Sync between linux PCs with different usres not working

[dflvunoooooo]

Hi,

maybe I am to stupid or I do not understand properly how the backup or redirection process work. I try to sync saves between two linux PCs with to different users. I succeeded in so far, as I managed to transfer the saves from PC1 to PC2 via nextcloud. But, the restore on PC2 does not work. I suspect it is because the saves folder of ludusavi contains the user name of PC1s users in the form of /<ladasavifoldername>/<gamename>/drive-0/home/<username>/….

PC1 has user brian and the game is in /home/brian/Games/need-for-speed-underground-2/ which ludusavi saves to …/ludusavi-backup/Need for Speed_ Underground 2/drive-0/home/brian/Games/need-for-speed-underground-2/ where my username from PC1 is hardcoded. On PC2 is the user deck, the path to the game /home/deck/Games/need-for-speed-underground-2/. If I start a backup on PC2, it gets saved to …/ludusavi-backup/Need for Speed_ Underground 2/drive-0/home/deck/Games/need-for-speed-underground-2/. Again with the user name in it. How do I make ludusavi ignore those paths and save to a user indifferent path?

This has another problem, which I was able to solve with redirects. The actual saved games are in a deeper folder wich again contain the username, so that the absolute path contains the username twice. …/ludusavi-backup/Need for Speed_ Underground 2/drive-0/home/brian/Games/need-for-speed-underground-2/drive_c/users/brian/AppData/Local/NFS Underground 2/. I was able to change the name of the last username with redirects. But the problem is, that I can not exclude the /home/<username>/ part at the beginning and thus ludusive will not restore the saves which where synced from PC1.

Am I missing something or is it not possible?

[mtkennerly]

Hi! Redirects are generally the solution here, but:

The actual saved games are in a deeper folder wich again contain the username, so that the absolute path contains the username twice.

Unfortunately, redirects aren't able to support this currently. You can follow #310 for this. I'm not sure when I'll be able to work on it, but it's definitely something I'd like to add.

[jbbandos]

A workaround is to move your steam and heroic libraries to a different path (out of user home dir) on desktop linux, then you can do simpler redirects like I do:

ETA: I've added "The Long Dark" (saves are in .local/share/Hinterland), Botanicula (saves in $HOME/Documents/Botanicula) and my redirects are growing... Not a good solution after all.

[jbbandos]

A possible approach (that might break existing backups) would be to have prefix mapping files, tied to each pc, and store the game saves in a prefix independent mode. That would also work with multiple steam libraries making where to restore mapped to game/computer.
An example, I have on my desktop "The Long Dark", with saves stored in /home/desktopuser/.local/share/Hinterland. This would be saved in the backend in USERPREFIX/.local/share/Hinterland. Restored to a steamdeck, the mapping would be used to replace USERPREFIX with /home/deck ensuring it is restored to the right place.
This would have to be a game/pc mapping, as for instance steam games in /media/Games would have that as a USERPREFIX. Also, the per game map (compatdata/id/pfx/drive_c/users/$USER...) could be a WINUSERPREFIX, in case the games are saved for a user other than the default steamuser.
These mappings would be generated on an initial scan or preview phase, and the saves would be prefix agnostic.
Just an idea, as I have not even looked at your code and have no idea if this is doable or you have the time to think on this.