Move sync directory to a new disk

Hello

I've already read old posts about this issue but I didn't find any answers/solutions or too old.

My current data disk is too small and I'am going to add a new storage area.
How can I move/change the sync directory without having to re-synchronize all the data?

I work with WINDOWS10.

Thanks

The key issue is that I don't want to have to re-download all my data, since I have almost 3Tb. It will take too many time.

I would like to copy all my local data from the sync directory to a new area, then declare this new area as the new sync data.

The ideal solution would be that the client does this operation "Move your sync directory" with a menu or button.

Currently there is no official way, so a feature request is a good idea.

To have a workaround in the meantime: You can try to move it without the client noticing. You need to close the client first, then you need to find the config-files and modify the path:
https://doc.owncloud.org/desktop/2.2/advancedusage.html#configuration-file
Now, you have to copy the files, make sure that you preserve the timestamps and owner and you don't forget hidden files (there are alternative file manager which are probably better than Win-Explorer). Then restart the client and hope that it worked.

2 Likes

Thanks for your workaround.

Unfortunatly, I'am not able to test it. Because I have done a bit differently:
1) buy a new disk with larger capacity, installl it, assign a new letter to this drive
2) stop owncloud client
3) copy the content of old disk to the new one, using a software that keep the file properties (date, etc.), e.g. FastCopy
4) uninstall the old disk
5) Assign the letter of the old drive to the new one

Done, it works!

Tried the prescribed solution from @tflidd and it did not work, files were re-downloaded. No hidden files were missed in the copy to the new destination. Running ownCloud X sync client on windows 7 ultimate. There's 33gb of content on the remote server, so redownloading is not a viable option because multiple machines need the local folder moved to a secondary drive. Is there some other file at play on remembering the synced files than the .cfg file? I was able to revert the changes and files were not redownloaded.

Also server load and user's ISP usage limit usage, when onboarding new users that are geographically nearby, could be dramatically reduced if the current sync could be placed on their machine from an up to date machine, config files manually edited, and sync opened to only have incremental updates come in.