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Advanced FTP Site Settings: Synchronization Tab

The Synchronization tab contains all the options related to the Folder Synchronizer.

Synchronization Direction

If UPLOAD is selected, the synchronization target will be the remote directory, while the local directory serves as reference and source; if DOWNLOAD is selected, the local directory will be the target; if BOTH is selected, new or newer files in either of the directories will be the source.

Synchronization Scheme

This option defines a general rule on how the contents of the target directory will be modified or updated based on the information of the source directory.

For Upload and Download directions, available schemes are as follows:

  • Add only new files to destination
    (Only transfer new source files.)

  • Update only existing files at destination
    (Transfer files that overwrite old copies in the destination folder.)

  • Update and add new files to destination
    (Transfer new and updated source files that overwrite old copies in the destination folder.)

  • Update, add new, and remove unique files at destination
    (Transfer new source files and updated source files that overwrite old copies in the destination folder and remove orphan files in it. Unique/orphan files exist at the destination but not at the source. )

  • Transfer files added or updated since last sync
    (Compare timestamp of source files with last run time of the task, if it is newer then transfer them to destination.)

  • Remove duplicate files at destination
    (Find out files that exist at both local and remote and remove the copies at the destination.)

  • Transfer all source files
    (Transfer all files in the source folder, overwriting any existing files at the destination. )

  • Transfer all source files and remove unique files at destination
    (Transfer all files in the source folder, overwriting any existing files at the destination. Remove orphan files in the destination folder. This is an option for 100% mirroring without caring about the result of file comparisons, in terms of either file time or file size, between both sides. )

For Both direction, available schemes are as follows:

  • Add only new files to destination

  • Update only existing files at destination

  • Update and add new files to destination

  • Transfer files added or updated since last sync

  • Remove duplicate files at destination

Include subfolders

If selected, subfolders will be included in the comparison and appear in the Folder Synchronizer. By default, this option is enabled.

Show subfolders at bottom

If selected, subfolders will appear at the bottom of the directory tree. Otherwise, they will be placed at the top. By default, this option is enabled.

Ignore filename case

If selected, the filename case will be ignored in the directory and file comparison. By default, this option is disabled.

Compare file size rather than file time

By default, if a file in the destination directory is found to match the name of a file in the source directory, its timestamp will be compared against that of the source file to determine which one is "newer". If this option is enabled, the result is determined solely by file size rather than file time. Suppose both the source and the target directories have a file called "document.zip", but they have different sizes. The one in the source directory will then be considered "newer" when applying one of the synchronization schemes. Otherwise, both files will be deemed to be identical.

This is useful, for example, when you want to update a local directory with another directory on a remote server, which contains only binary files, and you are sure that different files must have different sizes.

Compare MD5 hash in case of same file size

This option is only valid when option [Compare file size rather than file time] is selected. In FTP synchronization, if two files have the same size, TurboFTP Sync Service will issue an XMD5 command to retrieve the remote file's MD5 hash and then compare it against the MD5 hash of the local counterpart. If the MD5 hashes are different, two files are assumed to be different, and the source file will be transferred.

Please note this feature is only available in Sync Service and only for FTP protocol. Also, a remote FTP server like TurboFTP Server that supports the XMD5 command is required for this feature to work.

After Download (Nothing, Delete, Move to)

Select the option after a file is downloaded from the remote server. If the download is incomplete or unsuccessful, it will not be removed or moved.

After Upload (Nothing, Delete, Move to)

Select the option after a file is uploaded from the local computer. If the upload is incomplete or unsuccessful, it will not be removed or moved.

If Move to is selected and you want to preserve the subfolders of the original file path, check off the option 'Preserve sub-folders.

For example, the Move to path is 'D:\archive' and Local Folder in Task Settings | General tab is 'D:\upload\documents' (base folder), and a file called 'manual.pdf' is located in 'D:\upload\documents\products\demo'. After the file is uploaded, it will be moved to 'D:\archive\products\demo'. The sub-folders at the destination will be created automatically.

Hide files to be ignored in synchronization

If selected, the Folder Synchronizer will hide ignored items (items that will be kept intact) in the visual comparison result.

Append timestamp to filename

This feature is only available for Sync Scheme 'Transfer all files'. When enabled, a timestamp string in format 'YYYY.MM.DD-HH.MM.SS' will be appended to the name of each transferred file.

Include Filters and Exclude Filters

Refer to topic File Filtering For Synchronization for more information.