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<h1 id="syncthing-on-the-steam-deck-updated">Syncthing on the Steam Deck (Updated!)</h1>
<h2 id="update">Update</h2>
<p>Turns out, when you update the SteamOS, it completely over-writes the operating
system. All of the setup I had originally written was great, if I never update,
which is unacceptable. Not all is lost; the quest simply gets harder. If I can’t
rely on system-wide services, then I rely on user services.</p>
<h3 id="the-wrong-way-system-wide-services">The Wrong Way: System-Wide Services</h3>
<p>My first attempt was to setup Syncthing as a system-wide service managed by
<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">systemd</code>, installed via <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">pacman</code>. There are several problems with this. First,
it requires disabling the read-only file-system. Next, <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">pacman</code> is not setup nor
reliable, since every SteamOS update will over-write any changes I make to any
of the read-only file-system, including the directories that <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">pacman</code> relies on.
Related, the update will also erase the Syncthing package. This means I either
never update (inadvisable, and unacceptable), or I setup Syncthing not in the
read-only file-system.</p>
<h3 id="the-right-way-user-services">The Right Way: User Services</h3>
<p>systemd allows for non-root-based services, called user services. The Arch Wiki
<a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd/User">systemd/User</a> article describes
this functionality much more than I will. Here are the relevant details:</p>
<ul>
<li>User services can be enabled to start when a user logs in</li>
<li>Service files are stored in the user’s home directory (specifically
<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">~/.config/systemd/user</code>)</li>
<li>No root privileges are required. No modifying the read-only file-system</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="syncthing">Syncthing</h2>
<p>Syncthing is incredible. I’ve <a href="2020/07/19/syncthing-part-1.html">written about it
before</a>, but the setup here is a bit more
involved. The Steam Deck runs Arch Linux (and have I told you yet today that I
do too?), so the Arch Wiki <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Syncthing">article on
Syncthing</a> gives some good insight.
When I initially started this process, I installed the SyncthingGTK application
from the Discover Store. This means it is a Flatpak application, and so doesn’t
require elevated user privileges. I also tried the Syncthingy application, which
explicitly calls out Steam Deck users. However, both require running the Flatpak
in the background (like some users do for Discord or Spotify). I don’t like
this, it feels off, and thus I sought a different approach.</p>
<h2 id="sshd-still-incredibly-useful">SSHD: Still Incredibly Useful</h2>
<p>I got real tired real quick of using the on-screen keyboard. After
complaining, a friend recommended I enable <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">sshd</code> and just remote in to the
device. Doing so was a breeze, and I recommend to others who don’t have a
physical keyboard they can plug into their device. Drop to desktop mode
(hold the power button for a few seconds, and select the option), and start a
terminal (default is Konsole). Before remotely accessing the device, or using
elevated privileges via <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">sudo</code>, I need to set a password for the default user,
<em>deck</em>. In the terminal, type <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">passwd</code> and set it (and then put it in your
password vault so you don’t forget. You <em>do</em> have a password vault, right?).
Start the service, <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">sudo systemctl start sshd</code>, and optionally enable it to have
<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">sshd</code> automatically started on each boot (<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">sudo systemctl enable sshd</code>). Get
the device IP with <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">ip addr list</code>, from my desktop run <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">ssh deck@ip-address</code>,
type in the password, and now I’m a grade-A Hackermans.</p>
<p>This setting is not reset on SteamOS updates, that I can tell. Once enabled,
this will always start at boot, and always be on until explicitly turned off. Be
mindful of that if you decide to wander away from your home network; maybe turn
it off in public if you don’t need it.</p>
<h2 id="setup">Setup</h2>
<p>There are 2 things required: a systemd service file, and the <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">syncthing</code>
binary. Syncthing is written in Go, and a compiled binary can be downloaded that
has no dependencies or installation requirements. It can be downloaded from
the <a href="https://github.com/syncthing/syncthing/releases/tag/v1.20.3">Syncthing
Releases</a> page for
many platforms and architectures. The Steam Deck is a Linux platform, using the
AMD64 architecture (or x86_64), so I grab that one. I’ll note here, since I have
SSH access, I do all the editing and downloading on my desktop, and then
transfer the files using <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">scp</code> to the Deck. All of these steps can be done on
the Deck itself, without SSH access. Once the proper tarball has been
downloaded, extract it, and within will be the <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">syncthing</code> binary, ready to
rock. I copy/move the binary to <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">~/.local/bin/syncthing</code> on the Deck. The exact
location is less important than ensuring the binary is within my home directory
on the Deck.</p>
<p>The systemd serivce file can also be taken from the extracted tarball, but
requires modification. In the tarball, it is
<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">etc/linux-systemd/user/syncthing.service</code>. Copy this file to
<code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">~/.config/systemd/user</code> on the Deck, and edit the “ExecStart” line in the
“[Service]” section from</p>
<div class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight"><code>...
[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/bin/syncthing serve --no-browser --no-restart --logflags=0
...
</code></pre></div></div>
<p>to</p>
<div class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight"><code>...
[Service]
ExecStart=/home/deck/.local/bin/syncthing serve --no-browser --no-restart --logflags=0
...
</code></pre></div></div>
<p>(or wherever you decided to put the local <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">syncthing</code> binary)</p>
<p>With everything in place, I can now enable and start the Syncthing user service:</p>
<div class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight"><code>systemctl --user enable syncthing.service
systemctl --user start syncthing.service
</code></pre></div></div>
<p>Since I don’t have a physical keyboard plugged in, I modify my SSH command
slightly to forward the Syncthing web-UI from the Deck to my local machine:</p>
<div class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge"><div class="highlight"><pre class="highlight"><code>ssh -L 31337:deck-ip-goes-here:8384 deck@deck-ip-goes-here
</code></pre></div></div>
<p>Now, on my local machine I can open one tab to <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">localhost:8384</code>, to show
Syncthing on my local machine, and another tab to <code class="language-plaintext highlighter-rouge">localhost:31337</code> to show
Syncthing on my Deck. From here, I add my local machine as a device on my Deck,
and begin sharing folders.</p>
<h2 id="closing-thoughts">Closing Thoughts</h2>
<p>I’ve been using this setup for about a week now. I’ve synced almost 20GB of
files, including configurations and saves for Retroarch. It works after
restarts, OS and client upgrades, and waking the device from sleep. It sits
quietly in the background, without having to start up applications. The biggest
problem is that it doesn’t automatically update to the newest version of
Syncthing. It’s also a bit involved to setup. To that end, I’ve written a tool
to help with setup: <a href="https://codeberg.org/VagabondAzulien/steam-deck-syncthing">Steam Deck Syncthing
Setup</a>. I’m still
finishing it up, but I intend to make use of it to keep my version of Syncthing
up-to-date. If you use it, let me know!</p>
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Bill Niblock
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2022-07-12
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