Are you sick of getting to log into Dropbox on each single Linux PC you set up sync on? Need simply to restore a backup and get going? Comply with together with our information on to back up your Dropbox settings on Linux to learn the way to do exactly that!
Backing up Dropbox configuration on Linux
All Dropbox configuration information for Linux are saved within the ~/.dropbox folder. Should you’re attempting to back up your Dropbox settings, you’ll want to save all of that information for that folder.
Observe: The Flatpak Dropbox additionally makes use of the ~/.dropbox folder, so no want to back up particular person folders in ~/.var.
To start out the backup course of, open up a terminal window on the Linux desktop. To do this, press Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, as soon as the terminal window is open on the desktop, use the ls command to view the contents of your dwelling folder.
ls -a
Or, for a better time, attempt working the ls command together with the grep command.
ls -a | grep .dropbox
By working the ls command, you’ll give you the chance to see all folders and information (each hidden and visual). Look by to see if yow will discover the ~/.dropbox folder. You want to affirm that the ~/.dropbox folder is certainly there as a result of if it’s not, there’s no approach to back up your Dropbox settings.
Should you can’t discover the ~/.dropbox command, log into the Dropbox app on your Linux system and permit it to sync every thing down to your PC. When you’re logged into Dropbox, the ~/.dropbox folder will seem.
If you’ve confirmed that the ~/.dropbox folder is the place it needs to be on your Linux system, observe the directions under to learn the way to create a compressed TarGZ backup.
Compressing your Dropbox backup
You need to compress the ~/.dropbox folder to save all of your settings. The simplest approach to create a compressed backup is through the use of the tar command to create a TarGZ archive file.
To create a TarGZ archive of your Dropbox profile, run the next tar command within the terminal window.
tar -czvf my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz .dropbox
After working the tar command above, the terminal will begin to compress the ~/.dropbox folder. It should additionally compress the entire contents of the folder. This compression course of needs to be fast, because the information will not be very giant. Nevertheless, when you have a sluggish PC, you might want to wait a few seconds.
When the compression course of is full, you will notice a TarGZ file in your dwelling listing with the title of my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz. At this level, you may take my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz and add it to your cloud storage answer of selection, or place it on an exterior USB machine. Nevertheless, be warned that it’s not encrypted, and anybody can tamper with it.
Encrypting Dropbox configuration on Linux
Your Dropbox backup is full, however it’s not encrypted. Encrypting your backup will hold your Dropbox data secure. To start out the encryption course of, you will need to set up the GPG device. To put in GPG, open up a terminal window, and enter the instructions under.
Ubuntu
sudo apt set up gpg
Debian
sudo apt-get set up gpg
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S gpg
Fedora
sudo dnf set up gpg
OpenSUSE
sudo zypper set up gpg
As soon as the GPG device is put in, you may encrypt your backup utilizing the gpg -c command under. Take into account that whenever you use the gpg -c command, you must use a robust, memorable password. If you don’t use a robust password, your encryption will probably be for nothing as it is going to be straightforward to guess.
gpg -c my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz
When the encryption is completed, delete the unencrypted file with the rm command.
rm my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz
Then, transfer the encrypted backup to the house listing utilizing the mv command.
mv my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz.gpg ~/
From right here, be at liberty to back up the encrypted backup to a cloud storage supplier or detachable USB arduous drive/USB flash drive.
Restoring the backup
To revive the Dropbox backup, place the my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz.gpg file in your dwelling listing. Then, open up a terminal window and observe the step-by-step directions outlined under.
Step 1: Decrypt your backup. To decrypt your backup, run the gpg command in a terminal.
gpg my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz.gpg
Upon getting into the gpg command in a terminal window, you can be requested to enter your encryption password. Accomplish that to decrypt the backup.
Step 2: When the backup is decrypted, delete the prevailing .dropbox folder utilizing the rm command.
rm -rf ~/.dropbox
Step 3: Decompress the unencrypted backup utilizing the tar xvf command in a terminal window.
tar xvf my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz
When the TarGZ archive file is totally extracted, your Dropbox information will probably be restored. From right here, you may delete the unencrypted backup for safety functions utilizing the rm command under.
rm my-dropbox-settings.tar.gz
