Unison install and autostart Ubuntu 18.04 linux

Simple and straightforward guide for Unison install and set it up to watch changes in folders and start at the boot

Install Unison

sudo apt-get install -y ocaml opam

opam init

git clone https://github.com/bcpierce00/unison.git

cd unison

git checkout 2.48.4

make NATIVE=true UISTYLE=text

sudo install src/unison /usr/local/bin

sudo install src/fsmonitor.py /usr/local/bin

sudo pip install pyinotify

Sync two folders with Unison

Create profile

sudo nano /home/[YOUR USER FOLDER NAME]/.unison/profile.prf

Create content:

#Roots of the synchronization
root = /home/folder1
root = /home/folder2

#Paths to synchronize

#Files
path = file1.json
path = file2.json
path = file3.json

#Set files or folders to ignore
ignore = Name filename.txt

#Dirs
path = foldername

#Logging
log = true
logfile = /home/logs/unison-sync-log.txt

# Enable change monitoring for files and folder
auto = true

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Create service to start Unison at the boot

sudo nano /lib/systemd/system/unison.service

Paste content:

--------------

[Unit]
Description=unison
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=[YOUR USER NAME]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/unison profile
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
Restart=always
RestartSec=0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

--------------

Enable

sudo systemctl enable unison.service

Control the service

Reload

sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Start

sudo systemctl start unison.service

Stop

sudo systemctl stop unison.service

Display the status

systemctl status unison.service

• More detailed status with live logging view:

journalctl -u unison.service -f

Restart manually

sudo systemctl restart unison.service

Disable from starting after reboot

sudo systemctl disable unison.service