www/content/blog/ansible/syncthing-ansible-role.md

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---
title: Syncthing ansible role
date: 2023-01-21
description: The ansible role I wrote to manage my syncthing configurations
tags:
- ansible
- syncthing
---
## Introduction
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I have been using [syncthing](https://syncthing.net/) for some time now. It is a tool to handle bidirectional synchronization of data. For example I use it on my personal infrastructure to synchronize:
- org-mode files between my workstation, laptop, a server and my phone (I need those everywhere!)
- pictures from my phone and my nas
- my music collection between my phone and my nas
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It is very useful, but by default the configuration leave a few things to be desired like telemetry or information leaks. If you want maximum privacy you need to disable the auto discovery and the default nat traversal features.
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Also provisioning is easy, but deleting or unsharing stuff would require to remember what is shared where and go manage each device individually from syncthing's web interface. I automated all that with ansible (well except for my phone which I cannot manage with ansible, its syncthing configuration will remain manual... for now).
## Why another ansible role
I wanted a role to install and configure syncthing for me and did not find an existing one that satisfied me. I had a few mandatory features in mind:
- the ability to configure a servers parameters in only one place to avoid repetition
- having a fact that retrieves the ID of a device
- the validation of host_vars which virtually no role in the wild ever does
- the ability to manage an additional inventory file for devices which ansible cannot manage (like my phone)
## Role variables
There is a single variable to specify in the `host_vars` of your hosts: `syncthing`. This is a dict that can contain the following keys:
- address: optional string to specify how to connect to the server, must match the format `tcp://<hostname>` or `tcp://<ip>`. Default value is *dynamic* which means a passive host.
- shared: a mandatory dict describing the directories this host shares, which can contain the following keys:
- name: a mandatory string to name the share in the configuration. It must match on all devices that share this folder.
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- path: the path of the folder on the device. This can differ on each device sharing this data.
- peers: a list a strings. Each item should be either the `ansible_hostname` of another device, or a hostname from the `syncthing_data.yaml` file
Configuring a host through its `host_vars` looks like this:
```yaml
syncthing:
address: tcp://lore.adyxax.org
shared:
- name: org-mode
path: /var/syncthing/org-mode
peers:
- hero
- light
- lumapps
- Pixel 3a
```
## The optional syncthing_data.yaml file
To be found by the `action_plugins`, this file should be in the same folder as your playbook. It shares the same format as the `host_vars` but with additional keys for the hostname and its ID.
The data file for non ansible devices looks like this:
```yaml
- name: Pixel 3a
id: ABCDEFG-HIJKLMN-OPQRSTU-VWXYZ01-2345678-90ABCDE-FGHIJKL-MNOPQRS
shared:
- name: Music
path: /storage/emulated/0/Music
peers:
- phoenix
- name: Photos
path: /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera
peers:
- phoenix
- name: org-mode
path: /storage/emulated/0/Org
peers:
- lore.adyxax.org
```
## Example playbook
```yaml
- hosts: all
roles:
- { role: syncthing, tags: [ 'syncthing' ], when: "syncthing is defined" }
```
## Conclusion
You can find the role [here](https://git.adyxax.org/adyxax/syncthing-ansible-role/about/). If I left something unclear or some piece seems to be missing, do not hesitate to [contact me]({{< ref "about-me.md" >}}).