Getting Started

Install the application, connect a Google account, choose the folders to keep on the computer: this guide covers the first steps, from installation to the first sync.

1. Install

Requirements

Download

Download the package with your browser, from the download button of the HtkCloudSync page on htkapp.com, or directly at htkapp.com/telechargements/htkcloudsync.deb. This address always gives the latest version.

The file arrives with its version number in its name, in the form htkcloudsync_<version>_all.deb, usually in your Downloads folder. Keep only the latest version there: the command below takes every HtkCloudSync package of the folder.

Install with apt

Open a terminal in the package's folder, then:

cd ~/Downloads
sudo apt install ./htkcloudsync_*.deb

Keep the ./ in front of the name: it tells apt that this is a file, not a package to look up online. Use apt, not dpkg -i: only apt also installs the libraries HtkCloudSync needs, and the GNOME keyring if it is missing. Your password is asked, then the list of those libraries; accept.

The package installs the window, the service, the command-line tool and the handler that opens the link files of Google documents.

Check the installed version

dpkg-query -W htkcloudsync

The command prints the installed version, to compare with the one in the name of the downloaded file. The “About HtkCloudSync” window, in the ☰ menu, also shows the application's version.

Update

HtkCloudSync tells you when a new version is published. Once a day, as soon as an account is connected, the service checks on htkapp.com. If a newer version exists, an “A new version is available” notification appears, and the window shows a “HtkCloudSync 0.2.0 is available” banner, with the number of the new version. Its Download the package button downloads the new version in your browser; the “About HtkCloudSync” window, in the ☰ menu, offers the same link. This check can be turned off in the Settings, “Check for updates” row.

Installing remains your own step. Download the new version from the same address, and delete the old package from the folder. Then quit the service, with Quit the service in the indicator's menu, and run the same apt command again. Your accounts, your settings and your folder selection are kept. Finally reopen HtkCloudSync: the service starts again with the new version.

2. Launch

Open the GNOME activities overview and type HtkCloudSync. The window opens on the “Accounts” page; on first launch it shows “No cloud account yet” and a single button, Add a Google Drive account. The service starts at the same time, in the background.

3. Connect your Google account

Note: until Google completes its verification of HtkCloudSync, sign-in is reserved for invited accounts. The Adding an account page explains how to ask for access.

1. Click Add a Google Drive account.
2. In the “Add an account” window, leave Google Drive selected and check the “Local folder”: this is the folder of your computer that will be synced. By default, a Google Drive folder in your home folder.
3. Click Connect. Your browser opens on Google's sign-in page: choose the account and allow access to your Drive.
4. Back in HtkCloudSync, an “Account connected” message confirms the addition.

The Adding an account page details each screen, reconnection and the handling of several accounts.

4. Choose your folders

A new account downloads nothing on its own. HtkCloudSync first lists your Drive, then takes you to the “Folders” page with the status “Choose folders to sync”: every folder carries its size, and a line compares your selection with the free space of the disk.

1. Untick the folders you do not want on this computer (archives, heavy videos…).
2. Check the estimate line: if the selection exceeds the free space, the button stays disabled and the app asks you to untick more.
3. Click Start syncing.

The “First sync started” message appears, the status becomes “Syncing…” and the “Activity” page shows each file as it arrives. The First sync page explains the estimate and the free-space guard.

5. Let it run

You can close the window: the service goes on. Work in the local folder with your usual applications; changes reach the cloud within seconds, and what changes in the cloud lands on the computer at the next check (30 seconds by default). The system tray indicator tells you where the sync stands, and a notification warns you when a decision is yours.

By default, HtkCloudSync starts with your session. This setting changes in “Settings”, line “Start with the session”.

Keyboard shortcuts

The ☰ menu ▸ Keyboard shortcuts, or Ctrl+? and F1, opens the shortcuts help. It shows exactly the keys in use:

Note: “Quit” closes the window, not the service. To stop syncing entirely, use Quit the service in the indicator's menu, or pause your accounts.

Uninstall

First disconnect your accounts from the “Accounts” page: the saved sign-in is thus erased from the keyring. Then, in a terminal:

sudo apt remove htkcloudsync

Your local folders and their files stay where they are, and nothing is touched in your Google Drive.