Synology DS423 to Syrup Data Migration
We have at this point:
Set up the Dual 2 TB SATA SSD’s with BTRFS RAID 1
Now, the real data migration begins. We will be using rsync to copy over all data over SSH from the Synology DS423 over to Syrup’s SSD_Pool
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rsync is a command-line tool used to copy and synchronize files between locations. It’s commonly used on Linux systems to move data between folders, drives, or even different machines over the network.
What makes rsync special is that it doesn’t blindly copy everything every time. Instead, it compares the source and destination and only transfers the differences. If a file already exists and hasn’t changed, rsync skips it. If a file was partially copied before an interruption, it can resume from where it left off. This makes it extremely efficient for backups, migrations, and large file transfers.
Because it preserves permissions, timestamps, and directory structures, rsync is widely used by system administrators when moving data between servers or rebuilding systems—exactly the kind of situation where you want a reliable, repeatable way to copy large amounts of data safely.
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Enable SSH on Synology
Synology is a headless system - it's not like a laptop, there is no screen attached to it, which means we will need to connect to the system remotely.
To do this, first log into your Synology via the web gui
Open Control Panel > Terminal & SNMP
Under the Terminal & SNMP Settings, click the Enable SSH Service Checkmark
NOTE: For Security Reasons, it is highly recommended to change the SSH Port.
Keep in mind that Ports 0-1024 are reserved, so anything in the 1024-49151 is considered a Registered Port
Registered Port numbers are non–well-known ports that are used by vendors for their own server applications. After all, not every possible application capability will be reflected in a well-known port, and software vendors should be free to innovate.
In Our Use Case, we will be assigning Port 1028 for SHH & Telnet Services
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On Syrup, make a subdirectory under ssh_pool called:
synology_backup
Also make sure that both the synology and syrup have rsync installed somewhere
Test if you can ssh over from syrup to the synology as well (we had to copy the syrup key over to the smb share and just moved it into /home/cosmos/.ssh on syrup + edit the identity file)
On the Synology ds423, find where all of your files are with pwd:
/var/services/homes/cosmos
NOTE: attempting to rsync over ssh was giving us weird connection denied errors even though ssh from syrup > synology was working just fine, so instead we opted to mount the SMB synology share onto syrup and rsync everything over instead
Install SMB Client on Syrup with:
sudo apt install cifs-utils smbclient -y
Create a mount point on syrup for the synology:
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/synology_home
Mount Synology’s home onto syrup via SMB:
This won’t actually copy anything yet - you’ll see a loooong list of files that would copy, but nothing actually changes yet
Real rsync time - When the dry run looks good, begin the migration with:
This will copy everything safely, preserve timestamps and structure, resume safely if interrupted, respect your RAID1 btrf’s pool’s integrity - let this run for awhile because it will take… awhile
Once the main home folder is finished, it’s time for the hard part - transferring over, unmount the smb share
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We have now safely copied our data from the origin (Synology DS423) to it's Destination (Syrup MK1 Ubuntu Server) - Please take some time to ensure that all data is correctly copied over and no errors have occured
Another dry run couldn't hurt
