Basil Drive (also known as Basil Explorer) can be used by Account Owners to be able to progressively upsync and downsync the folders and files to and from the Basil cloud and your local computer or network environment. It can also be used to create a backup of all the folders and files for compliance purposes, for example.
Please note: Basil Drive is a software add-on for Basil that must be enabled upon request. It is not provided by default. Basil Drive is currently only available for Windows PCs. Basil Drive can only be used by ONE USER on a Basil account, so it is recommended that the Account Owner be the one to install the program.
Enabling and Installing Basil Drive
First confirm if Basil Drive is enabled for your account. Log into Basil as the Account Owner, select your profile icon at the top right of Basil, and see if 'Basil Drive' is listed as an option. If it’s not, please contact CoralTree Support and ask for it to be enabled for your account.
Once enabled, clicking the ‘Basil Drive’ button in Basil will take you to the Basil Drive download page. Click the ‘Download Basil Drive Client’ button to download and run the setup.exe file to install the Basil Drive Client.
This will take you to the Basil Drive download page. Click the ‘Download Basil Drive Client’ button to download and run the setup.exe file to install the Basil Drive Client.
Once it has been installed, it will ask you to log into the Basil Drive software with the Account Owner’s username and password.
After signing in, it will ask you where you would like to store the files that will be synced back and forth between the computer and the Basil cloud service. It’s recommended to choose the root C: drive on your computer or root network drive to avoid issues related to maximum file path length. This will create a folder called ‘Basil’ on the computer. Be sure to never rename, move, or delete that folder, otherwise it may cause Basil Drive to need to be completely reconfigured. It is highly recommended that you select a location outside of the control of other syncing or backup software such as OneDrive, Google Drive, Carbonite, etc. in order to avoid syncing issues.
The Basil Drive Explorer will pop up and begin syncing down your client folders and files.
Basil Drive will reside in your hidden system tray icons and on your Windows Start bar. Basil Drive will start when your PC starts and is designed to be left running while your PC is turned on. You’ll always be able to access it from your Windows Taskbar.
Using Basil Drive to Backup/Archive Files
Using Basil Drive to archive files is easy. Once Basil Drive has been installed, it will download all of your client files to your local machine or network drive. This can take up to several hours. Once all are downloaded, you can simply use your Windows File Explorer to navigate to the location where Basil Drive is storing them.
Using Windows File Explorer you can highlight files/folders like you would elsewhere on your PC and right-click on them to ‘Copy’ or ‘Compress to a ZIP file’.
If they have been copied, then you can navigate to where you’d like to store them (like on a thumb drive or network drive), and simply right-click and choose ‘Paste’. If you compressed them to a ZIP file, you can drag the ZIP file out of this location and place it where you want it.
Once the files have been backed up and archived, you can delete the original files/folders by using the 3-dot ‘Actions’ menu from the Client’s Workspace ‘Files’ tab of the Basil Web Interface.
If you backed up the files because you are no longer working with the client, then you can use the Basil Web Interface to remove the Client and all associated workspaces and files. To do this go to the ‘People’ tab, select the appropriate Client, click on the 3-dot ‘Actions’ menu, and choose ‘Delete’.
Using Basil Drive to Add and Edit Files
With Basil Drive installed, you can add compatible files to any Workspace’s Internal/External folders or their subfolders as well as edit any documents already uploaded to Basil.
You can add files to Basil using Basil Drive using multiple methods:
- You can use the Basil Drive Explorer or Windows File Explorer to drag and drop files into the respective Workspace folders. Basil Drive will see these new files and then sync them up to the web.
- You can create a new document in your editing software such as Word or Excel, and then save the new document directly to the folder on your computer that is being monitored by Basil Drive. Similarly, once Basil Drive sees the new file it will be synced to the web.
- Existing files can be copied from a location on your computer or removable drive and then pasted to the appropriate Workspace folder by using Copy/Paste with either the Basil Drive Explorer or Windows File Explorer.
Currently, folders created through File Explorer will not automatically upsync to the Basil cloud. You must first create the subfolder through the Basil site. Deleting files must also be done through the Basil site only, as deleting through File Explorer will force the files to be re-downsynced.
Editing files using Basil Drive is just as easy.
First, navigate to the file you need in either the Basil Drive Explorer or Windows File Explorer.
Then, double-click on the name of the file to open it in your preferred editing software. Once the file has been opened it will ask you if you wish to ‘lock’ the file. You will want to say ‘Lock File’ if you plan to make changes to the file and plan to sync them.
The file will then be ‘locked’ in Basil Drive and the Basil Web Application which will prevent other users from making changes while you are working on the file.
Once you are done making your changes, close your editing software and the file will then sync to the Basil Cloud and the file will ‘unlock’ making it ready to be viewed or edited by other users.
Please note that due to the way Basil Drive works, it can only be enabled on one User account per Basil account. It is recommended that the Account Owner be the one to activate and install the application.
If more than one user on the Basil account (team members) would like to be able to edit the files locally instead of downloading the files from the Basil Web Interface, it is recommended that Basil Drive be installed to a central file server or host computer that is sharing a folder over a local area network (LAN). Team members should be connected to the shared folder via mapped network drives so that Basil Drive (as long as the software is running) can properly monitor the activity of the files and sync them correctly. This option would only be available to users on the same LAN (or same office space) and would not be possible for remote employees.