What it is
rclone is “rsync for cloud storage”. It copies and syncs files between your computer and storage services such as S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive and any WebDAV server, including Nextcloud. It can also mount a remote as a folder, check that two locations match, and encrypt files before they’re uploaded.
rclone config
rclone sync ~/Photos b2:my-photos
Why it’s here
- One tool for every cloud. The same commands work whichever service you use.
- Safe syncing.
--dry-runshows what would change before anything does. - It carries the backups. restic reaches your Nextcloud through it.
On CoreDesktop
rclone is installed from pacman. CoreDesktop’s backups use it to give restic a direct WebDAV connection to your Nextcloud, with its own app password from your keyring, so they don’t depend on the /mnt mount. That connection is set up with environment variables, not in your rclone config, so rclone config is yours to use for other remotes. update keeps it current.