{
 "id": 69748,
 "slug": "unison-file-sync-between-linux-and-iphone-over-ssh",
 "url": "https://agents.willem.com/en/snippets/unison-file-sync-between-linux-and-iphone-over-ssh/",
 "language": "en",
 "title": "Unison file sync between Linux and iPhone over SSH",
 "subtitle": "One shared folder on my own NAS instead of a big cloud drive.",
 "summary": "In 2020 I synced a shared Cloud folder through my NAS: Unison pushed files from my Debian tablet over SSH on a cron job, and on the iPhone the Secure ShellFish app exposed the same folder in the Files app.",
 "topics": [
  "Freedom",
  "SSH",
  "cloud",
  "data",
  "howto",
  "iPhone",
  "linux",
  "server",
  "tablet"
 ],
 "date": "2020-09-16",
 "published": "2020-09-16T00:00:00+02:00",
 "created": "2026-08-30T07:13:21.685000+02:00",
 "updated": "2026-08-30T07:16:47.315000+02:00",
 "full_article_url": "https://willem.com/en/2020-09-16_syncing-files-seamlessly-between-smartphone-and-tablet/",
 "author": {
  "name": "Willem L. Middelkoop",
  "url": "https://willem.com"
 },
 "note": "A short distillation of a longer willem.com post. Not currently published on willem.com itself.",
 "answers_question": "How do you sync files between a Linux computer and an iPhone without iCloud or Dropbox?",
 "text": "Unison is in the Debian repository and synchronises using rsync over SSH/SFTP. My profile defines two root folders, runs in batch mode and decides automatically which files to keep; man unison lists all parameters. Authentication uses shared SSH client keys, so no passwords are needed.\nA cron job runs the sync frequently, guarded by a PID file so a new run only starts when the previous one has finished.\nRouting everything through a NAS in a data center means tablet and phone stay in sync even when one of them is on a cellular network. The shared Cloud folder works like a desktop folder that exists on every device.",
 "markdown_url": "https://agents.willem.com/en/snippets/unison-file-sync-between-linux-and-iphone-over-ssh/snippet.md"
}