Running a Discovery Server ========================== .. note:: This describes the procedure for a v0.12 discovery server. Description ----------- This guide assumes that you have already set up Syncthing. If you haven't yet, head over to :ref:`getting-started` first. Installing ---------- Go to `releases `__ and download the file appropriate for your operating system. Unpacking it will yield a binary called ``discosrv`` (or ``discosrv.exe`` on Windows). Start this in whatever way you are most comfortable with; double clicking should work in any graphical environment. At first start, discosrv will generate the directory ``/var/discosrv`` (``X:\var\discosrv`` on Windows, where X is the partition ``discosrv.exe`` is executed from) with configuration. If the user running ``discosrv`` doesn't have permission to do so, create the directory and set the owner appropriately or use the command line switches (see below) to select a different location. Configuring ----------- Running discosrv with non-default settings requires passing the respective parameters to discosrv on every start. ``discosrv -help`` gives you all the tweakables with their defaults: :: Usage of discosrv: -cert string Certificate file (default "cert.pem") -db-backend string Database backend to use (default "ql") -db-dsn string Database DSN (default "memory://discosrv") -debug Debug -key string Key file (default "key.pem") -limit-avg int Allowed average package rate, per 10 s (default 5) -limit-burst int Allowed burst size, packets (default 20) -limit-cache int Limiter cache entries (default 10240) -listen string Listen address (default ":8443") -stats-file string File to write periodic operation stats to Certificates ^^^^^^^^^^^^ The discovery server provides service over HTTPS. To ensure secure connections from clients there are two options: - Use a CA-signed certificate pair for the domain name you will use for the discovery server. This is like any other HTTPS website; clients will authenticate the server based on it's certificate and domain name. - Use any certificate pair and let clients authenticate the server based on it's "device ID" (similar to Syncthing-to-Syncthing authentication). In this case, using `syncthing -generate` is a good option to create a certificate pair. Whichever option you choose, the discovery server must be given the paths to the certificate and key at startup:: $ discosrv -cert /path/to/cert.pem -key /path/to/key.pem Server device ID is 7DDRT7J-UICR4PM-PBIZYL3-MZOJ7X7-EX56JP6-IK6HHMW-S7EK32W-G3EUPQA The discovery server prints it's device ID at startup. In the case where you are using a non CA signed certificate, this device ID (fingerprint) must be given to the clients in the discovery server URL:: https://disco.example.com:8443/?id=7DDRT7J-UICR4PM-PBIZYL3-MZOJ7X7-EX56JP6-IK6HHMW-S7EK32W-G3EUPQA Pointing Syncthing at Your Discovery Server ------------------------------------------- By default, Syncthing uses a number of global discovery servers, signified by the entry ``default`` in the list of discovery servers. To make Syncthing use your own instance of discosrv, open up Syncthing's web GUI. Go to settings, Global Discovery Server and add discosrv's host address to the comma-separated list, e.g. ``https://disco.example.com:8443/``. Note that discosrv uses port 8443 by default. For discosrv to be available over the internet with a dynamic IP address, you will need a dynamic DNS service. If you wish to use *only* your own discovery server, remove the ``default`` entry from the list.