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Quick Start

Get Started with Godwit Sync

Fast, reliable and predictable data sync - for teams who depend on S3 every day. Get up and running in minutes.

What is Godwit Sync?

Godwit Sync is a high-performance S3 transfer utility supporting multiple transfer modes:

  • S3 → Local filesystem
  • Local filesystem → S3
  • S3 → S3 (fully on-the-fly, no local storage required)

It builds a deterministic sync plan first (or only creates the plan with --plan-only), supports safe interruption and continuation via --resume, and gives you precise control over throughput using --rps and --read-bps.

Step 1: Installation

Download the latest release for your platform and extract the binary:

# Install with Homebrew
brew tap godwitio/packages https://github.com/godwitio/packages
brew install godwit-sync

# Verify installation
godwit version

Or install manually:

# Download for Linux (x86_64)
curl -LO https://downloads.godwit.io/godwit-sync/latest/godwit-sync_linux_amd64.tar.gz

# Or for ARM64
curl -LO https://downloads.godwit.io/godwit-sync/latest/godwit-sync_linux_arm64.tar.gz

# Extract and move to PATH
tar -xzf godwit-sync_linux_*.tar.gz
sudo mv godwit /usr/local/bin/godwit
# Install with Scoop
scoop bucket add godwit https://github.com/godwitio/packages
scoop install godwit-sync

# Verify installation
godwit version

Or install manually with PowerShell:

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://downloads.godwit.io/godwit-sync/latest/godwit-sync_windows_amd64.zip" -OutFile "godwit-sync.zip"
Expand-Archive -Path godwit-sync.zip -DestinationPath .

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "C:\Program Files\godwit"
Move-Item godwit.exe "C:\Program Files\godwit\godwit.exe"

# Add to PATH (run as Administrator)
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", $env:Path + ";C:\Program Files\godwit", "Machine")
# Install with Homebrew
brew tap godwitio/packages https://github.com/godwitio/packages
brew install godwit-sync

# Verify installation
godwit version

Or install manually:

# Download for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
curl -LO https://downloads.godwit.io/godwit-sync/latest/godwit-sync_darwin_arm64.tar.gz

# Or for Intel
curl -LO https://downloads.godwit.io/godwit-sync/latest/godwit-sync_darwin_amd64.tar.gz

# Extract and move to PATH
tar -xzf godwit-sync_darwin_*.tar.gz
sudo mv godwit /usr/local/bin/godwit
# Download for FreeBSD (x86_64)
fetch https://downloads.godwit.io/godwit-sync/latest/godwit-sync_freebsd_amd64.tar.gz

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf godwit-sync_freebsd_*.tar.gz

# Move to PATH
sudo mv godwit /usr/local/bin/godwit

# Verify installation
godwit version
# Multi-arch tags include both linux/amd64 and linux/arm64.
# Docker will automatically pull the correct image for your machine.
IMAGE="godwitio/godwit-sync:latest"
# IMAGE="godwitio/godwit-sync:v1.0.1"  # specific version (also multi-arch)

# Pull the image
docker pull "$IMAGE"

# Run godwit sync via Docker
docker run --rm -v $(pwd)/data:/data -v $(pwd)/state:/state "$IMAGE" sync \
  --source /data \
  --destination s3://my-bucket/backup \
  --destination-endpoint localhost:9000 \
  --destination-access-key s3key \
  --destination-secret-key s3secret \
  --state-path /state/state.db

# Verify installation
docker run --rm "$IMAGE" version

View all available tags on Docker Hub

Step 2: Licensing

Godwit Sync offers a free mode for evaluation and paid licenses for production use:

Free Mode

Plan migrations and syncs up to 50 GB. Perfect for testing, small transfers, and incremental sync trials.

Licensed Mode

From 2 TB per run up to unlimited capacity. Full feature access. Commercial use. Contact us if you need more.

# Register a license (saves beside the executable)
godwit sync --register <base64-license-key>

# Or provide license file per-run
godwit sync --license-file ./license.json ...

# Or provide inline base64 license
godwit sync --license <base64-string> ...

Step 3: Your First Sync

Start with a simple local folder to S3 sync:

godwit sync \
  --source ./data \
  --destination s3://my-bucket/backup \
  --destination-endpoint localhost:9000 \
  --destination-access-key access_key \
  --destination-secret-key secret_key \
  --destination-secure=false \
  --state-path ./tmp/state.db \
  --logs-dir ./tmp/logs \
  --ui

Plan First

Use --plan-only to see what will be transferred before moving any data:

# Create a plan without executing
godwit sync \
  --source ./data \
  --destination s3://my-bucket/backup \
  --destination-endpoint localhost:9000 \
  --destination-access-key access_key \
  --destination-secret-key secret_key \
  --destination-secure=false \
  --state-path ./tmp/state.db \
  --plan-only

# Review, then execute with resume
godwit sync \
  --source ./data \
  --destination s3://my-bucket/backup \
  --destination-endpoint localhost:9000 \
  --destination-access-key access_key \
  --destination-secret-key secret_key \
  --destination-secure=false \
  --state-path ./tmp/state.db \
  --resume

Step 4: Enable Observability

Add --status-addr to expose metrics and status endpoints:

godwit sync \
  --source ./data \
  --destination s3://my-bucket/backup \
  --destination-endpoint localhost:9000 \
  --destination-access-key access_key \
  --destination-secret-key secret_key \
  --destination-secure=false \
  --status-addr :8080

This exposes:

  • /metricsPrometheus-format metrics (counters, histograms, ETA)
  • /statusJSON summary of the current run

Next Steps

CLI Reference

Explore all flags and configuration options.

View CLI Reference

Guides

Step-by-step tutorials for common scenarios.

Browse Guides

On this page

  • What is Godwit Sync?
  • Step 1: Installation
  • Step 2: Licensing
  • Step 3: Your First Sync
  • Step 4: Enable Observability
  • Next Steps
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