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Backing up to Google Drive with Rclone on Ubuntu

1. Install Rclone

  • Open a terminal on your Ubuntu machine.

  • Run the following command to install Rclone:

    sudo apt install rclone

2. Configure Rclone

  • In the terminal, run the following command to start the Rclone configuration:

    rclone config

  • Choose "n" for a new remote and press Enter.

  • Enter a name for your remote (e.g., "gdrive") and press Enter.

  • Select "drive" as the storage type for Google Drive and press Enter.

  • Press Enter to use the default client ID and client secret.

  • Leave the scope as default and press Enter.

  • Select "1" for "Full access to all files" and press Enter.

  • Leave the "root_folder_id" and "service_account_file" empty by pressing Enter.

  • Select "n" for no advanced config and press Enter.

  • Choose "n" for no auto config and press Enter.

  • A URL will be provided. Open it in a web browser, log in to your Google account, and grant permissions to Rclone.

  • Copy the authorization code, paste it into the terminal, and press Enter.

  • Choose "n" for no team drive and press Enter.

  • Verify that the configuration looks correct and choose "y" to save it.

3. Create a backup script

  • Open a text editor (e.g., nano) to create a backup script:

    nano /var/www/backup.sh

  • Copy and paste the following content into the script (MAKE SURE TO CHANGE LABNAME):

    #!/bin/bash

source_dir="/var/www/vlsm"
remote_name="gdrive"
remote_dir="LABNAME"

rclone sync "$source_dir" "$remote_name:$remote_dir"

  • Modify the source_dir, remote_name, and remote_dir variables according to your setup.

  • Save the script and exit the text editor (Ctrl+X, then Y, then Enter in nano).

4. Make the script executable

  • Run the following command to make the script executable:

    chmod +x /var/www/backup.sh

5. Run the backup script

  • Execute the backup script by running:

    /var/www/backup.sh

  • Rclone will start syncing the /var/www/vlsm folder to your Google Drive.

6. Automate backups

  • Run the following commands to automate the backups:
(crontab -l 2>/dev/null | grep -q "@reboot /var/www/backup.sh" || echo "@reboot /var/www/backup.sh") | crontab -

(crontab -l 2>/dev/null | grep -q "0 */6 * * * /var/www/backup.sh" || echo "0 */6 * * * /var/www/backup.sh") | crontab -
  • Save the changes and exit the editor.

That's it! You have now set up Rclone on your Ubuntu machine and created a script to backup the /var/www/vlsm folder to Google Drive. The backup will run automatically based on the schedule you specified in the cron job.

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