How to install QField Cloud Sync

Manual build

To manually install and build the required libraries follow these steps:

1. Install Python 3 dependencies and build tools:

       apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-virtualenv libpq-dev \
               python3-setuptools iputils-ping python3-psycopg2 git \
           gcc build-essential binutils cmake extra-cmake-modules \
               libsqlite3-mod-spatialite libsqlite3-dev python3-numpy
   

2. Create a virtual environment and install QField Cloud CLI

       virtualenv --python=/usr/bin/python3 --system-site-packages .venv
       source .venv/bin/activate
       pip3 install qfieldcloud-sdk
   

3. Compile geodiff with PostgreSQL support:

git clone --branch 2.0.2 https://github.com/MerginMaps/geodiff.git
cd geodiff

  # fix for geodiff copy issue
  sed -i.save '160isql += "CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS POSTGIS;";' geodiff/src/drivers/postgresdriver.cpp

mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DWITH_POSTGRESQL=TRUE -DENABLE_TESTS=FALSE -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ../geodiff
make

Then add the compiled geodiff executable to your local bin directory.

cp geodiff /usr/local/bin/

1. Create the qf-sync.sh script, used for synchronization between Qfield Cloud Project and PostGIS database. Copy the following content to /usr/local/bin/qf-sync.sh and make the file executable

   #!/bin/bash -e
   
   RUN_FOREVER=1
   
   trap ctrl_c INT TERM
   
   function ctrl_c() {
     RUN_FOREVER=0
   }
   
   if [ $# -ne 1 ]; then
       echo "Usage: ./qf-sync.sh {project.ini}"; exit 1;
   fi
   
   source "${1}"
   
   # hide passwords inside env
   export QFIELDCLOUD_URL="${qf_url}"
   export QFIELDCLOUD_API="${qf_url}"
   export QFIELDCLOUD_USERNAME="${qf_user}"
   export QFIELDCLOUD_PASSWORD="${qf_pass}"
   
   export PGHOST="${pg_host}"
   export PGPORT="${pg_port}"
   export PGDATABASE="${pg_dbname}"
   export PGUSER="${pg_user}"
   export PGPASSWORD="${pg_pass}"
   export PGTBL=${qf_gpkg}
   
   pushd "${HOME}"
   
       source .venv/bin/activate
   
       # create a working directory
       mkdir -p "${data_dir}"
   
       # if forced init, drop table and overwrite exist flag
       if [ "${force_init}" == 'true' ]; then
           psql -c "DROP TABLE IF EXISTS ${pg_schema}.${PGTBL}"
           rm -rf "${data_dir}/*"
       fi
   
       pushd "${data_dir}"
   
       while [ ${RUN_FOREVER} -eq 1 ]; do
   
           UPDATE='0'
   
           if [ -f "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg" ]; then
   
               #get file metadata
               qfieldcloud-cli --json list-files "${qf_proj_id}" | grep -B 2 "${qf_gpkg}" | sed 's/\s\+"\(.*\)":\s"\(.*\)",/\1,\2/' > "${qf_gpkg}.meta"
   
               # check if file is old
               latest_md5sum=$(grep -m1 'md5sum' "${qf_gpkg}.meta" | cut -f2 -d,)
               file_md5sum=$(md5sum "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg" | cut -f1 -d' ')
               if [ "${latest_md5sum}" != "${file_md5sum}" ]; then
                   echo "New md5 sum detected: ${latest_md5sum}"
                   UPDATE='1'  
               fi
           else
               UPDATE='1'
           fi
   
           if [ ${UPDATE} == '1' ]; then
   
               if [ -f "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg" ]; then
                   # save old file, to be able to create a diff
                   mv "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg" "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg.old"
               fi
   
               qfieldcloud-cli download-files --filter "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg" "${qf_proj_id}" "${data_dir}"
   
               if [ -f "${qf_gpkg}.meta" ]; then
                   # create a diff
                   geodiff diff "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg.old" "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg" > diff.bin
                   rm -f "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg.old"
   
                   echo "Applying updates to ${pg_schema}.${gf_gpkg}"
                   geodiff apply --driver postgres "host=${pg_host} port=${pg_port} user=${pg_user} dbname=${pg_dbname} password=${pg_pass}" ${pg_schema} diff.bin
   
               else
   
                   echo "Copying to ${pg_schema}.${gf_gpkg}"
                   geodiff copy --driver-2 postgres "host=${pg_host} port=${pg_port} user=${pg_user} dbname=${pg_dbname} password=${pg_pass}" "${qf_gpkg}.gpkg" ${pg_schema}
               fi
           fi
   
           if [ "${single_run}" == 'true' ]; then
               break;
           fi
   
           sleep ${sleep_time}
       done
   
       popd
   
       deactivate
   popd
   

2. Setup systemd service If you have multiple projects or want unattended start/restarts, you can use systemd. An example templated service file follows. Only think to change is WorkingDirectory and User.

   [Unit]
   Description=QField Cloud Sync
   
   [Service]
   WorkingDirectory=/home/john/qfsync/
   User=john
   ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/qf-sync.sh %i
   ExecStop=/bin/kill -s SIGTERM $MAINPID
   
   StandardOutput=append:/var/log/qf_sync%i.log
   StandardError=append:/var/log/qf_sync%i.log
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=multi-user.target