I use Goodsync to sync tracks between machines and to back them up. Goodsync is configured in a way that keeps backups of changed and or deleted files on the target machine, the server in my case. This is to be able to revert changes made, and it is a very useful feature. Those files are kept in a subdirectory one level below the synched directory, like L:\Lossless_gsdata_.
Roon scans this directory and handles files found there as duplicates, which is correct but pretty much useless. I did not find a way to exclude one or more subdirectories from a watched folder. Is there a way to do it, and if not so, is this on your roadmap. I feel this is absolutely essential to handle large libraries and backup strategies based on syncing.
Unfortunately not. And turning that feature off is not an option. It is located in the directory the changes apply to, which makes perfect sense. Every backup program allows for excluding files, directories or filetypes, so this is common practice for software that processes the content of a filesystem.
One more remark: Unfortunately Roon uses these files as primary in some cases, which means it works with outdated versions instead of the latest.
I do not know how Roon decides what should be a Primary. I would suggest to use filetype (lossless vs. lossy), resolution and modification date - these should be configurable somehow, maybe through a settings file, as this is stuff most users should not be bothered with.
Indeedā¦I am familiar with various backup apps and that functionality is very useful there. However, Roon isnāt a backup app so that kind of file/folder inc/exclude optionality isnāt currently a recognised use-case as far as I know.
I canāt think of an easy way to do this with current functionality.
Can you set the gsdata as a hidden folder ? Maybe Roon would ignore then. Just speculating,
As far as I know you might be the only user to raise this so far. One for @danny I think.
Yeah, might well be. I am doing that stuff for almost 20 years now, so maybe I expect more than the typical hi-end guy that looks for a pretty face and believes in the sound signature of ethernet cabling. Also, there are problems you only run into when you got a large library and have to find ways to back it up.
Citing backup programs by the way was just meant to illustrate that this kind of feature is not new and does not need to be complicated. Very basic stuff.
The other āfolder modeā is include, of course.
Thought Roon might be the philosopherās stone opf music servers, but then there is lot of basic functionality missing, so it is quite a way to go.
Not sure if this is the right time to join in, focus seems to be on the audiophile part while to me the strong points are discovery and a rock solid delivery protokoll with support of individual and/or synced playback all over the house.
Erm, this issue seems to have arisen because of the implementation design of Goodsync, and Roon has been hit by collateral damage. Other backup programs can do things differently, and donāt cause problems for Roon (or any other application that monitors its folders, such as Plex or Emby). As far as I can see, neither Plex nor Emby allow for the exclusion of subfolders within the main media root folders (just like Roon), so Jriver might well be an outlier here.
Itās worth bearing in mind that many here have VERY large Libraries and thus are just as concerned with having backups as you state aboveā¦so, donāt assume these questions havenāt already been dealt with by many users here
I agree with Nick and Geoff above that FreeFileSync [or several other similar programs] offer greater flexibility regarding Versioning / Deleted filesā¦and will allow you to keep these āBackupsā out of the Roon Watched Folder
Itās better to find a āCureā for this issueā¦rather than try to deal with the āSymptomsā caused by a particular program
FWIW, I use Allway Sync for my music folder backups (storing backups offsite), and like the Freefilesync mentioned by @ncpl, this also has the option to store versioning info in a user-defined location.
jumping in to say Iād love too an option to exclude subfolders
on my āmusicā NAS share I also keep, altogether with my music collection organised in subfolders, stuff related to my system (eg. Audiophilleoās fw updates, actually WAV files, or a folder with just aliases of all my albums that, being scattered through subfolders, gives me a quick overview of all I already have) so I had to point Roon at each relevant subfolder
being able to point it instead at the whole share then exclude something would be a nice gift
Interesting - I didnāt know that, and it doesnāt seem to be documented anywhere in the KB. @kevin - another factoid for the KB/User Manual, I thinkā¦
Not that this helps @Joachim_Herbert at all, you can absolutely start a filename with a ā.ā on Mac OS Xāyou just canāt do it in Finder.
@Joachim_Herbert, customization of exclude patterns is a reasonable idea. We have had other requests about this in the past. Iām going to try make sure we fit this in next time we are making improvements to our storage watching infrastructure.
@Joachim_Herbert, Iām also using GoodSync and I was trying to figure out why I donāt have this problem and I realized that I have my sync set up differently from you, and thatās why I donāt get it. I have all my music files stored on a networked storage device (its not a NAS, just a very large RAID drive connected to an otherwise unused computer that runs GoodSync as well as all of my file ripping/tagging software). But I donāt point Roon to that drive. Instead, I use GoodSync to sync the music files I want Roon to see/manage to a drive connected directly to my Roon Server. So Iām essentially running Roon off the backup, not the live files. This has a knock-on benefit, which is that I have a second Roon install in my weekend house, and I can use GoodSync to keep both systems in sync with my main music store.
