Docs / Data & machines

Sync and backup

Sync keeps one folder the same on all your machines. Backup copies your drive, encrypted, to your own pCloud account.

Sync: one folder everywhere

A file saved in the synced folder on one machine shows up on your other machines in about a second. A file you delete there goes to the trash on the others. A machine that was switched off catches up when it comes back. You do not need to press anything.

Each machine chooses where it keeps its copy in Settings → Sync → Synced folder. The default is ~/FrameBuff/Sync.
The files are plain files on each machine's disk, so your other programs can work in them. They are sealed for the receiving machine while they travel.
Sync is for your own paired machines only. Family has a folder of its own. See Family.
Each machine has its own queue. A machine that is slow or switched off never holds up the others.

When two machines changed the same file

Both versions are kept. The copy that arrives is renamed, for example notes-from-nova.txt. Keep the one you want and delete the other, and the delete travels like any other. An edit made while another machine was off is not a conflict: sync remembers the last version both machines agreed on and sends the newer one.

The trash

A file deleted in the synced folder moves into the trash on every other machine and stays there for 30 days. Open the Sync page's Trash tab to restore it. You can change the number of days, or keep deletes on one machine only.

An unplugged drive never deletes your files

If the synced folder is missing, for example because a USB drive is unplugged, sync pauses. Nothing is sent and nothing is deleted anywhere. Sync keeps a small marker file named .fbsync in the folder so it can tell an unplugged drive from an emptied folder.

The drop folder: send a file once

Sync is a folder your machines agree about. The drop folder is for a one-way handoff. Drop a file in the corner panel and it lands on the shared drive and on every machine in your fleet. Send to machine in Files sends one file to one machine's /Drop folder. A file can be up to 256 MB.

The Shared folder

The Shared folder, ~/FrameBuff/Shared by default, is a plain folder on one machine. FrameBuff and your other programs can both see it, so it is the place to hand files between them. It is not encrypted and it is not synced.

Backup to your own pCloud account

Backup copies the folders you choose to a folder in your pCloud account. By default that is the encrypted FrameBuff drive. Everything goes up encrypted, and pCloud never sees a readable file or a key.

Connect the account

On the Vault page, sign in to pCloud with your email and password. FrameBuff keeps one token and does not store the password.
On the Backup page, press Connect. FrameBuff asks the account once whether it lives in the US or the EU, and remembers the answer.
Press Back up now, or set Back up every N hours. The schedule is off until you set a number.

What goes up

Backups are incremental. A file that did not change is not uploaded again, and two files with the same content are stored once.
An interrupted run picks up where it stopped. Only a finished run counts as a backup.
The personal folder is never backed up. Its key belongs to one machine, so nobody could open a copy, you included.
The credential vault goes up only if you turn on Back up the vault as well. Models go up only if you turn on Back up models as well.
You can set an upload speed limit so a backup does not fill your connection.
Each run ends with one notification that says whether it finished.

Restore, even on a new machine

Restore brings back everything, or one file or folder, from the newest backup. The drive has to be unlocked.

If every machine is lost, you need only your pCloud account and your 12-word phrase:

Set up FrameBuff on the new machine.
Fetch the wrapped keys from the backup with backup.getkeys. You give it a pCloud token for that one call, and it is not kept.
Recover the drive with your 12-word phrase.
Run the restore.