Dropbox is a stellar backup system. It’s considered one of the few main cloud sync suppliers that provide up mainstream help for Linux (albeit restricted in latest updates). Nonetheless, the Dropbox syncing system isn’t good on Linux, or any platform for that matter. The very fact is, issues can break, syncing can fail, and it places your information in danger.
A good way to be certain that the information in your Dropbox folder is all the time secure is to create a neighborhood backup. On Linux, there are various other ways to create backups, so we’ll be exploring a few methods to back up the Dropbox sync folder, with minimal effort on the person’s half.
Technique 1 – Tar
The quickest method to create a back up of the Dropbox sync folder is to use the Tar software to create a TarGZ archive, for simple storage. The advantage of going this manner is that there is no such thing as a further software program to set up; compress and go.
Tar in terminal
Making a Tar backup of the Dropbox sync folder in the terminal might be the easiest method to do, as you want to run a command. To create a brand new backup of your sync folder, observe the step-by-step directions.
Step 1: Go to the system tray on your Linux desktop and find the Dropbox icon. As soon as discovered, right-click on it with the mouse to reveal its context menu.
Step 2: In the context menu, find the “Exit” button and click on it to shut the Dropbox sync shopper.
Step 3: Open up a terminal window and use the tar command to create a brand new TarGZ archive of your Dropbox sync folder (~/Dropbox)
tar -czvf dropbox-backup.tar.gz ~/Dropbox
Step 4: Let the Tar program archive scan by means of all of the information in your Dropbox sync folder and add them to the new dropbox-backup.tar.gz folder.
Step 5: When the archiving course of is full, copy dropbox-backup.tar.gz to an exterior exhausting drive, house server, and so forth.
Encrypt backup
Many Dropbox sync folders include delicate information. Issues like tax paperwork, private household photographs, and so forth. Because of this, you might have considered trying to encrypt your backup. That’s if you would like to stop undesirable individuals from accessing the backup file.
To encrypt the Dropbox backup, you’ll want to use the GnuPG software.
Word: want to set up GnuPG? Take a look at Pkgs.org for more information.
In the terminal, run the gpg command with the “c” command-line swap to encrypt the newly created dropbox-backup.tar.gz file.
gpg -c dropbox-backup.tar.gz
After getting into the gpg command, the terminal will ask you to enter a passphrase. Enter one thing memorable and safe. Alternatively, generate a password with the Strongpasswordgenerator.com software.
Following including the password to the file, Gpg will end the encryption course of and output dropbox-backup.tar.gz.gpg. Subsequent, you should delete the unique dropbox-backup.tar.gz file, as it’s not encrypted.
rm dropbox-backup.tar.gz
Lastly, copy the dropbox-backup.tar.gz.gpg file to an exterior HDD, house server, or some other place secure.
Restore backup
To revive a Dropbox backup made in Tar, do the following.
Step 1: Transfer dropbox-backup.tar.gz or dropbox-backup.tar.gz.gpg (in the event you selected to encrypt your backup) to the house folder utilizing your Linux PC’s file supervisor.
Step 2: Flip off the Dropbox sync app.
Step 3: Delete the unique Dropbox sync folder.
rm -rf ~/Dropbox
Step 4: Extract the backup and restore it to its unique location.
gpg dropbox-backup.tar.gz.gpg mkdir -p ~/Dropbox tar dropbox-backup.tar.gz -C ~/Dropbox
Technique 2 – Deja Dup
Need a extra turn-key backup resolution in your Dropbox sync folder? Think about using the Deja Dup software. It will possibly robotically archive and encrypt your Dropbox information with minimal effort.
To realize entry to Deja Dup, set up the app.
Ubuntu
sudo apt set up deja-dup
Debian
sudo apt-get set up deja-dup
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S deja-dup
Fedora
sudo dnf set up deja-dup
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper set up deja-dup
Open up the Deja Dup utility on your Linux desktop. Then, within the app, discover the “Folders to save” choice and click on on it.
Click on the “+” button to open up the file browser, and use it to add your Dropbox sync folder to the “Folders to save” checklist.
Subsequent, click on on your own home listing in “Folders to save” and take away it from the checklist, in order that Deja Dup solely backs up your Dropbox sync listing.
After including the Dropbox folder to Deja Dup, click on on “Storage Location”. Then, set Deja Dup to save your backup to an exterior exhausting drive, native drive, server, or no matter different location you select.
Click on on “Overview”, then “Back Up Now” to create the new backup. Be certain to test the field that permits encryption, if you would like to hold your information secure.
Restore backup
To revive your Dropbox backup made with Deja Dup, do the following.
Step 1: Open up the Linux file supervisor on your laptop.
Step 2: Shut off the Dropbox sync shopper.
Step 3: Discover the Dropbox sync folder, right-click on it with the mouse and delete it from the laptop.
Step 4: Open up Deja Dup and click on “Restore.” Be certain to choose “Restore files to original location”.
