Once all your configuration settings are made, synchronizing targets is a simple as choosing "Synchronize" from the "Actions" menu or the Toolbar. ChronoSync will re-scan your target hierarchy, and display a progress sheet showing what operations it is performing.
When complete, a summary sheet is displayed showing you a summary of the operations performed.
Various options control the way the synchronizer operates. These are configurable from the Options drawer in the Analyze Tab Panel. Some options, such as synchronizing direction, can also be configured from the Targets Tab Panel.
Synchronizing Direction
Upstream - Files will only be copied from the local target to the remote. This basically means that only local files, as they change, will get copied.
Downstream - This is the opposite of "Upstream". Only remote target files will be copied to the local target.
Bi-directional - Full synchronization. Files will be copied in both directions as necessary.
Synchronize Deletions - Only available in "Upstream" or "Downstream" mode. If a file no longer exists in the source target, it will be deleted in the destination target.
Special Handling
Ignore Invisibles - Unbeknownst to many, there are actually many special purpose files that are stored on a file system. These files are tagged as 'invisible' so that you don't normally see them when using your computer. There is usually a good reason for this since modifying, moving or deleting them could cause serious trouble. ChronoSync by default will not synchronize these invisible files. Unless you have a very special reason to turn this setting off, you should leave it alone. Synchronizing invisible files will generally cause more trouble than it's worth.
Resolve Aliases - An alias is a reference to a file that is stored elsewhere on your file system. They serve as 'pointers' to the real thing, and are useful for accessing common files from a single location without having to place copies of those files there. By default, when ChronoSync encounters an alias, it only synchronizes the reference, not the file to which the reference is pointing. This is usually desired. However, if the file to which the alias points is not in the target hierarchy, then it won't be getting synchronized. In cases like this, you may want to turn "Resolve Aliases" on. When this setting is on, ChronoSync will evaluate the file to which the alias points rather than the alias itself.
It's important to note that aliases to folders can cause trouble. If "Resolve Aliases" is on and an alias to a folder is encountered, it is treated as if that folder is in the target hierarchy. This may result in a lot more files being considered for synchronization than you had planned. For example, an alias to "Macintosh HD" encountered in a target hierarchy will essentially result in your entire hard drive being synchronized. This option is generally not recommended since it could lead to duplicated data.
Note: Symbolic links are considered aliases even though they technically aren't.
Preserve Folder Attributes - Normally, if a folder needs to be created in the course of synchronization, it is created using the current logged in users ownership and group privileges. This is almost always the desired behavior and, on single user systems, this is a non-issue. However, in multi-user configurations, it is possible to synchronize targets that may contain folders owned by other users. If "Preserve Folder Attributes" is enabled, the original ownership attributes of a folder that is being synchronized will be retained.
You may wonder, what's the point? It may seem logical that you would always want to preserve these attributes. This isn't necessarily the case, however. It is possible for a user to setup a folder as read-only to everyone but themselves. If ChronoSync were utilized in a backup capacity, and "Preserve Folder Attributes" was enabled, the synchronizer would lock itself out of the folder it creates and thus not be able to perform it's job. In such cases, care should be taken when "Preserve Folder Attributes" is used.
Verbose Logging - Every synchronizer has their own private log. Whenever a synchronization is performed, entries are posted to the log indicating the success or failure of the operation. The information posted to the log is relatively brief, attempting not to fill up the log with entries. If, however, you desire detailed information about each synchronization process, turn "Verbose Logging" on.
Allowed Time Difference - When a synchronizer evaluates two files, it compares the modification dates of those files to determine if a change has occurred, and what file has been changed more recently. There are several instances where supplying a 'time window' in which the two files are considered equal is desirable (see Limitations in the Strategies & Hints section for some examples). The "Allowed time difference" indicates the number of seconds difference that must exist between two files in order for those files to be considered different.