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JohnCrawford's avatar
JohnCrawford
New member | Level 2
7 years ago
Solved

“something similar” to SCP for Dropbox

I'm trying to backup some file on my Linux server to Dropbox. I do *NOT* want to install Dropbox on my server as I do *NOT* want any of the files on my Dropbox account to be on this server.

I'm looking for something similar to SCP, so it will look like this: 

scp backupDocument.txt mydropbox:/folder/save

Basically I should be able to copy a file from my server and paste that file into my Dropbox account without needing to install Dropbox on the actual server.

 

Dropbox Basic
Linux
sync
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    7 years ago
    Well, if your server doesn’t have a GUI whatsoever, then you’ll need to find another solution to somehow access a browser, since there isn’t a Dropbox command line to directly login to your account.
     
    You could use a CLI browser like Lynx and open the link there to see if that helps.
     
    Otherwise, you could even type the link generated on a normal computer which does have a browser, and after a short time the server will be connected.

11 Replies

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
    Hi John, if you don’t want to install the Dropbox desktop application, that means you won’t have a Dropbox folder on the machine, so it won’t sync automatically.
     
    Are you not able to upload the file to the Dropbox site directly? Are you planning to create an app using the Dropbox API instead?
  • JohnCrawford's avatar
    JohnCrawford
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    This is being installed on a server and as such there is no GUI.  

     

    The install instructions found here: https://www.dropbox.com/install-linux are not that helpful as it doesn't have any details on how to connect to your actual Dropbox account.  

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
    The Python script at the bottom of the page tells you how to control the Dropbox desktop application daemon, and there’s also this article with commands used in the script.
     
    However, simply installing from that page means you want files to sync to your machine, which is the opposite of what you want. 
     
    Of course, you could use the exclude button to selectively unsync every single folder on your account. Provided there’s nothing in the root Dropbox folder, no files should download to the server.
     
    Regardless, you won’t be able to upload to the Dropbox site without any folders actively syncing, so in the end this won’t help with your query.
  • JohnCrawford's avatar
    JohnCrawford
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    Hi Jay,

     

    Many thanks for the feedback.  I've decided to try and install Dropbox on my server as it doesn't look like it actually can do an "SCP like" command.

     

    However I can't seem to actually link my account on the server.  The help options also don't seem to actually show an "add your dropbox account by email and password" type thing as seen here:

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
    The instructions to sign in were on the original installation page at the bottom.
     
    I’ve copied and pasted them here in case you cant see that on the site:
     
    Run the Dropbox daemon from the newly created .dropbox-dist folder.
     
    ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
     
    If you're running Dropbox on your server for the first time, you'll be asked to copy and paste a link in a working browser to create a new account or add your server to an existing account.
     
    Once you do, your Dropbox folder will be created in your home directory. 
  • JohnCrawford's avatar
    JohnCrawford
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    Hi Jay.  Those instructions do not help.  As mentioned already this is a server and as such does *not* have a GUI.  So you can not do as you mentioned "copy and paste a link in a working browser".

     

    This is a 100% text based terminal.

     

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
    Well, if your server doesn’t have a GUI whatsoever, then you’ll need to find another solution to somehow access a browser, since there isn’t a Dropbox command line to directly login to your account.
     
    You could use a CLI browser like Lynx and open the link there to see if that helps.
     
    Otherwise, you could even type the link generated on a normal computer which does have a browser, and after a short time the server will be connected.
  • Kostia K.'s avatar
    Kostia K.
    New member | Level 2
    5 years ago

    These are terrible solutions posted by Dropbox...

    There has got to be a better way.

    I mean how do apps like Wordpress and such backup your content to Dropbox without needing to sync anything locally. Sure it will be API requests instead of an SCP like command line, but I assume that is something worth it for OP.

  • Shelton K.'s avatar
    Shelton K.
    Helpful | Level 5
    5 years ago

    Better answer: 

     

    I recommend using rclone. It's like rsync but for third-party services. 

     

    Once you have it set up, your usage syntax will look fairly similar to your `scp` example. Here is how you would copy an entire "source" directory to dropbox:

     

    rclone copy /home/source remote:path/to/dest

     

    And configuration is pretty easy too. Just run "rclone config" and it will step you through the entire process of asking for your tokens and keys. It supports syncing and comparisons based on modification date, size, or checksum. Plus, it fully supports Dropbox for Business accounts and Team Folders. 

    :pushpin: Dropbox-specific documentation

     

    Be sure not to use the app ID that comes with rclone since it is used by anyone who didn't change the default. Create your own Dropbox App ID here: https://www.dropbox.com/developers/apps/create

     

    Rclone has been around for a long time, has frequent updates and lots of support. Highly recommended.

     

  • Kostia K.'s avatar
    Kostia K.
    New member | Level 2
    5 years ago
    I found a solution that allows me to do exactly this. It's called dropbox-up loader. It uses the Dropbox api. It's simple to setup first go get an api key from Dropbox then follow these steps : https://github.com/andreafabrizi/Dropbox-Uploader
    I am using it to backup my servers data to my Dropbox every night. (1.5 gib)

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