Using Local Files Sync

Note To be available to users, local files sync must be enabled for your domain in the Domain Settings application. Refer to File Sync.

Syncing local files to your computer is managed from the desktop host. To enable local files sync for your account, complete the following steps:

1. Open the desktop host and click the person icon in the upper right corner of your screen (or your image if you’ve set a picture for your user account). Select My Settings from the drop-down menu.

   

2. Select the Local Files tab. If this option is not available, your domain administrator may not have enabled local files sync for your domain or you may not have the appropriate user group permissions to sync files.

   

3. Select Enable to turn on local file sync for your account. Once local file sync is enabled, you must select which projects, folders, and files to sync. Refer to Select which projects and project folders to sync.

After enabling local file syncing on your device, you may see a "Long Paths Not Allowed" error message.

By default, Windows only supports file paths less than 255 characters. This can prevent folders and files with longer path names from being synced to your computer. Longer file paths can be supported by changing a registry key or using the Group Policy tool to remove the limit.

More information is available on Microsoft's Learn site: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/naming-a-file#maximum-path-length-limitation

Important The update requires local admin rights on the computer and should only be performed by someone knowledgeable with updating the registry. It is strongly advised to make a backup of the registry prior to making any changes.

To modify the registry, complete the following steps:

1. Search for the Registry Editor in the Windows search bar and select it to open it.

   

2. In the Registry Editor, use the left sidebar to navigate to the following level:

   Copy

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

   

3. Locate the LongPathsEnabled property on the right. Double-click to open it.

   Note If the LongPathsEnabled property is not listed, you’ll need to create it. Right-click on FileSystem and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new value LongPathsEnabled and complete the remaining steps.

   

4. Change the Value Data to 1 and click OK.

   

5. Long paths are now enabled on your computer.  Close the registry editor.

Once you've enabled local file sync for your account, you can select which projects and which folders within those projects to turn on file syncing for.

Note When you select a folder, all of the folder contents are selected and will be synced.

By default, you will initially see the project you are currently in. To sync all the File Manager folders in this project, select the check box next to Folders. Click Save when you are done.

To select specific folders or files for syncing, click on Folders to drill down into the file structure. Select the check boxes next to the folders and files you want to include for syncing. Click Save when you are done.

To select another project for syncing, click Change next to the project name.

Navigate the partition and project structure to select the folders and files to include for syncing. Click Save when you are done.

Important Syncing a large amount of data can take several minutes to a few hours depending on your connection speed. You must leave Kahua running to ensure a complete sync.

There are several steps you should take to ensure that your local files sync correctly and completely.

The steps are as follows:

• Leave the Kahua desktop host running in the background when working locally with your files.

• Close your files when you are done working with them. This step ensures that they are updated in Kahua and that those updates are available to other users.

• Log in regularly to get the latest file updates.

• When deleting or moving large numbers of files or folders, use Kahua File Manager instead of your local File Explorer. This will reduce the number of required confirmations and permissions checks when syncing occurs.

• Use My Settings > Local Files to stop syncing specific folders and files that you no longer want to sync. Do not delete them locally. Local folder and file deletions are synced to Kahua. Instead, navigate to My Settings > Local Files and clear the check boxes next to the folders and files you no longer want to sync.

In File Manager, selecting Open to open a file while you are using the desktop host will automatically invoke the Local Files sync. If Local Files is not yet enabled for your account, selecting Open will enable it.

The selected file will be synchronized to your device and open locally. When you save and close the file, the file with any changes will be synced back to Kahua, just like any other synced file. To remove the file from the Local Files sync, follow the steps for Select which projects and project folders to sync and clear the check box next to the file.

The synced folders and files are located on your device at C:\users\YourUsername\Kahua-[DomainName].

Important The file path used by Kahua to store files locally on your device cannot be changed. If you attempt to move this folder, Kahua will simply rewrite it again to this location.

You can access the C:\users\YourUsername folder directly from the My Settings > Local Files page by clicking the Local Path name in the upper-right corner. From there, navigate to the Kahua-[DomainName] folder.

Once open, you can use the right-click menu in File Explorer to select Pin to Quick Access or Pin to Start for ease of access to the Kahua local files folder.

You can add or delete folders and files from File Explorer, and those changes will appear in File Manager.

If you have a poor connection or are running data intensive processes on your device, you may want to temporarily pause the syncing of local files.

To temporarily pause syncing, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to your profile in the header and select My Settings > Local Files.

2. Select Pause at the top of the page. A message informing you that syncing is paused will appear.

   

3. To resume syncing, return to the My Settings > Local Files page and select Resume.

   

If you find it necessary to re-do the set up of your local files sync, you can use the Reset function. Selecting Reset will remove all your project, folder and file selections, and remove all the folders and files from your device. The files will remain in File Manager for the Kahua project and can continue to be accessed directly in the product.

To reset your local files selections and remove the files from your device, complete the following steps:

1. Navigate to your profile in the header and select My Settings > Local Files.

2. Select Reset at the top of the page.

3. A confirmation message will appear. Select Reset to continue or Cancel to cancel the reset.

4. If you select Reset, the local files will be removed from your device, your previous selections will be removed, and the local file sync will no longer be enabled. To begin syncing files again, you will need to re-enable the Local Files feature. Refer to Enable Local File sync.