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diff --git a/_posts/2014-01-11-ansible-role-for-bittorrent-sync.md b/_posts/2014-01-11-ansible-role-for-bittorrent-sync.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb15a98 --- /dev/null +++ b/_posts/2014-01-11-ansible-role-for-bittorrent-sync.md @@ -0,0 +1,138 @@ +--- +layout: post +title: Setting up bittorrent sync with Ansible +summary: In which I share how I install bittorrent sync with Ansible. +type: codex +--- + +Recently, I've started to look at the services I'm using and I'm trying to find alternatives for some of them. One of them was [Dropbox](https://www.dropbox.com/). I've been using this service for 4 or 5 years at this point, and I was a paid customer for at least 3 years. My plan was about to renew in a few days, and I decided to look for a free (either as "doesn't cost a buck" or OSS) alternative. To make it quick, since it's not the purpose of this post, I've decided to go with Bittorrent Sync. Still, this solution is not perfect, so here's a short list of pros and cons: + +* Pros: + * Free + * The only limit on storage is based on the free space you have + * Decentralized +* Cons + * Harder to set up + * Slower than Dropbox for syncing files + * Decentralized (yes I know): you need to always have at least one node up if you want to get a copy of a file + +I decided to set btsync on one of my server that is always up, that I way I can access my copies whenever I want from any devices (this is similar to Dropbox). To do that I've create a set of tasks for Ansible, following the instructions provided by [Leo Moll](https://github.com/tuxpoldo) (who created the package for Debian) on [this forum](http://forum.bittorrent.com/topic/18974-debian-and-ubuntu-server-packages-for-bittorrent-sync-121-1/). + +I've created a role named 'btsync' that contains a handler, some templates and a bunch of tasks. Let's start with the handler, since this one is really simple. For this role, the only y service we care about is the bittorrent sync daemon: + +```yaml +- name: restart btsync + service: name=btsync state=restarted +``` + +The tasks are pretty straightforward. First we need to fetch Leo's PGP key so we can install the package using `apt`. + +```yaml +- name: Install GPG key for btsync + apt_key: + id=6BF18B15 + state=present + url=http://stinkfoot.org:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x40FC0CD26BF18B15 +``` + +Now that we have the PGP key, we can add the repository to our sources and install the package: + +```yaml +- name: Add the deb repo for btsync + apt_repository: + repo='deb http://debian.yeasoft.net/btsync wheezy main' + state=present + +- name: Install btsync + apt: pkg=btsync state=installed +``` + +For the remaining tasks, we need some configuration. + +```yaml +btsync_shared: + - dir: /path/to/shared/photos + secret: a-secret + use_relay_server: true + use_dht: false + search_lan: false + use_sync_trash: true + - dir: /path/to/shared/documents + secret: another-secret + use_relay_server: true + search_lan: false + use_sync_trash: true +``` + +The daemon expect all the directories that it will write to, to exist. So let's create them for him, and also set the right permissions on them: + +```yaml +- name: Create the directories where we need to sync + file: path={{ item.dir }} state=directory owner={{ main_user_name }} group={{ main_user_name }} mode=0700 + with_items: btsync_shared +``` + +We need a specific configuration file for our user: + +```yaml +- name: Configure btsync + template: + src=etc_btsync_user.conf.j2 + dest=/etc/btsync/{{ main_user_name }}.conf + group={{ main_user_name }} + owner={{ main_user_name }} + mode=0600 + notify: restart btsync +``` + +and the template that goes with it: + +```json +{ + "device_name": "{{ domain }}", + "storage_path" : "/home/{{ main_user_name }}/.btsync", + "listening_port" : 12589, + "check_for_updates" : false, + "use_upnp" : false, + "download_limit" : 0, + "upload_limit" : 0, + "disk_low_priority" : true, + "lan_encrypt_data" : true, + "lan_use_tcp" : false, + "rate_limit_local_peers" : false, + "folder_rescan_interval" : 600, + "shared_folders" : {{ btsync_shared | to_json }} +} +``` + +To complete the setup, we need to tell the daemon to start with our newly created configuration: + +```sh +# This is the configuration file for /etc/init.d/btsync +# +# Start only these btsync instances automatically via +# init script. + +AUTOSTART="{{ main_user_name }}" + +# Optional arguments to btsync's command line. Be careful! +# You should only add thngs here if you know EXACTLY what +# you are doing! +DAEMON_ARGS="" +``` + +Finally, the task to setup the default configuration for the daemon: + +```yaml +- name: Configure btsync server + template: + src=etc_default_btsync.j2 + dest=/etc/default/btsync + group=root + owner=root + notify: restart btsync +``` + +That's it! + +I'll try to find some time this weekend to upload this to [Galaxy](https://galaxy.ansibleworks.com/). |