STEP:MEGAsync

Template:TOC right Copy is discontinuing their cloud services to focus on other business ventures, so we have determined the Mega suits our needs as a file sharing service for project work.

Set Up Mega

The MEGAsync client is used to synchronize your own Mega Web Cloud Drive folders so that they can be managed remotely from the file explorer of your local desktop environment. MEGAsync can also be used to manage Mega Web Shared with me folders locally IF you have "Full Permission" on the share.

1. Navigate to Mega Site and set up an account using the email you used for Copy service
2. Embellish your Mega Site profile a bit so that we can tell who is who in our Mega contacts (I use my forum avatar image and user name)
3. Download and install MEGAsync:
   • Mega will launch after installation by default. If not, launch MEGAsync
   • Enter email/password used to create your Mega account, as in #1
   • Choose install type (Selective Sync recommended). Either install type can be configured to work for our purposes, but there are some minor differences in application behavior:

     Selective Sync (recommended) - Used to selectively sync ALL Mega Web folders on your own Cloud Drive or on Shared with me

     • Choose preferred local folder path for the sync:
       • Defaults to %USERPROFILE\Documents\MEGAsync, so change to something like <preferredPath>\MEGA\{MyFolder} or <preferredPath>\MEGA\{Sharedfolder}
     • Choose Mega Web folder to be synced (EXAMPLE: >Cloud Drive: >{Myfolder} or >Shared with me: >{Sharedfolder})
       • Defaults to /MEGAsync, representing a folder on your Mega Site. Unless you created this folder, it does not exist and WILL BE CREATED on your Mega Site, so CHANGE IT to point to an existing Mega Site folder or to / in order to sync ALL Cloud Drive folders (mimics behavior of Full Sync)
     • Shortcut in lower left of MEGAsync app will appear as 'Syncs' and will list shortcuts to any established syncs as well as a "+ Add Sync" option to establish new syncs

     Full Sync - Used ONLY for syncing your own Cloud Drive (shared folders require independent sync setup)

     • Choose preferred local folder path for the sync:
       • Defaults to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\MEGA, so change to something like <preferredPath>\MEGA
       • This path will be synced as /, representing your Cloud Drive on Mega Web and will include all folders UNDER that
       • <preferredPath>\MEGA CANNOT be used to house additional syncs, since this path will already be synced
     • Shortcut in lower left of MEGAsync app will appear as 'MEGA' and will point to <preferredPath>\MEGA

4. Click on the MEGASync toolbar icon, then open Settings (available under the gear icon in upper right). Click Advanced, and under Default folders:
   • Change the path to the desired folder in which to place uploads (EXAMPLE: //bin/ will cause contents under .<AnyLocalPATH>\ to be uploaded to the root of Cloud Drive, so to create a new folder with relevant files in your Cloud Drive, .<AnyLocalPATH>\ would need to contain that folder with said files).
   • Change the path to the desired local directory to place syncs and downloads (EXAMPLE: <preferredPath>\MEGA will cause any Shared with me folders downloaded to be placed adjacent to your own local syncs of your Cloud Drive folders; see Folder Sync Options following).
     • WARNING: If using Full Sync setup, any content manually placed under the local Mega sync will be synced to your Cloud Drive. This includes any Shared with me downloaded folders, so there will be redundancy between Cloud Drive and Shared with me folders.
5. You can create your own folders on your Cloud Drive (or any Shared with me folders where you have full permission) either by creating them on the web interface, or by creating directories under any local synced directory via Explorer (see Two Ways to Establish a Sync further below).

Folder Sync Options

Assuming that the following is what your Mega site looks like: Cloud Drive

>Backups

>Pictures

Shared with me

STEP WORK

Option #1

You can sync Cloud Drive as a whole, but this will prevent using <preferredPath>\MEGA to house any future syncs, because this path is already synced (Mega will not allow creation of new syncs inside a path that is already synced; see Considerations below). This corresponds to Full Sync setup option mentioned previously.

Option #2

Preferably, you can sync the folders under Cloud Drive individually to get the same result (with the ability to sync shared folders in the same path). Simply create <preferredPath>\MEGA\Backups and <preferredPath>\MEGA\Pictures using the PC file explorer, and sync them to the corresponding folders on Mega.

Syncing Cloud Drive using OPTION #1 or OPTION #2 yields:

<preferredPath>\MEGA\
    .\Backups
    .\Pictures

Syncing shared folders is the same process. Adding a sync for the shared folder STEP WORK (OPTION #2 only), yields:

<preferredPath>\MEGA\
    .\Backups\
    .\Pictures\
    .\STEP WORK\

Considerations

• You can't sync shared folders without Full Permission, but you can download the share.
• When you click the gear icon in the MEGASync client and select Download from Mega, it will automatically create a folder in the Downloads directory (refer to Set Up Mega), and download the contents into that folder. This does not set up a sync. EXAMPLE: Downloads folder defined as <preferredPath>\MEGA and you download the shared drive >Cloud Drive: >STEP WORK, you will end up with the non-synced folder <preferredPath>\MEGA\STEP WORK.
• You CANNOT create a sync within a directory that is already synced (identified by the red M overlayed on the folder icon). So, if you have a sync setup as <preferredPath>\MEGA\Pictures, you cannot sync another folder within this path ... <preferredPath>\MEGA\Pictures\Personal would be an invalid path (recursive sync).

Two Ways to Establish a Sync

1. Download then Sync

• Download the shared folder first, which will create a directory of with the same name as the share in the default MEGAsync Downloads folder. So if you download the shared folder >Cloud Drive: >STEP WORK, you will end up with a non-synced folder <preferredPath>\MEGA\STEP WORK.
• After the initial download, add a sync and choose the directory created in the default MEGAsync Downloads folder.

2. Sync First

• Create a local folder to contain the sync (e.g., <preferredPath>\MEGA\STEP WORK)
• Click MEGASync tray icon > Syncs (lower left corner) > "+ Add Sync" (only in Selective Sync install mode)
• Choose the local folder created in #1
• Choose the Mega folder to be synced, then click [OK]
• Tick the checkbox to enable or untick to disable the sync, then click [OK]