I’ve had a few posting here in my blog over the years about trying to keep data synced over various computers. Nowadays it has gotten easier since it seems everyone is chruning out their own online storage. Classics like Dropbox or SugarSync, and then we have the big companies Google, Microsoft and Ubuntu trying their luck. Basically they all provide you with 2-5Gb free storage, and more space and features for more money. But they all have one downside, whether encrypted or not, you are leaving your own files to the mercy of an external company. There is not really any voodoo in the whole system, basically you just have some space online, a bit of encryption, and some way to ensure that all clients of a user are synced, nonetheless building your own service can be a hassle as I have found out.
Currently I’m using SVN as a workaround. I just sometimes forget to commit, which leads to me having old data and no access to updated files. Instead of starting from scratch and build strange stuff with rsync I had a look if there were any open source solutions out there. And I was pleased to find a few. Unfortunately they are almost all in the “I have an idea and a few mockups” stage, maybe even some beta version that does something, but nothing really “production” level. Another downside was that most of them either supported Linux or Windows, but often not both.
One open source solution I stumbled across is iFolder, seasoned software supported by Novell, with clients for Windows, Linux and Mac. And if all else fails you can use the web interface to access your files. Admin and User web interface are both easy to use. I don’t remember how I stumbled across it, but I do know that it’s not one of the main products you see named when searching for alternatives to Dropbox.
If you have SuSE as an OS, then installing the software is immensely simplified due to SuSE belonging to Novell, just follow the SuSE instructions on the website. I prefer debian based installations and found Ubuntu instructions at help.ubuntu.com that were written mainly for Ubuntu, but should work with any debian deviate.
I’m not going to repeat anything from the installation instructions, they already did a fine job of documenting everything. One thing is important however: the Client 3.8.0.0 just plain doesn’t work. unfortunately it is the one linked from the website. Go to the sourceforge repository, and download the newer 3.8.03 client. That one works like a charm.
here is an openSuSE tutorial that has been refined and is up to date (use opensuse 11.3): http://www.daniellench.com/2010/08/ifolder-on-opensuse-11-3/
ifolder is easier to setup on opensuse because ifolder, mono and opensuse are all from novell. sometimes building on other dist is very frustrating.
good luck!!
dan
Thanks for the link, you really gathered a ton of useful information there.
After managing to get it running on Ubuntu I have one advice for anyone wanting to try out iFolder: use openSuSE.
It isn’t impossible to get it running on a debian based OS, but it is a real hassle.
I agree about Dropbox, SugarSync, and the rest. I’m not too interested in having my data anywhere out of my control. Plus, it’s kind of fun to have your own personal cloud storage solution, isn’t it?
I’ve been using iFolder since before it went open source. I and another admin implemented it back in 2002 or 2003 and that same system is still synchronizing probably 300-400 users’ data across the enterprise!
I’ve built probably six of the open source iFolder systems with different versions of the software and there’s definitely been some bugs over the years and even still to this day. However, the current version of server and client are both very solid – for the most part. I strongly suggest the use of LDAP for authentication, especially in an environment that is anything other than personal use.
I use mostly openSUSE but occasionally toy around with Ubuntu and Fedora. I haven’t bothered yet to try and get the iFolder client working in either of those distros but I have read plenty of accounts where people managed to get it running under Ubuntu. The Windows client works fine but you’ll want to watch any .NET updates very carefully. The trick to installing the Mac client is to get the absolutely correct Mono version and that takes a bit of research but the stuff is out there.
There’s a bit of activity on the Novell forums site but I think many are concerned about the future of iFolder given the recent Attachmate / Novell business. While I’m a huge fan of iFolder I too am worried and would love to see an open source release of Dropbox (that doesn’t include the pesky password issue, eh?) to play around with but I’m not sure I would replace iFolder anytime soon – it makes me happy when I see that client’s splash-screen.
There’s a bit of iFolder traffic up on Twitter too.
More handy links:
The Admin Guide – read this before you go much farther
A VM-based iFolder Appliance – very very easy to get up and running – no excuses! (See also Basic iFolder howto… finally!!!)
An iFolder Client for the iPhone – This works but YMMV
I encourage anyone who “wants their own Dropbox system” to really look at iFolder. There’s some work getting it up and running but not really that much at all.
– Paul
Can you read my mind ?
Your posting saved me a lot of time.
“There’s a bit of activity on the Novell forums site but I think many are concerned about the future of iFolder given the recent Attachmate / Novell business. While I’m a huge fan of iFolder I too am worried and would love to see an open source release of Dropbox (that doesn’t include the pesky password issue, eh?) to play around with but I’m not sure I would replace iFolder anytime soon – it makes me happy when I see that client’s splash-screen.”
~pblouin
YES!!!! please take a look and bookmark this address: http://nofolder.com
a little side venture i’m working on, total consolidation of files and documents for all platforms 😉
still have alot to do but your experiences would be invaluable especially for the non SuSE dists. feel free to join the forum and post something, should feel a little easier to navigate than the kablink thing. we will extensively test and updating the walk through for each version and only host and recommend the successful rpms and clients.
this came about because of the ‘feel’ of uncertainty for ifolder future and the talk of neutron (to release later this year) which should replace ifolder and be offered as a fee based subscription (total speculation 😉 ) so since ifolder and simias are GPL, lets see what can be done, right!!!
any assistance would be appreciated, hit the forums!!!!!
best,
dan
Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this website. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get that “perfect balance” between usability and appearance. I must say you’ve done a excellent job with this. Also, the blog loads super quick for me on Safari. Outstanding Blog!
we are gearing up for a kickstarter project launching in early march.
http://www.nofolder.com is transitioning from ifolder to our own enterprise ready home friendly opensource GPL product.
nofolder server and desktop will be available free of charge. the mobile clients will be about $5 to fund development.
there is no novell code in this, no mono, no libflaim.
all the best,
dan
Cool, thanks for the heads up.