Using rclone with Google Drive

Step 1: Confirm rclone Setup with Google Drive

To check if rclone is properly configured with Google Drive, open a terminal and run the following command:

rclone listremotes

If your Google Drive remote appears in the list (e.g., gdrive:), it means the remote is configured.

Next, test the connection by listing the contents of your Google Drive:

rclone lsf gdrive:

Replace gdrive with the name of your remote if it is named differently. If you see a list of your Google Drive files and folders, the connection is successful.

Step 2: Create a New Google Drive Folder

To create a new folder in Google Drive using rclone, use the mkdir command with the remote name and folder path:

rclone mkdir gdrive:/new-folder-name

Replace gdrive with your remote name and new-folder-name with your desired folder name.

Step 3: Copy a File to the New Google Drive Folder

To copy a file to the folder you just created, use the copy command with the local file path and the remote folder path:

rclone copy /path/to/local/file gdrive:/new-folder-name

Replace /path/to/local/file with the path to the file you want to copy, gdrive with your remote name, and new-folder-name with the name of the folder you created.

To verify that the file was copied successfully, list the contents of the folder:

rclone lsf gdrive:/new-folder-name

Example Commands

If your remote is named gdrive, and you want to create a folder called backup and copy a file named document.txt, follow these steps:

Create the folder: 

rclone mkdir gdrive:/backup

Copy the file: 

rclone copy ~/Documents/document.txt gdrive:/backup

Verify the contents of the backup folder: 

rclone lsf gdrive:/backup

Displaying Copy Progress

To monitor the progress of file transfers, use the -P or --progress flag with rclone.

Example with Progress Display 

rclone copy /path/to/local/file gdrive:/new-folder-name -P

What You’ll See

The -P flag provides:

  • A progress bar indicating the percentage of the transfer completed.
  • Transfer speed (e.g., MB/s).
  • Estimated time remaining for the operation to finish.

For more detailed output, you can use:

  • -v or --verbose: Shows verbose output about the transfer.
  • -vv: Enables debug-level output, which is highly detailed.

Example with Verbose Output: 

rclone copy /path/to/local/file gdrive:/new-folder-name -P -v

This command displays both the progress bar and additional information about each file being transferred.

Copying Multiple Files

rclone does not support copying multiple files by listing them directly. Instead, use one of the following methods:

Option 1: Copy an Entire Directory 

rclone copy /path/to/local/directory gdrive:/remote-folder -P

This will copy all files (and subdirectories, if any) from the local directory to the remote folder.

Option 2: Use a File List

  1. Create a text file (filelist.txt) with the paths of the files to be copied, one per line: 
    /path/to/file1
/path/to/file2
/path/to/file3
  2. Run the command: 
    rclone copy --files-from=filelist.txt / gdrive:/remote-folder -P

Option 3: Use a Wildcard to Copy Matching Files 

rclone copy /path/to/local/directory gdrive:/remote-folder --include "*.txt" -P

This copies all .txt files from the local directory to the remote folder.

Handling Errors: Permission Denied

If you encounter a “permission denied” error when copying files, follow these troubleshooting steps:

1. Check Source Directory Permissions 

ls -ld /source/path/

Ensure your user has read and write permissions:

chmod -R u+rw /source/path/

2. Check Destination Directory Permissions 

ls -ld /destination/path/
chmod -R u+rw /destination/path/

3. Run as Administrator (if needed) 

sudo rclone copy /source/path/ gdrive:/remote-folder -P

4. Prevent File Locking Issues

Try using --local-no-rename:

rclone copy /source/path/ gdrive:/remote-folder -P --local-no-rename

5. Use a Custom Temporary Directory 

rclone copy /source/path/ gdrive:/remote-folder -P --temp-dir /path/to/temp

6. Check Disk Space 

df -h

Ensure you have enough space on both the source and destination.

7. Debugging Further

Enable verbose debugging output:

rclone copy /source/path/ gdrive:/remote-folder -P -vv

This will display detailed logs to help identify the cause of the issue.

Conclusion

This guide covers setting up rclone with Google Drive, copying files, monitoring progress, handling multiple files, and troubleshooting errors. If you run into any issues, check the logs using -vv and ensure your permissions are correctly configured.

For more details, visit the rclone documentation.