SyncPi

SSH Project Synchronization for the Raspberry Pi!

What is this

SyncPi is a utility script to remotely configure a Raspberry Pi to initialize and develop projects. It uses SSH to synchronize settings, packages and directories to get a project up and running!

Features

• Install and maintain APT packages from a list
• Append firmware settings to the Pi's configuration
• Register a systemd service to run the project on startup
• Upload necessary project files and folders to the Pi

Setup

Set up a new Raspberry Pi

• A bootable SD card can be prepared with the Raspberry Pi Imager

• "Raspberry Pi OS Lite" is recommended for headless projects where no desktop environment is required

Preconfigure OS settings

• General

  • Set a unique hostname to differentiate from other devices on the network
  • Set the user and change the default password
  • Set the wireless LAN to connect to your wifi
  • Set locale settings to match your timezone

• Services

  • Enable SSH!
  • Use password authentication
    • If desired, authorized public keys can be provided instead

Set up the script

1. Add the script files under a new folder in the root of your project (such as .syncpi/)

   • sync.sh - SyncPi utility POSIX Shellscript
   • .env.example - Template environments file
   • .gitignore - File patterns to ignore in git

2. Make a copy of .env.sample and rename it to .env in the same folder

   • Set your environment values in the new .env file:
     • Set the value of SSH_USER to the Pi's username (ex: pi)
     • Set the value of SSH_SERVER to the Pi's hostname (ex: raspberrypi.local)
   • Additional default values can be saved in the .env.sample file for future use

3. Mark the SyncPi script as executable:

   chmod +x sync.sh
   

4. Run the SyncPi script once to create the additional configuration files:

   ./sync.sh
   

5. If requested, log in to the device to add your SSH public key

   • If a public key hasn't been created yet, you can make a new one by running this command in a new terminal:

     ssh-keygen -t rsa
     

Configuration

Configuration files will be created in a config/ folder next to the script. These files should be added to the project's git history.

packages.ini

Packages in this list will be installed via APT on the remote device. Packages installed by this script will be removed if they are no longer in this list.

• To disable this feature, set environment SKIP_PACKAGES to true
• To prevent automatically upgrading packages, set SKIP_PACKAGES_UPGRADE to true
• To prevent removing previously installed packages, set SKIP_PACKAGES_REMOVAL to true

firmware.ini

The content in this file will be added to the config.txt file in the remote device. Modifications to this file will update the previously added content. Updates to the configuration will trigger a reboot to apply those changes.

• To disable this feature, set environment SKIP_FIRMWARE to true
• To prevent automatic reboots, set SKIP_REBOOT_DEVICE to true

service.ini

The systemd service definition in this file will be copied over and registered to the remote device. Modifications to this service file will be updated in the registered service.

The default service is configured to run ~/autostart after a normal reboot.

• Set environment SERVICE_NAME to change the default name (defaults to startup)
• To disable this feature, set environment SKIP_SERVICE to true
• To prevent the service from stopping, set SKIP_SERVICE_STOP_BEFORE_SCRIPT to true
• To prevent the service from restarting, set SKIP_SERVICE_START_AFTER_SCRIPT to true

syncpaths.ini

Targeted files and folders in the project will be uploaded using rsync. Source paths relative to the project root will be uploaded to the specified target paths on the remote device.

• Set environment SYNC_CHMOD to change the default permissions (defaults to D755,F755)
• Set environment SYNC_CHOWN to change the default owning user (defaults to the SSH user)
• To disable this feature, set environment SKIP_FILESYNC to true

syncignore.ini

File patterns to ignore when uploading files and folders from the host to the target paths, using rsync's --exclude-from option. Refer to the rsync documentation for more information.

Ignored file patterns will not be uploaded from the host or overwritten in the remote. This may be important for keeping files that are generated in the remote's project directories.

• This configuration file can be left blank or removed if it is not required for the project

Disclaimer

This script is designed to be used to configure a blank Raspberry Pi set up with SSH access, and will perform remote changes on the target device using sudo permissions.

Notekeeping files will be stored on the remote device to track installed packages and the synchronized service name.

File synchronization may override modifications or any existing content in targeted files or folder paths.

This software is provided without warranty. Use at your own risk!