From 2849fad7286fb94a69441945bb986b98dcdd1273 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Julien Dessaux
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2023 23:50:00 +0100
Subject: Added syncthing ansible role blog article

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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
+
+I have been using [syncthing](https://syncthing.net/) for some time now. It is a tool to handle bidirectional synchronisation of data. For example I use it on my personal infrastructure to synchronise:
+- 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
+
+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 autodiscovery and the default nat traversal features.
+
+Also provisioning is easy, but deleting or unsharing stuff would require to remember what is shared where and go manage each device individualy 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.
+  - path: the path of the folder on the device. This can difer 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" >}}).
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