I see lots of documentation saying I can access my data while out and about off my home network, but I am wondering if I can also sync a computer while off the home network the MyCloud is on.
My situation is a little more complex than this and Ill outline it below - but answering this top question would answer my situation below:
My internet upload speed is too slow for the initial backup to a cloud storage provider - 4TB would take MONTHS but once that is done I could maintain a backup with my upload connection speed. Can I buy a MyCloud drive, do my initial backup to it on my local network, then bring it over to a family members house that I trust and keep it there? Then I can have a safe offsite copy of my data I can easily get caught up on and also retrieve if I suffer a loss. BUT will it keep syncing to my computers?
Here is a link to information about the WD My Cloud. https://support.wdc.com/product.aspx?ID=904&lang=en You should be able to find answers to most of your questions and links to the User Manuals. You can find answers too by using the Knowledge Base.
I had my son use WD Sync on his PC to backup to my cloud. But he first did a sync locally because he had too many files. Once that was done his off site sync works just fine.
I have been mucking about with my define.js file (long story short, it tells the dashboard what features to turn on and off) but my MyCloud seems to offer rsync scheduling.
They call it a “remote backup” (see the user manual), but it is really just rsync underneath. You can point this at another mycloud, across the public internet, as long as the necessary ports are open and forwarded at the firewalls on both ends.
Rsync is pretty nice, because after an initial transfer, it JUST sends the DIFFERENCES between the hosts. It also supports compressed transport (compresses the data before sending it out on the wire, then uncompresses before writing at destination) but the mycloud dashboard does not have a checkbox for that.
rsync wants either port 873 (in daemon mode), or needs port 22 (ssh) for ssh tunnel mode.
The Mycloud does not seem to be configured to have rsync in daemon mode, BUT, DOES respond to ssh tunnel rsync requests by default!
This means that you should be able to have the mycloud back up to/from another mycloud over the internet, as long as you can establish an ssh session as the transport. (The dashboard expects that the local device is always the source, so to do bi-directional backups, you will need to have jobs at both ends, rather than just one with the -sync option.)
IF YOU USE SSH OVER THE INTERNET, USE A VERY STRONG PASSWORD.
The option is stock on Gen2. It’s under backups tab.
Tell it you are talking to a remote server, and fill in the user account details, including the access password. (Will require either a dns backed hostname, or an IP address-- wants an IP address, but I dont know how well the entrybox sanitizes inputs) It defaults to wanting to use the (sensible) [sshd] user, but as far as I know, no such user exists in the default user lineup of the MyCloud. Instead, use the [root] user.
Then, browse for the local folder to sync, and then for the remote folder to sync. It syncs in only one direction, but the other MyCloud can sync back the other way.
Save it and schedule it.
I dont have another mycloud to test with, but I can test it against a linux box just as well. Will do that when I get home.
I found the default define.js for the MycloudMirror inside the cramfs container of the stock mycloud gen2. This led me to suspect that the devices have “common ancestry” in the codebase, and that many functions are possible to turn on. As such, I have LIED to my dashboard, by telling it that the model ID is that of a mycloud mirror. A LOT of functionality has been turned on, or at least appears to have been turned on. I dont know if the remote backups will turn on without lieing about the model number in define.js I will find out shortly.
REGARDLESS, The Gen2 RESPONDS to rsync over ssh without any such meddling. This means that a proper NAS, or a Linux/OSX host can talk with it directly over that connection, as long as SSH is enabled.
Actually, since that was a rant after the release of the gen2/v2 devices, they had clearly already adopted to common codebase concept I was suggesting.
Just pointing out that the above referenced WD sanctioned tutorial seems to work fine with Fox_exe’s version of define.js he uses for his wdcrack, at least on Gen2. All the necessary functionality is enabled and appears to be working.
It complains mightily about trying to be pointed at my linux host (there seems to be some additional level of challenge there or something), but it DOES attempt to connect using rsync, it just insists that there is a password authentication problem, when there is not one. Should not be an issue between MyClouds, or from an actual computer host to a MyCloud. (Just from MyCloud to an actual computer destination.)
I tested to see if the IP address field will accept anything besides an IP address, but no dice. It santizes. You will need a static remote address.
The interesting thing is that turning on the “Remote server” in network appears to turn on rsync in daemon mode, but I have not been able to establish a connection to it from my linux box. It tells me there is an authentication problem. (I am guess at this point that it is an older version of rsync.)
Just for clarity, here are the contents of the rsyncd.conf, and rsyncd.secrets from the MyCloud Gen2
[rsyncd.conf]
hosts allow = *
hosts deny = *
use chroot = no
uid = root
gid = root
secrets file = /etc/rsyncd.secrets
pid file = /var/run/rsync.pid
timeout = 300
[ Public ]
path = /mnt/HD/HD_a2/Public
read only = false
list = yes
auth users = root
[rsyncd.secrets]
root:d2VyZXdvbGYy
Those files appear to be CREATED by the dashboard. They do not exist until AFTER you enable remote server in the network portion of the settings tab. Trying to change the rsyncd.conf’s contents, then restarting the daemon with the dashboards results in the file being overwritten, and started with the defaults. (tried to enable logging)
For reference, the version of rsync in the Mycloud is 3.0.7 and uses the “30” protocol in daemon mode.
