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Homer712's avatar
Homer712
Explorer | Level 4
2 years ago
Solved

Using Rsync to Backup Dropbox Folders. Using terminal, I get a skipping file error.

I'm on a MacBook Pro, running Monterey 12.7.4 and would like to use rsync to backup some folders I have in Dropbox. I've used rsync in the past and am quite comfortable using the commands. The issue seem to be that no matter how I enter the path to the Dropbox folder I want to back up (using either Finder or the Terminal to get the path) I get errors. Using the terminal path I get a "skipping file" error where rsync is skipping the Dropbox folder I'm looking to back up.

 

So, I'm thinking, although the path to my Dropbox looks like "/Users/my name/Dropbox" there may be something going on behind the scenes with Dropbox where that isn't the "real" path.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

desktop
Dropbox Backup
Mac
  • BethemBrown's avatar
    BethemBrown
    2 years ago

    Hello Homer712 - glad you got it working.

    The "Dropbox for macOS on File Provider" update mainly fixes some issues with opening online-only files in third-party applications, so if you haven't had problems with that I don't think there's any big advantage with switching to it.

4 Replies

  • BethemBrown's avatar
    BethemBrown
    Helpful | Level 6
    2 years ago

    On mac, Dropbox stores its files in ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox so you could try to use that path instead of /Users/my_name/Dropbox.

     

    Let me know if it works!

  • Homer712's avatar
    Homer712
    Explorer | Level 4
    2 years ago

    Thanks for the response. That location (~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox) is only valid if you update to "Dropbox for macOS on File Provider", which I have not done.

     

    I worked out the rsync issues I was having (I'll blame it on age) so I'm good for now. But, seeing how that was brought up, are there any advantages to switching to the "File Provider" feature?

  • BethemBrown's avatar
    BethemBrown
    Helpful | Level 6
    2 years ago

    Hello Homer712 - glad you got it working.

    The "Dropbox for macOS on File Provider" update mainly fixes some issues with opening online-only files in third-party applications, so if you haven't had problems with that I don't think there's any big advantage with switching to it.

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