Setting up Rsync on Windows⁠

At the time of writing this how-to, to use the Symitar Explorer - Remote Syms feature we require the use of common Unix utility called rsync to manage the local directories for each Sym which we refer to as "semi-virtual" workspaces.

Getting started⁠

Now, we're aware that most of the Symitar developers out there are on a Windows workstation and rsync isn't something that's natively available. Sure there's technically a way to get it running using Windows binaries but fortunately for us Microsoft gave us the ability to install a Linux distribution of our choosing through something called Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Installing WSL⁠

We recommend you follow the latest installation guide, Install WSL, by Microsoft. The distribution you choose shouldn't matter as long as it comes with rsync already installed.

Installing SSHPass⁠

In order to not prompt you 1,000 times while we manage the synchronization between your Remote Sym and local directory, we use another popular utility called sshpass. The following steps walk you thought how to set this up on Ubuntu.

Update & install via APT⁠

Using Advanced Packaging Tool (APT), make sure your sytem has been updated with the lastet packages via the following commands:

• First make sure you're in your wsl instance:

• Next, from the $ prompt, go ahead and update your apt packages:

• After typing in your Ubutu user password, you should see something like the following:

• Finally run sudo apt install sshpass (if you've already installed, the output will look similar to the following)

Verifying the Remote Sym dependencies⁠

After installation or if you have an existing WSL distribution you're working with, here are the simple commands to check if you meet the dependencies.

Is Rsync installed?⁠

Run which rsync to confirm it exists in your /bin directory.

Is SSHPass installed?⁠

Run which sshpass to confirm it exists in your /bin directory.