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Dropbox are dropping support for Linux in November (with the exception of unencrypted Ext4). They have an API, and on Android there are alternative clients (the best-known being dropsync) so it should be possible. Is there an alternative client for Linux?

My requirements are bi-directional syncing without manual intervention as I use it to maintain some (fairly private) files on multiple machines (work/home/phone), so scripting a download of a link (which I've done before) won't work. It doesn't look massively complicated to write one in Python, but has the feel of a project that could have hidden difficulties.

Note in case it's not clear: I'm not asking about alternative cloud storage/sync solutions, I'm asking about something to interact with an existing account and folder structure.

Chris H
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  • Are you asking for alternatives to Dropbox, which work with a Dropbox account ? – X Tian Jul 30 '19 at 09:37
  • @XTian I was, yes - hence "client" and "not asking about alternative cloud storage". Is there some other potential interpretation I haven't dismissed with these phrases – Chris H Jul 30 '19 at 10:53

3 Answers3

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Dropbox has brought back support for ZFS, XFS, Btrfs and eCryptFS

Dropbox has brought back support for ZFS, XFS, Btrfs and eCryptFS on Linux. A Dropbox client update brings back support for ZFS and XFS on 64-bit Linux systems, and eCryptFS and Btrfs on all Linux systems.

Links:

Community
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karel
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No alternative is needed, I simply:

  • created an empty file,
  • formatted it as ext4,
  • mounted it as a loop device,
  • moved dropbox home in it.

As an example:

  1. Add to you /etc/fstab a line like this to mount, at boot, the dropbox filesystem.

    /home/user/.dropbox-store   /home/user/Dropbox   ext4    defaults,loop    0 0

  2. Execute

    dropbox stop
dd if=/dev/zero bs=1k count=1 seek=2097152 of=~/.dropbox-store
/sbin/mkfs.ext4 -L DropboxHome ~/.dropbox-store 
mv ~/Dropbox ~/Dropbox_
mkdir ~/Dropbox
# emulate boot mount to check fstab syntax 
sudo mount -a
sudo chown user.users ~/Dropbox
rsync -av ~/Dropbox_/. ~/Dropbox/.
dropbox start

It is a rough solution. It is just a roadmap that you have to adapt to your needs. E.g. the fstab solution is acceptable only on a single user laptop as mine.

andcoz
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  • Accepted as it's a nice clear write-up of how to do it, but I ended up reinstalling/upgrading for other reasons and went for full-disc encryption with an unencrypted ext4 filesystem as I did so, making the question moot – Chris H Sep 24 '18 at 08:35
  • There is also a workaround that allows the use of Dropbox on non-ext4 filesystems. https://github.com/dark/dropbox-filesystem-fix as described in https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/11/how-to-use-dropbox-on-non-ext4.html?m=1 – LustreOne Mar 15 '19 at 19:09
  • @LustreOne, please add a new answer to this question instead of a comment. That alternative is worth knowing, an answer will better advertise it. – andcoz Apr 16 '19 at 14:09
  • How do you format a file as ext4 on linux? I know how to format a partition, but not a file. – To Do Nov 08 '23 at 14:09
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There is also a workaround that allows the use of Dropbox on non-ext4 filesystems. https://github.com/dark/dropbox-filesystem-fix as described in https://www.linuxuprising.com/2018/11/how-to-use-dropbox-on-non-ext4.html?m=1

LustreOne
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