Resilio Sync Setup for Windows 7+ Clients (revised)

Intended Audience

This post will be of interest if you want to use Resilio Sync to selectively back up folders on Windows 7+ clients to a modern FreeNAS server (version 11.2 and above).

An earlier version of this post using a legacy FreeNAS server (version 11.1 or below) can be found here.

Assumptions

The reader has a working knowledge of FreeNAS.
The Resilio Sync plugin has been installed on the FreeNAS server. If not, refer to this post first.

Background

This post is a refresh of an earlier post that was based on the legacy FreeNAS UI (FreeNAS version 11.1 or earlier) and Warden backend manager for jails and plugins. FreeNAS 11.2 brings with it an all-new UI and swaps iocage for Warden as the backend manager. To continue to receive plugin updates, it’s essential to switch to iocage.

Resilio Sync was chosen as the backup tool of choice as the client is available across numerous platforms and there is also a FreeNAS plugin for the server component. At the time of writing this, I am working with FreeNAS 11.2-RELEASE-U1, Resilio Sync plugin 2.6.1 and Windows 10 Home (Build 1809). The guide below assumes the Resilio Sync server has already been set up.

The instruction here is for setting up the Resilio sync client software on Windows 7 or later clients to selectively back up data from them on to a FreeNAS server. The app screens that follow refer to the version of the Windows sync client highlighted in the screenshot below.

Overview

The key steps to set up the Resilio Windows sync client are:

Install and start the sync client.
Add a location to backup.
Request a session connection with the sync server
Establish a session connection on the server.
Create a storage location for the backup.
Initiate the backup

Step 1: Install and start the sync client.

Download and install the Resilio Windows sync client from the Resilio website. When the client is first invoked, you will be prompted for a user name. For naming convenience, I use the sync name rslsync across all devices in the FreeNAS client-server arrangement.

If you’ve already subscribed, skip past the Sync Newsletter dialogue box at which point you’ll be presented with the client UI.

Step 2: Add a location to backup.

Click the + button in the top left corner and then select Standard folder.

Choose your location. In this example, the location Documents is selected.

Click OK. If you’re migrating from the Warden (FreeNAS 11.1 or earlier) to iocage version (FreeNAS 11.2 or later) of Resilio Sync, you may be presented with the dialogue box below. Click OK to continue. This will swing the sync across from the Warden version to the iocage version of the Resilio Sync plugin on the FreeNAS server.

Step 3: Request session connection with the sync server

Next, select a means of delivering the session request to the server. If you log on to the sync server on the same PC, Copy is probably easiest.

Step 4: Establish a session connection on the server.

Log on to the sync server, click the + button in the top left corner and then select Enter a key or link.

The dialogue box below will appear. Paste the link you obtained in the previous step and then click Next.

Step 5: Create a storage location for the backup.

After clicking Next, the sync server will ask you to choose a folder.

If this is a new client to be backed up, create a backup folder under media. Name it something meaningful. If migrating an existing client to the iocage version of Resilio Sync, choose the same backup location the Warden version of Resilio Sync used.

Step 6: Initiate the backup

Click Connect. If you’re migrating an existing client from the legacy Warden to a more current iocage version of Resilio Sync, you will probably see the dialogue box below. Click OK to continue.