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Bricksync Installation

From a rented server to a running sync. A guide for sellers – without the tech jargon.

1 The Preparation

You just rented a VPS server (e.g., from Strato, Ionos, DigitalOcean, or Hetzner). What now? Before we start, let's get everything ready.

Your Checklist (please have ready):
The email from your provider:
Look for an email with the subject "Your server is ready" or "Access details".
In it, you will find the IP address (e.g., 85.214.12.34).
The Root Password:
Either it's in the email, or you had to set it yourself when ordering the server. This is the "master key".
The program "Putty" (for Windows only):
We use this to control the server. Download it here for free:
Download Putty (Choose the file putty-64bit... .msi). Mac users can just use their built-in "Terminal".

2 The First Login

Now we connect to the server. Start the program Putty.

How to set up Putty:

PuTTY Configuration

85.xxx.xxx.xx
← Type your IP address from the email here

← Click "Open" at the bottom

The black window opens

A security warning ("Security Alert") might appear. Click "Accept" or "Yes".

Now it says: login as:

1. Type root and press Enter.

2. Now it says: root@... password:

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ:
When you type your password now, the cursor will not move. No asterisks (****) will appear. This is completely normal in Linux! Just type the password "blindly" and press Enter.

If text appears and there's a blinking cursor at the end, you're in! Congratulations, the hardest part is done.

3 Secure User

Currently, you are logged in as the "Boss" (Root). This is unsafe. We will now create a normal user for Bricksync.

Copy the command (click the button) and paste it into Putty (simply right-click in the black window and press Enter). 

sudo adduser bricksync

Assign a password for the new user. You can simply skip the prompts for names, etc., by pressing Enter.

Give the user permissions:

sudo usermod -aG sudo bricksync

Log in as the new user:

su - bricksync

On the left it should now say bricksync@....

4 Installation

First we install some utility programs, and then we download Bricksync.

1. Install tools:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install unzip screen wget nano -y

2. Download Bricksync (As of 01/2026):

wget https://github.com/ZZJHONS/Bricksync/releases/download/v1.7.4-250721/bricksync-linux64.zip

3. Unzip:

unzip bricksync-linux64.zip

4. Extract the program file:

tar xvfz bricksync-linux64-1.7.4-42.tar.gz

Tip: If it says "File not found", type ls to check the exact current filename.

5. Clean up:

rm bricksync-linux64.zip && rm bricksync-linux64-1.7.4-42.tar.gz

5 Configuration

Now you have to enter your BrickLink/BrickOwl API credentials. We use the simple text editor "Nano" directly on the server for this. 

cd bricksync-linux64/data
nano bricksync.conf
How to use Nano:
1. Move to the lines for the API Keys using your Arrow Keys.
2. Paste your keys (Right-click in Putty).
3. Save: Press CTRL + O (Letter O), then Enter.
4. Exit: Press CTRL + X.

6 Starting

To keep Bricksync running when you close Putty, we use the program "Screen". 

cd ..
screen

(Just press Enter if Screen displays an info text at startup).

Start Bricksync:

./bricksync
How to close Putty correctly:
To keep the server on and Bricksync running: Press CTRL + A, let go, and press D.
Bricksync is now running in the background ("Detached"). Now you can safely close the Putty window.

7 Checking Later

Want to check tomorrow if everything is running?

  1. Start Putty & log in.
  2. Command: su - bricksync
  3. Command: screen -r

And you will see the running Bricksync window again.