Configuring SyncBack Touch to backup files over the Internet

Author: Swapna Naraharisetty, 2BrightSparks Pte. Ltd.

Do you intend to backup files from devices (such as Windows, macOS, Linux or Android) on a remote network to a local (or a network) drive?

SyncBack Touch, with SyncBackPro/SE, provides a convenient and efficient way to transfer files from a remote device to a local drive over the internet. This article focuses on the settings and options that need to be configured in order to establish a secure connection between your Source and Destination and to backup/synchronize your files.

Configurations to perform on your router/firewall/Touch

1. Install SyncBack Touch on your remote device and ensure that it is up and running. Then install SyncBackPro/SE on your local Windows computer.

2. As the default listening port for SyncBack Touch is 8080, you have to ensure that this port is not being used by any other application/service running on your remote device.

If the default port is in use, then you may need to perform an additional step (2a) to change the listening port from 8080 to your desired port number.

2a. Steps to change the default listening port:

If SyncBack Touch is running on Windows:

- Uninstall SyncBack Touch from your remote device.

- Re-install SyncBack Touch using command line parameters. The command line parameters are described in the SyncBackPro/SE help file (open the contextual help file, search for SyncBack Touch and refer to the section "SyncBack Touch Installation").

- To run the installer with the command line parameter that sets the listening port, open a command prompt window (cmd.exe), go to the folder containing the SyncBack Touch installer file and enter:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /SBFS_Port="xxxx"

"xxxx" is your desired port number, make sure is quoted. Example:

SyncBackTouch_Setup.exe /SBFS_Port="8090"

If SyncBack Touch is running on macOS or Android:

- SyncBack can find SyncBack Touch devices on your local network so you don’t even need to know the hostname or IP address of the device running SyncBack Touch.

- Go to Settings > Network menu.

- Enter the new port number under “SyncBack Touch port number”.

- Click Done/Save and then restart SyncBack Touch in order to use the new settings.

3. In order to allow incoming connections on the default SyncBack Touch port (8080 or any other configured port), the port should be opened on any router/firewall installed at the remote side.

4. If your SyncBack Touch device is behind a router, then the router has to be configured in such a way that any incoming connection on the default Touch port (8080 or any) have to be forwarded to the device that is running SyncBack Touch.

Please refer to your router manual for the steps to do port forwarding or contact your router admins for further assistance. You can also refer to the Firewall and Routers section in the SyncBack Touch Help file for more details. With the SyncBack Touch settings page opened, press F1 to open the contextual help for more details.

We can’t offer support in configuring routers/firewalls as this is beyond the scope of our support.

5. Once you are done with the above configurations, you can create a backup profile in SyncBackSE/Pro using the “New Profile” Creation Wizard and follow the on-screen prompts.

Select your Source as SyncBack Touch and Destination as “Internal/External drive, network path etc.” in the 3rd screen and click the Next button, you should be brought to the next page, which is the "SyncBack Touch Connection Details" page.

6. Enter the public IP address (use http://whatismyipaddress.com/ to get your IP address) of your remote network in the Hostname field.

Clear the check box that says “Find and connect to SyncBack Touch device using its name” and click on the “Test” button to test the connection.

7. Once the test connection is successful, you can click on “Done” button and your profile is created. Then you can configure your local resource (Destination) according to your requirement. And run the profile to backup files from the remote SyncBack Touch device to your Destination.

8. If you are experiencing timeouts during the profile execution due to slow internet/network speeds then try enabling the option “The connection is very slow” in your SyncBack Touch profile settings.

Conclusion

SyncBack Touch provides a simple and convenient way to access files on a remote device either over a local network or the Internet. Unlike other solutions it has none of the complexities of configuration or issues of compatibility.

SyncBackPro/SE V10 (and newer) users can use SyncBack Touch for free, so there is no excuse not to give it a try and discover the advantages of using SyncBack Touch.