Device Sync & Conflict Review

Turn on Device Sync

Device Sync keeps your Server Compass data — servers, apps, domains, and settings — mirrored across every machine you use, through your own encrypted cloud storage.

1. Open Backups > Device Sync
2. Under Cross-Device Sync, pick a storage destination (any S3-compatible bucket you already use)
3. Use Push Now to upload the current state, or Pull Latest to bring another machine's state down
4. The Sync Status card shows local and remote record counts, the latest snapshot time, and every device under Known Devices that has connected

Keep in mind that sync is a mirror, not a backup — it keeps the latest state on every device, so a pushed mistake propagates. For point-in-time recovery, use Server Compass App Data backups instead.

Set up a second machine

A fresh install no longer has to add a server before it can sync.

1. Install Server Compass on the second machine and open Backups > Device Sync
2. Select the same storage destination you used on the first machine
3. Click Pull Latest — the connection details come down with the snapshot, so a blank device is treated as empty and pulls cleanly
4. Built-in app templates are not counted as your data, so a pull from another machine never overwrites the catalog on this device

Review changes when both sides changed

When both this device and the remote snapshot have changed since the last sync, the Sync Status card shows Conflict detected and offers a Review changes button instead of forcing an overwrite.

1. Click Review changes to open the Review sync changes dialog — nothing is overwritten until you apply
2. Differences are grouped into three buckets: items only on this device, items changed on both, and items only in the remote snapshot
3. For each item choose Keep or Discard (only on this device), Keep this device or Use remote (changed on both), or Use remote / Skip (only in the remote snapshot)
4. Click any changed on both row to open a field-by-field comparison with a This device column beside a Remote column
5. Use Keep all local or Take all remote to resolve everything at once
6. Finish with Apply on this device to merge locally, or Apply and push to write the merged result back so your other machines converge

Overwrite one side on purpose

If you don't want to merge, the old all-or-nothing path is still available from the same dialog:

• Overwrite this device with remote replaces everything on this machine with the remote snapshot
• Overwrite remote with this device replaces the remote snapshot with this machine's state

Because sync is a mirror, an overwrite propagates to your other devices on their next pull — so use it only when one side is clearly the source of truth.