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DavidMcBride-1795 avatar image
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DavidMcBride-1795 asked JayForster-1744 answered

Sharepoint Online and Local file server sync

I was thrown into an environment that has SharePoint online that is sync'ing to a local file server. I know this is not the best solution but this is the way they want to keep it. I have looked and looked and can not figure out how the sync part is setup. Can someone give some direction on where to look please?
Thanks

office-sharepoint-online
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SethWH avatar image
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SethWH answered DavidMcBride-1795 commented

My guess would be Azure file sync, OneDrive or some 3rd-party app. If you open programs and features are any of these installed?

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Nope. :) That's one of the reasons I'm puzzled. Any other suggestions?
Thanks

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SethWH avatar image SethWH DavidMcBride-1795 ·

It could be another server (service) monitoring the on-prem SPO folder. Typically, these services are configured with a custom AD account for syncing/permissions. My last guess would be to check the Task Scheduler (on File Server) because there are PowerShell scripts out there that perform syncing functions and this is where they would be scheduled. Good luck!

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Thanks for the direction to go. I will check the other servers.
Thanks

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DavidMcBride-1795 avatar image
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DavidMcBride-1795 answered

Just realized how many servers they have. Is there any way to look in SharePoint online to see that a sync is setup?
Thanks

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trevorseward avatar image
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trevorseward answered

Synchronizing using the OneDrive client to a file server isn't supported. You should instead have individual client machines synchronize with the source or otherwise have users work directly in SharePoint Online.

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EchoDu-MSFT avatar image
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EchoDu-MSFT answered DavidMcBride-1795 commented

@DavidMcBride-1795

You can view/edit Sync settings via OneDrive

1.Click the blue OneDrive cloud icon in the Windows taskbar notification area.
2.Click Help & Settings >> click Settings
28380-sync1.png

3.On the Microsoft OneDrive dialog, click Settings tab >> Here you can edit OneDrive sync settings
28508-sync2.png

4.On the Microsoft OneDrive dialog, click Account tab >> select the Choose folders link to select the folders that you're syncing
28544-sync2.png

You could refer to this article Sync SharePoint files with the OneDrive sync client (Groove.exe).

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@DavidMcBride-1795
………………………………Updated Answer…………………………

In generally, Sync SharePoint files with the OneDrive sync client. The OneDrive sync app uses Windows Push Notification Services (WNS) to sync files in real time.

You could refer to the following steps to check Sync settings:

1.Go to the Settings page of the SharePoint admin center page.
2.Select classic settings page link
28990-sync-b.png

3.On the Classic SharePoint admin center page, you will see the below Sync options. If you don't see the "Sync Client for SharePoint" setting on the Settings page, your organization is already set up to use the OneDrive sync app.
28949-op1.png

4.Then, you could go to the Sync page of the OneDrive admin center page. On the Sync page, you could use the below settings to control syncing of files in OneDrive and SharePoint.
29094-sync-c.png

Thanks,
Echo Du

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Wow, thank you so very much. That was very helpful !!
----- Edited --------
Sorry to unaccept the answer, it is great info. But I just received some information from the customer that further confused me. It is directions to users on how to access their network files when they are not in the office. It directs them to log into sharepoint and to go to documents. It says the documents in sharepoint are the same as the files on the file server, not a local copy being sync'd. It also does not say anything about onedrive. The file server does not have onedrive installed either.
As a note, the Sync client for sharepoint section does not exist.
Thanks again.

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Just remember, this setup will break when a user starts changing a file at the same time a user changes a file in SharePoint Online.

Synchronization has to be done via a client application -- OneDrive is the only method Microsoft provides to do so.

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thank you for the information trevorseward, but that does not help me with my original question of trying to figure out what is currently doing the sync. I need to be able to modify the existing setup.
Thank you

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DavidMcBride-1795 avatar image
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DavidMcBride-1795 answered EchoDu-MSFT commented

Thank you for all the answers but I am not asking how I "should" do this. This was put into place by the previous IT who left abruptly and no one knows how it is setup. I need to try and find out how it is setup and what server is doing the sync.
Thanks

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@DavidMcBride-1795

I have updated my Answer.

Thanks,
Echo Du

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heavy-d avatar image
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heavy-d answered SethWH commented

So I finally found where the sync was happening. Apparently you have to log in as the actual user that setup OneDrive. I was logging in as a domain admin but still the OneDrive process did not show in task manager, nor in Programs and Features nor as a running service. At any rate I finally found it. My next concern is that the one user is actually syncing many folders from the root with different groups and users. It is acting as the company's "file server". The server OneDrive is synced to needs to be replaced. So I need to move the data and setup the sync again on a new server. It is several hundred gigs of data. What is the best way to go about moving the 300+ gigs of data and reconfiguring the sync for the new server?
Thanks !!!

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I know this update was 8 days ago but when you log in as the OneDrive user, go to Help & Settings > Settings > Account > Choose folders, what folders are synced there? Could you mirror this config on another server?

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JayForster-1744 avatar image
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JayForster-1744 answered

Try to explain to the customer why this is a bad setup and is unsupported by Microsoft if any issues arise. Do they use sharepoint for anything besides file access? Is there a need to have the files on a local file server (apart from some sort of backup)?

Each user can access the data through sharepoint all the time (inside or outside the office) via file explorer instead of the website if thats the concern. Turn off the ability to sync offline to avoid conflicts between users. I have clients that use only sharepoint/teams as their central file share.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/view-and-open-sharepoint-files-with-file-explorer-66b574bb-08b4-46b6-a6a0-435fd98194cc

If you need to continue syncing things this way then have the customer sign a disclaimer explaining why its a bad idea and unsupported by microsoft and you're not responsible if something goes wrong. Before starting this process.

You can build the new file server, and setup Onedrive on it to sync the same files down from Sharepoint online. Once everything is staged, cut the onprem users over to using the new file server. Let onedrive do all the syncing, otherwise you can end up with duplicate data.

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JessicaJackson-4866 avatar image
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JessicaJackson-4866 answered

anonymous user What is best practice? Do you have documentation? Why is it a bad setup?
I'm curious about setting up synching and could benefit from your perspective.

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JayForster-1744 avatar image
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JayForster-1744 answered

@JessicaJackson-4866 - That depends on what you're trying to accomplish with the sync. OneDrive is pretty fragile, it's designed for use on an end user PC with a single user, not on a server. As the OP mentioned, the account that installed onedrive needs to be logged in to the server and into onedrive in order to sync data. Many things can go wrong with that like passwords expiring, server reboots, updates breaking onedrive, etc.

If you're looking to setup a sync on your PC for faster access to certain files already in sharepoint/teams (or to backup your home folders) then go for it, onedrive is an excellent fit for that use case.

If you're looking to sync / migrate a file server, then start by looking through the following articles, as it really depends on what type of data you're looking to move.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointmigration/fileshare-to-odsp-migration-guide
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointmigration/migrate-to-sharepoint-online

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