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Sync

Note

This is currently only supported in Zero Install for Windows.

Zero Install Sync allows you to synchronize your list of applications, desktop integrations and command-line aliases between multiple machines. You either need a free 0install.de user account or you can use your own server.

Example

  • You download LibreOffice and KeePass on your first PC using Zero Install.
  • Zero Install Sync tells your second computer which applications you installed.
  • Your second computer downloads the same applications automatically.

Technical details

The synchronization algorithm works as follows:

  • Download existing application list from the server if present and decrypt it.
  • Merge the data from the server into the local application list using a three-way merge.
  • Apply any changes made to the application list to the desktop environment.
  • Encrypt and upload the new application list.
  • Store a copy of the application list locally for use as a baseline for the next merge.

All data is encrypted locally before transmission using AES-128. Therefore the server remains unaware of the actual data being synchronized.

The communication with the server is handled via a simple REST interface which is documented at https://0install.de/sync/.

Custom server

If you want to run your own Sync server you have the following options:

  • Use our PHP script on your web server.
  • Use an empty directory on a WebDAV server.
  • Use a Windows file share.

Local/network filesystem

You can also use a directory on a local or network filesystem instead of an HTTP server. Simply specify a local or UNC path instead of a URL as the Sync Server in the configuration.

0install config sync_server \\SomeServer\0install-sync