47:22

schwim wrote:

What would be the most complete and safest manner of removing the user that the install process added for the service?

That will be taken care of by the package's post-install script, I would think, so just use:

sudo apt purge resilio-sync

schwim wrote:

Would userdel -r -f username suffice?

Well, that would certainly do it but why not just check /etc/passwd after the package has been removed?

schwim · 2017-12-23 00:18:46

I may have poorly explained what I'm trying. I want to keep the package and use it, I just want to get rid of the additional user that the install script added to my system. instead of just schwim in the home directory, I now have an additional user listed that was created during the install process.

Or am I perhaps misunderstanding what you're trying to say?

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-12-23 00:31:08

schwim wrote:

I want to keep the package and use it, I just want to get rid of the additional user that the install script added to my system. instead of just schwim in the home directory, I now have an additional user listed that was created during the install process

I'm pretty sure that the new user is needed for normal operation even if the program is being run as your normal user so I would strongly advise backing up your system before attempting to force removal.

EDIT: ha! It's a VM isn't it? Those "snapshot" buttons sure are handy, eh?

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2017-12-23 00:31:59)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-12-23 19:18:14

So it turns out that purging the program still leaves the extra user on the system, which is annoying.

Perhaps I misunderstood the install instructions, they are somewhat opaque

Anyway, `userdel` worked just fine; I didn't bother to back up

schwim · 2017-12-23 22:06:44

Hi there again head,

I opened the control page today to do a bit of work and noticed that the script is once again running under the rlsync user so for some reason a reboot caused it to swap back.

Is there something I can do to assign the correct user each time the system starts up? Or perhaps it's trying to run for both users and I need to squash the startup for the user I don't want?

I ran this again and it seems to be telling me that it's running for me as well:

schwim@schwim-vm-bl:~$ systemctl list-unit-files --user | grep enabled
resilio-sync.service enabled
schwim@schwim-vm-bl:~$

Last edited by schwim (2017-12-23 22:07:56)

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-12-23 22:55:50

Can we see

systemctl --all --no-pager | grep resilio

EDIT: this command is useful for checking running units:

systemd-cgtop

Last edited by Head_on_a_Stick (2017-12-23 22:56:51)

schwim · 2017-12-24 02:08:00

Hi there head,

First command:

schwim@schwim-vm-bl:~$ systemctl --all --no-pager | grep resilio
resilio-sync.service loaded active running Resilio Sync service
schwim@schwim-vm-bl:~$

and second:

Path Tasks %CPU Memory Input/s Output/s
/ 116 25.9 - - -
/system.slice/ModemManager.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/NetworkManager.service 2 - - - -
/system.slice/cron.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/dbus.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/lightdm.service 2 - - - -
/system.slice/ntp.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/polkitd.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/resilio-sync.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/rsyslog.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/system-getty.slice/getty@tty1.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/systemd-journald.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/systemd-logind.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/systemd-udevd.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/tor.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/udisks2.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/upower.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/uuidd.service 1 - - - -
/system.slice/vboxadd-service.service 1 - - - -
/user.slice/user-1000.slice/session-1.scope 48 - - - -
/user.slice/user-1000.slice/user@1000.service 2 - - - -

Head_on_a_Stick · 2017-12-24 10:18:45

It is at this point that I must admit that I have no idea how this program is supposed to work and so I will have to suggest that you ask the resilio developers themselves, sorry.

schwim · 2017-12-24 14:05:45

Will do head. I'll throw up a topic alongside the other three nobody bothered to respond to on their forum

Hope your holiday season is fantastic and thanks for all the help above!

#1 2017-12-22 13:30:30

Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#2 2017-12-22 13:55:20

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#3 2017-12-22 21:27:26

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#4 2017-12-22 21:37:40

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#5 2017-12-22 23:43:24

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#6 2017-12-22 23:47:22

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#7 2017-12-23 00:18:46

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#8 2017-12-23 00:31:08

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#9 2017-12-23 19:18:14

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#10 2017-12-23 22:06:44

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#11 2017-12-23 22:55:50

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#12 2017-12-24 02:08:00

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#13 2017-12-24 10:18:45

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

#14 2017-12-24 14:05:45

Re: Resilio Sync: how to install as current user?

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