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rclone

rsync for object storage: one tool that speaks S3, B2, Drive, Dropbox, SFTP and dozens more.

Homebrew formula

What it does

Copies, syncs and moves files between any two configured remotes, with checksums, bandwidth limits and a dry-run mode. rclone mount exposes a remote as a local filesystem, and the crypt wrapper encrypts names and contents before upload so the provider stores nothing readable.

rclone config                       # interactive, once per remote
rclone sync ~/Documents b2:my-bucket/documents --progress --dry-run
rclone mount gdrive: ~/mnt/gdrive --vfs-cache-mode writes

Notes

  • sync makes the destination match the source, deletions included. Run it with --dry-run first, every time.
  • It mirrors rather than versions: yesterday’s file is gone once today’s sync runs. For history, back up with restic — which can use an rclone remote as its backend — and keep rclone for moving bulk data.
  • mount needs a FUSE implementation; see macFUSE.

Alternative to

AlternativeTypeTrade-off
rsyncOpen sourceThe same shape for SSH hosts rather than cloud storage
CyberduckOpen sourceA window with files in it, rather than a scriptable tool
resticOpen sourceVersioned snapshots, not a mirror
SyncthingOpen sourceContinuous peer-to-peer sync, no cloud account anywhere

Install

brew install rclone

Links

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