--- title: "Set up Outpost Sync" description: "Turn on Outpost Sync for people with a profile, choose where their files are stored, set quotas and history, and check what they see." url: "https://support.outpostplatform.com/sync/set-up-sync/" product: "sync" type: "how-to" status: "draft" ai_summary: "Steps to turn on Outpost Sync: a profile with sync.enabled assigned to a Person, User group, or Whole client, plus quota, version history, upload limit, metered behavior, and destination. Verify on Users > person > Sync. The person gets an Outpost Sync folder and a Sync view in the tray with ten states. Windows only. Needs profile:manage." availability: plans: ["home-lab", "essentials", "enterprise", "msp"] platforms: ["windows"] permission: "profile:manage" preview: false source: "https://gitlab.com/outpostplatform/docs/-/edit/main/src/content/docs/sync/set-up-sync.md" license: "CC BY 4.0" --- # Set up Outpost Sync This page turns on [Outpost Sync](/sync/) for the people you choose. When you finish, each of them has an **Outpost Sync** folder on every Windows computer they sign in to, with the storage quota and version history you set. ## Before you begin - You need the `profile:manage` permission. - The people are listed under **Users**, which happens once they have signed in to an endpoint. See [End users](/endpoints/end-users/). - Their computers run Windows 10 version 1709 or later, or Windows Server 2019 or later. Sync does not run on Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, or OpenBSD. - Decide where the files are stored. Unless you name a destination, Sync uses the client's default [storage destination](/depot/storage/), then the MSP's default, then the Outpost server's own disk. Outpost Cloud Storage is the MSP's default unless you set another. Home Lab uses your own S3-compatible storage only, so add one first. - On the MSP plan, open the client's workspace first. Profiles belong to one client. Sync is not a backup. A file deleted on one computer is deleted on all of them. Keep [Outpost Backup](/backup/) on for these computers. ## Create a Sync profile 1. Go to **Profiles** > **All profiles** and select **New profile**. 2. In **Name**, enter a name, such as `Outpost Sync: finance team`. 3. Select **Create profile**. The profile opens on its **Settings** tab. For each setting below, find it on the **Settings** tab, select **Set in this profile**, enter the value, and select **Save** on the setting. ## Turn Sync on Set `sync.enabled` to on. If any profile that applies to the person at the same rank sets `sync.enabled` off, Sync is off for them. A mandatory off cannot be turned on by a narrower profile. ## Set the quota and history 1. Set `sync.quota_bytes` to the most storage one person's folder may use, in bytes. The default is `10737418240`, which is 10 GiB. `0` means no limit. Previous versions and the recycle bin count toward it. 2. Set `sync.max_versions` to how many previous versions of each file to keep. The default is `10`. 3. Set `sync.version_retention_days` to how many days previous versions and deleted files are kept. The default is `30`. When a person's folder reaches its quota, their computers pause uploading until there is room again: raise the quota, or wait for retention to remove old versions and deleted files. ## Set network behavior - To cap upload bandwidth, set `sync.upload_limit_kbps` in kilobits per second. Downloads are not limited, because a person is waiting for them. - To pause Sync on connections Windows reports as metered, such as a phone hotspot, set `sync.allow_metered` to off. The default is on. ## Choose the destination Leave `sync.storage_profile_id` empty to use the client's default destination. To store one group's files somewhere else, such as a bucket of their own, set `sync.storage_profile_id` to that destination's id. The setting takes the id, not the name, and **Settings** > **Storage** does not show ids. Read the `publicId` of each destination from `GET /api/v1/storage/profiles`, which needs `storage:manage`. See the [API](/api/). A Windows network share cannot hold Sync files. ## Assign the profile and make it active 1. Open the **Assignments** tab and select **Assign this profile**. 2. In **Applies to**, choose **Person**, **User group**, or **Whole client**, and choose the target. Sync follows the person only, so an assignment to an endpoint, a site, or a device group does not change Sync. 3. Select **Assign**. 4. Open the **Overview** tab, set **Status** to `active`, and select **Save changes**. ## What the person sees The next time the person signs in to a Windows endpoint, an **Outpost Sync** folder appears in their user profile. In the [tray app](/tray/), the **Sync** view shows how much is synced and pending, their storage use, and when it last synced, with **Open Folder**, **Pause Syncing**, **Choose Files to Keep Offline…**, and **Download All Files**. See [Use the tray app](/tray/using-the-tray/). The view always says why Sync is not syncing: | Status | What it means | | --- | --- | | **Up to date** | Every change has synced. | | **Syncing** | Files are uploading or downloading. | | **Off** | Sync is not on for this person. | | **Paused** | The person paused Sync on this computer. | | **Paused by IT** | An administrator paused it. | | **Storage full** | The person's folder is at its quota. | | **Metered** | The computer is on a metered connection and `sync.allow_metered` is off. | | **Disk full** | The computer does not have enough free space. | | **Offline** | The computer is waiting for a connection. | | **Needs attention** | Something needs fixing. The view says what. | ## Verify 1. Go to **Users** > **All users** and open the person. 2. Select the **Sync** tab. 3. The **Outpost Sync** card shows **On**, with the profile that turned it on. **Where it is stored**, **History kept**, **Upload limit**, and **On a metered connection** show the values you set. 4. After the person signs in and the folder syncs, their computer is listed under **Devices**, with **Last synced** and **Up to date**. ## If something goes wrong | Symptom | Cause | Fix | | --- | --- | --- | | The **Sync** tab shows **Off** with **Not set by any profile (catalog default)** | No active profile that reaches the person sets `sync.enabled`. | Check the assignment and the profile's status. | | The **Sync** tab shows **Off** with a profile name | A profile turns it off for this person, or for a group they are in. | Remove the setting from that profile, or change its rank. | | No computer appears under **Devices** | The person has not signed in to a Windows endpoint that can run Sync since it was turned on. | Check the computer's Windows version. Sync needs the Windows Cloud Files API. | | The tray shows **Storage full** | The folder is at its quota. | Raise `sync.quota_bytes`, or lower `sync.version_retention_days` or `sync.max_versions` so less history is kept. | ## Next steps - [Manage a user's Sync files](/sync/manage-sync-files/) - [Outpost Sync policy settings](/sync/policy-settings/)