How To Backup Photos From A Mobile Device On Linux Using Daemon Sync

There are many solutions for syncing files from computer to computer on Linux. On Addictivetips, we’ve covered Rsync, Syncthing and Resilio sync. Another file syncing solution for Linux users to try out is Daemon Sync. It’s a proprietary piece of software that allows users to sync their data between computers, including smartphones (iOS/Android).

Install Daemon Sync

Installing Daemon Sync on Linux is limited to only a few select Linux distributions.

Ubuntu/Debian and Derivatives

Officially, Daemon Sync only supports Ubuntu, Debian, and other Linux operating systems that also use Debian packages. There isn’t a PPA or stand-alone software repository, and it seems as if the Linux version of Daemon Sync is “server only.” Still, it’s nice to see there is at least a little bit of support for the platform.

To start the installation, head to the Daemon Sync website, and click the download button. It should automatically detect you’re running Linux. CD into the ~/Downloads folder.

cd ~/Downloads

Then, open up a terminal and use the dpkg tool to install the server package.

Note: Daemon Sync markets their Linux program as server software, but it’ll work on Ubuntu/Debian desktop PC’s just as well as servers.

sudo dpkg -i daemonsync_*_amd64.deb

sudo dpkg -i daemonsync_*_i386.deb

Installing the Daemon Sync server package inside Ubuntu, Debian or their derivatives doesn’t work right away. Due to the nature of how Debian packages sometimes work, it has dependency issues, and the user must fix them.

In the command line, the easiest way to fix this issue is to use the -f flag in the Apt package manager.

sudo apt install -f

When you run the install -f command, it automatically diagnoses the missing packages needed, and promptly install them.

After that, Daemon Sync should install correctly. If for some reason it hasn’t, it’s a good idea to run the dpkg command one more time. This time dpkg will have no errors.

Other Linuxes

As stated earlier, the Daemon Sync app doesn’t have official support for Linux users outside of Ubuntu and Debian. However, there are ways to get this program working. One thing to keep in mind as you follow these instructions, though: Daemon Sync is only installable via a Debian package, so decompiling it for your Linux distribution may not work at all.

Follow these steps at your own risk. If you can’t get it working on a non-Ubuntu/Debian setup, it may be best to create a virtual machine that runs Daemon Sync on your server or PC.

Convert DEB To RPM

Probably the best luck for getting this software working on Linux distributions that use RPM packages is to convert them, using the Alien tool. Alien isn’t perfect, but it does an excellent job of parsing foreign packages and converting them to something more usable.

Note: Alien can also convert to Slackware packages.

Please understand that Alien has no way of determining what dependencies translate to for RPM. It’s best to study the ones that Daemon Sync installs on Ubuntu/Debian and look for the Fedora/OpenSUSE equivalents.

Download the latest version of Daemon Sync and follow our guide here to learn how to convert it to RPM.

Decompile DEB package

It’s relatively common knowledge that Debian package files are just AR archives with files inside. If you extract the right data, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to get the program inside working. Going this route is tricky, as the dependencies for other Linux distributions will not match up with ones on Ubuntu/Debian. For best results, study what Daemon Sync installs when apt install -f runs, and try to find the equivalent packages for your operating system.

When you’ve got the latest version of Daemon Sync downloaded, follow our guide to learn how to deconstruct Debian packages manually.

Using Daemon Sync

The Daemon Sync program is pretty easy to use compared to a lot of other Syncing tools. There are no systemd services to enable, files to move around or permissions to set up. Instead, the user installs the server program, downloads the Android or iOS application and connects the two.

To start using the Daemon Sync program, open up a new browser tab and enter the following URL:

https://localhost:8084

Are you using a remote server on your network? If this is the case, you’ll need to find the remote IP address of the server first. To do this, SSH into the server and run ip addr.

ip addr show | grep 192.168

Running ip addr in conjunction with grep will filter out all information but the local IP address the server has with the router. Copy this address, open up a new browser tab and enter this address to access the interface:

https://local-server-ip:8084

Open the mobile app, and it will automatically detect any Daemon Sync server running on the network. After that, you’ll be prompted to enter a pin to gain access. Go back to the browser tab, enter the correct pin and everything should start working.