frequently asked questions

What is shayre?

shayre is a point-to-point or point-to-multi-point (one computer to one computer or one computer to many computers) file sharing application that does not need to use cloud storage. It provides a direct connection to you or any one, or all of your friends and colleagues. It utilizes the public internet in a secure way to protect your files at the exact same level of any mainstream banking or ecommerce site. Even though shayre works in this direct, point-to-point way, it also works just as well with a connection in the cloud if you are looking to share files and data with a cloud solution.

How do I install shayre on Mac or Windows?

Once you purchase the software, you will receive an email with your username and temporary password. Click the link in the email to go to the login page of your account. Enter your username and password. The portal will prompt you to change your password. Login with your usernamen and new password. Click the link that corresponds to your system type (Mac or Windows) and the shayre installation file will automatically begin to save to your downloads folder, or wherever else you have told your system to save downloaded items. Once it is finished downloading, on Windows, a familiar easy installation process will begin (e.g. setup wizard). When the installation window pops open, follow the instructions presented to you on-screen. On a Mac, double click the shayre dmg file in your downloads location and follow the familiar on-screen installation directions.

If you don’t see the notifications email in your inbox, check your junk/spam folders. Once shayre is installed, you will see a similar login page. Enter your login and password and the software will launch and the user interface will appear.

How do I install shayre on Linux machines?

shayre for Linux machines is only available for Enterprise customers. Please contact shayre sales at sales@shayre.com for further information.

OK, so I installed the software and signed in, now what?

shayre needs to connect to a friend or as many friends as you like, kind of like a cell phone. Everyone has their own number, or in this case, a machine ID number. So, find a friend that you want to shayre with.

You need to do 3 things:

Exchange Machine ID numbers – click here for a step-by-step tutorial
Create / shayre folders with your friends – click here for a step-by-step
Close the interface – You don’t need it anymore (until you want to add more friends and/or folders to shayre.) So, now, once you and your friend(s) are connected, whatever you place in the folder(s) automatically goes where they need to go at the fastest possible speeds.

So wait, all I do is put files into that folder and they automatically go?

Yup! No upload or download any more. You can forget that you ever learned that skill.

Hey, I had files in this folder and they disappeared. Where did they go?

A shayre folder is one that synchronizes everything in the folder with everyone it is shared with. In the default configuration, it is a two-way street. So, if your friend(s) removes a file on their end, it will disappear on your end. But, if they put it back, it will reappear in your folder. You can adjust the settings so that it never deletes anything unless you want it to. for more information on changing the shayre folder settings. You could also make a copy and put it somewhere else if you want to save it forever. Or, you could also set up a one-way sync folder to do that automatically for you.

So, everyone who has a shayred folder actually has copies of the files on their own systems?

Yes. Think of it as everyone having their own private, local, “cloud.”

Won’t that fill up my hard drive?

Depending on the size of the files that you are sharing, you will need to be aware of how much drive space you will need. shayre will let you know if you do not have enough space for the files to synchronize. However, if that is a concern, you can create a shayre folder on an external hard drive, if you want. And then every time that hard drive is plugged in, all of your shared folders and files will update, automatically.

Must everybody have shayre?

Yes, shayre is a very secure method of transferring files to you and your friends. That initial exchange of machine IDs and accepting of the folder invitations makes the connection doubly secure. Everyone needs to have a copy of the app (like a cell phone to directly communicate with each other.) But, not to worry, the program is not very big and it uses very little compute power. And once it is set up, you won’t know how you lived without it.

I only need to send files or a link to someone just once. Can I do that?

Unfortunately, not right now if they do not have shayre. We are working on that and should have it in the near future. In order to keep your files and content secure, we need to have additional layers of protection in place. We’ll let you know as soon as that additional feature is added. Stay tuned.

One of the file names in my shayre folder has a squiggily line (~ a tilde) in front of the name and it is greyed out. What is the deal?

This means that the file is still syncing and is not completely on your system yet. The name will turn black like a regular file name when the file syncing has been completed on your system.

The discovery servers in my UI are listed as 2/3 not 3/3 like they should and still nothing is syncing.

You may have a firewall issue that needs adjusting. You have done nothing wrong. Contact your IT department. While shayre does not need firewall ports opened, it does need to have permission to reach out to our relay and discovery servers. Here is the information you will need:

The shayre firewall requirements are as follows:

Allow outbound traffic to:
us-west-1.relay.mpmis.net
On ports: 80,443,22067 TCP

Allow established traffic from:
us-west-1.relay.mpmis.net
From ports: 80,443,22067 TCP

The relay indicator in my UI is saying 0/1 and nothing is working. What gives?

Please see the previous question above for the answer to this question.

What is a shayre license?

A shayre license is the permission certificate or “token” that allows you access to the shayre application where you set up your device connections and folders. The license also gives you access to the shayre management portal where you control which machines/devices can use a license and which notifications that you want to receive via email or text.

What happens if I rename or relabel a folder that is currently being shayred with others?

If you rename a shayred folder, you need to tell shayre what you called it. If you don’t, shayre will stop synching that folder because it won’t see it anymore. Please see the tutorial to learn how to let shayre know what the new name of the folder is.

Can I move a folder that is currently being shayred with others to a different location on my computer?

If you move a shayred folder to another location on your hard drive (or external hard drive), you need to tell shayre where you put it. If you don’t, shayre will not know where the folder is and stop synching that folder. Please see the tutorial to learn how to let shayre know the new location of the folder.

I didn’t get an email from shayre during my initial registration process?

If you don’t see your registration email, please check your spam/junk folder. It should be there. And, please add: notifications@shayre.com to your contacts or whitelist so any further shayre notifications will not get sent to spam/junk.

I added a new shayre user but that person didn’t get a shayre email?

If your new user doesn’t see the registration email, please have them check their spam/junk folder. It should be there. Have them add: notifications@shayre.com to their contacts so any further shayre notifications will not get sent to spam/junk.

Why didn’t I get an email with my temporary password?

Please check your junk/spam folder as the email may be there.