Syncing between pi

gner

I am currently working on a method to sync the roms folder between multiple pi. Meaning add a new rom or game save and it would get replicated to my other systems. I am using rclone and google drive. Anyone else do this? Would there be interest in baking this functionality into retropie? I.e backing your pi to the cloud. Or does this get to close to rom distribution?
I think all it would need is an interface to setup up your cloud account and cron scripts to sync down on boot and and sync up on power off.

lilbud

That is the coolest thing I've seen in a while. I was trying to get something like that working a few months ago with screenshots from pi to pc but couldn't.

Jono

Hi @gner,

I would like something that would allow me to have a backup of my Pi on my network (or cloud - but network is faster), and then update any Pi I connect to the network so that it syncs with it. And by Sync I mean to add Roms, Wheels, Snap, Marquee etc. (I use attractmode) when they are missing, or indeed to pull them if I don't already have them in my master and the Pi in question does.

Whilst doing that would keep all my Pi's in sync, I can see an issue with copyright etc, as if you did this for a few Pi's, and could share the repository, you could end up with a master list which on one hand sounds brilliant, but you would in effect be running a mini file sharing service which will have problems, and something I cannot condone.

But a script in python, and a bit of curl, of you should be on your way...

Clyde

@gner said in Syncing between pi:

Or does this get to close to rom distribution?

Well, you would upload copyrighted data to servers you don't control that could be scanned for copyrighted data. I suppose that nobody can tell you the odds of getting into trouble because of that. That said, I don't know the legal status of cloud synchronisation of data you legally own the rights of utilisation for.

Legal considerations aside, you could encrypt your cloud storage to protect it from being scanned (at least not without tremendous effort, if done right).

HoraceAndSpider

I’d be interested in anything in this area, using DropBox or Google Drive (the latter would be my preference)

I would say it would be useful to pick up the Configs folder rather than the roms folder though, in order to share save files.... I have no objection to having to “manually click to sync” or anything either... but yes, a nice easy solution in RPbitself would be great and happy to help test etc

Jono

There is this on GitHub...

RetroPie / RecalBox Simple Backup Script

You could start with that, but even this recommends using a 2nd account, probably due to copyright issues

Clyde

I just stumbled upon this article about porn performers who got their own work deleted by Google without any notice, probably because of the sexually explicit material. Upon inquiry, Google just referred to its Drive Policies. There is also a (very short) segment about copyright infringement you might want to look up.

Jono

An alternative would be to use a Samba client, and backup to a shared drive locally. If you have a NAS solution, like a Synology drive, you could use that, and open that up to the internet; in effect your own private cloud. That may help avoid these issues.

The Synology approach is also interesting as you could actually use that to schedule backups. I'll have a play with some ideas at the weekend.

Shakz

@gner well there is Owncloud, google drive that you run youself. rsync - linux command line tool just for syncing files....all sorts of options out there without having to use google or dropbox.

Clyde

@jono said in Syncing between pi:

An alternative would be to use a Samba client, and backup to a shared drive locally. If you have a NAS solution, like a Synology drive, you could use that, and open that up to the internet; in effect your own private cloud. That may help avoid these issues.

Just mentioned for anyone interested: There are two ways to do that: Either forward the ports for remote access directly to your NAS through your router, or set up a VPN and access the NAS from afar like you would from your LAN (a VPN is a remote expansion of your LAN).