Sync Google Drive in linux using podman and rclone

2024 Guide for syncing Google Drive in linux

This guide is valid for all the service that rclone supports. But we are going to focus specially on Google Drive.

Prerequisite: podman.
Install podman from your distribution.

1. Pull the container image for rclone.

   podman pull docker.io/rclone/rclone:latest
   

2. Let’s sync our Google Drive in ~/sync/gdrive folder. And we are going to put all of our rclone config in ~/sync/rclone-config & cache in ~/sync/rclone-cache.

   mkdir -p ~/sync/gdrive
   mkdir -p ~/sync/rclone-config
   mkdir -p ~/sync/rclone-cache
   

3. Now let’s setup up rclone. Connect rclone with Google Drive and fill our rclone-config.

   podman run --rm --interactive --net=host \
     --name rclone-bisync \
     -v ~/sync/rclone-config:/config/rclone:Z \
     -v ~/sync/rclone-cache:/root/.cache/rclone:Z \
     -v ~/sync/gdrive/:/data/gdrive:Z \
     rclone/rclone:latest config
   

   Note: We used :Z at the end because of SELINUX. If you face error in debian, ubuntu or Arch based installation try removing :Z.

   Above command should open rclone setup panel. Now go ahead connect with Google Drive. We are going to use my-gdrive-remote as remote name for our google drive.

   Note: Browser won’t open directly to login Google Drive. You may have to open the link http:// 127.0.0.1:….. manually in the browser that was shown in terminal of rclone setup.

4. This is an important step. We must put an empty file (RCLONE_TEST) in both google drive and in our sync folder. This is a test file. It works with --check access to ensure access to remote drive. And we must keep it always in our online drive and in sync folder. Put this file in Google Drive root folder using a browser. Or sync will fail.

   touch ~/sync/gdrive/RCLONE_TEST
   

   And create empty RCLONE_TEST file in google drive.

   podman run --rm --net=host \
   --name rclone-bisync \
   -v ~/sync/rclone-config:/config/rclone:Z \
   -v ~/sync/rclone-cache:/root/.cache/rclone:Z \
   -v ~/sync/gdrive/:/data/gdrive:Z \
   rclone/rclone:latest touch my-gdrive-remote:RCLONE_TEST
   

5. Now we are going to dry-run our google drive sync. It is just a test to find out if everything is working.

   podman run --rm --name rclone-bisync \
     -v ~/sync/rclone-config:/config/rclone:Z \
     -v ~/sync/rclone-cache:/root/.cache/rclone:Z \
     -v ~/sync/gdrive:/data/gdrive:Z \
     rclone/rclone:latest bisync "my-gdrive-remote:/" "/data/gdrive" \
     --create-empty-src-dirs \
     --compare size,modtime,checksum \
     --fix-case \
     --check-access \
     --drive-acknowledge-abuse \
     --progress \
     --metadata \
     --resilient \
     --resync \
     --dry-run \
     --verbose
   

   You shoulde see INFO : Bisync successful.

6. Now we are going to sync our Google Drive for the first time. This will bring all drive files in our sync folder.

   podman run --rm --name rclone-bisync \
     -v ~/sync/rclone-config:/config/rclone:Z \
     -v ~/sync/rclone-cache:/root/.cache/rclone:Z \
     -v ~/sync/gdrive:/data/gdrive:Z \
     rclone/rclone:latest bisync "my-gdrive-remote:/" "/data/gdrive" \
     --create-empty-src-dirs \
     --compare size,modtime,checksum \
     --fix-case \
     --check-access \
     --drive-acknowledge-abuse \
     --progress \
     --metadata \
     --resilient \
     --resync \
     --verbose
   

   Note: It has --resync. We must use it once for the first time.

7. Finally we will sync again to test if everything is working correctly. You can put a file in local drive and see if it sync to google drive and vice-versa.

   podman run --rm --name rclone-bisync \
     -v ~/sync/rclone-config:/config/rclone:Z \
     -v ~/sync/rclone-cache:/root/.cache/rclone:Z \
     -v ~/sync/gdrive:/data/gdrive:Z \
     rclone/rclone:latest bisync "my-gdrive-remote:/" "/data/gdrive" \
     --create-empty-src-dirs \
     --compare size,modtime,checksum \
     --fix-case \
     --check-access \
     --drive-acknowledge-abuse \
     --progress \
     --metadata \
     --resilient \
     --max-lock 2m \
     --recover \
     --verbose
   

8. If everrything is working correctly. We will set rclone to auto start and sync with systemd. Now we are going to use Podman Quadlet feature so that our container will work with systemd.

   mkdir -p ~/.config/containers/systemd
   nano ~/.config/containers/systemd/rclone-bisync.container
   

   put the following in file. Use your favourite text editor.

   [Container]
   Image=docker.io/rclone/rclone:latest
   
   AutoUpdate=registry
   ContainerName=rclone-bisync
   
   Exec=bisync "my-gdrive-remote:/" "/data/gdrive" \
   --log-level ERROR \
   --log-file /root/.cache/rclone/rclone.log \
   --create-empty-src-dirs \
   --compare size,modtime,checksum \
   --fix-case \
   --check-access \
   --drive-acknowledge-abuse \
   --progress \
   --metadata \
   --resilient \
   --max-lock 2m \
   --recover
   
   SecurityLabelDisable=true
   Volume=%h/sync/rclone-config:/config/rclone
   Volume=%h/sync/rclone-cache:/root/.cache/rclone
   Volume=%h/sync/gdrive/:/data/gdrive
   
   [Service]
   TimeoutStartSec=900
   Restart=always
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=default.target
   

   Note: You can find the ERROR log in ~/sync/rclone-cache/

9. Let’s setup a timer that will trigger this systemd service.

   mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
   nano ~/.config/systemd/user/rclone-bisync.timer
   

   put this in the timer config.

   [Unit]
   Description=Run rclone bisync every 30 minutes
   
   [Timer]
   OnCalendar=*:0/30
   Persistent=true
   
   [Install]
   WantedBy=timers.target
   

   Note: You can use OnCalendar=hourly for sync every 1 hour. Or OnCalendar=*:0/1 for every 1 minute.

   Start the service for timer.

   systemctl --user daemon-reload
   systemctl --user enable --now rclone-bisync.timer
   

   check time and quadlet service

   systemctl --user status rclone-bisync.timer
   systemctl --user status rclone-bisync.service
   

That’s it. Now Google Drive is in sync with our Local Folder. You can do the same for One Drive or other cloud service that is supported by rclone. Modify the commands accordingly. You can check what all the flags do at rclone bisync.