Google Drive Sync Function in Linux

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sJBs

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#281223 6-Feb-2021 10:27

I have been looking at a number of options for cloud and backup facilities but had to conclude that I can't run without Google Drive.

The primary reason is that I find the Google Office Suite excellent and also available on all my devices. In addition, as I'm producing a number of documents, photos and videos from my Android devices (most via the auto-sync on the phone), and it just works out of the box, it just makes sense to stick to Google Drive. But as 20TB of Google Drive is a bit expensive, the intention is to limit is to docs and "current" photos and videos, and then just BackBlaze everything. It also gives you some spread of the risk if Google decides to do something strange with the data or even just goes down for a while.

Thus, I would like Google Drive to sync most of our information (approx 200GB). In addition, I would like to run full backups to Backblaze.

Backblaze doesn't appear to be a problem, as it is provided with native Linux support. The problem is Google, which for some reason don't have any formal Linux support.

Ideally, I would like the functionality of the very good Mega.nz app in a Google Linux app, but couldn't find any. The Mega app is really idiot-proof and runs quietly in the background and can also be used to sync across multiple devices. (Mega is my goto for my VPS setups)

Any suggestions on how to reliably sync all my documents/videos/photos to Google Drive? Seems like there are some dodgy programmes out there that can actually destroy data.

My setups are as follows:

- Main: Linux Mint 20 with 8x6tb in ZFS1 containing all the information

- Backup01 - XigmaNAS (Nas4Free) 4 x 6TB in ZFS1 - Rsync some of the information

- Backup02 - XigmaNAS (Nas4Free) 4 x 4TB in ZFS1 - Rsync some of the information

- Multiple Laptops running Linux Mint 20 and will only have subsets of the information

- Multiple Andriod One devices

I'm currently still on 4G, but changing to 900Mb fibre next month.

Currently, I'm using a manual copy process from Main to google drive to selectively store aspects in the cloud (scanned documents / statements / signed documents / etc), with the office apps used exclusively online without any local copy.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

CachyOS with 5070ti, 5050 and 4060ti, with lots of ZFS for storage

Starlith

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#2648617 6-Feb-2021 10:47

This is all there is unless you want to go full ChromeOS - https://www.linuxlinks.com/googledrive/

Use a cron job to automate the sync

ANglEAUT

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#2648639 6-Feb-2021 12:25

Welcome to my world. 😢

These days, just like on Android, you can add your Google account to your Linux Desktop. You can then "natively" browse the Google Drive system.
1. From a terminal window, your Google Drive folder will appear like this:
  user@host:/run/user/1000/gvfs/google-drive:host=XXX,user=XXX/1xmdi1xqRIWWAqoaFg8ed0UybFeIfc65W/1GptdO8G1NfCez71abOi4xUa16t54_6ju$
2. I've noticed with this approach that when you attach files from Google Drive via this "native" file path, the filename & extension get lost. You end up with some random string of characters for the file name in the attachment window.
FreeFileSync.org can integrate with Google Drive and has a RealTimeSync application that could work for you.
Disclaimer, I have not tried this option yet. RealTimeSync in Windows works perfectly for me.

I'll have to look at linuxlinks.com

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farcus

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#2648640 6-Feb-2021 12:34

You can use kio gdrive in KDE/Plasma.

It's not a full sync but rather gives you a remote folder in Dolphin that acts like a local folder.

KiwiSurfer

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#2648654 6-Feb-2021 13:03

Another option would be to look into the rclone utility. It works with a wide range of backends including both Backblaze B2 and Google Drive. I use it myself with Backblaze B2 with good results so can't really comment on the Google Drive side of things. rclone is also far better than the official b2 client (reliable sync, lightening fast fast parallel transfers, etc) so it's worth using even if you end up only using it for Backblaze only.

sJBs

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#2648668 6-Feb-2021 13:46

I have tried adding my google accounts to the desktop and then have them appear as networked drives in Nemo, however I find them terribly slow and basically makes your system feel unresponsive.

This appears to be the case for all the apps that I tried which mapped the Google drive just as any other networked drive.

Vgrive looks like a perfect match, however then I read the following bug:

https://github.com/bcedu/VGrive/issues/99 VGrive deletes half of my files in the cloud! #99

For now it looks like the best would be Rclone running on a scheduler.

CachyOS with 5070ti, 5050 and 4060ti, with lots of ZFS for storage

farcus

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#2648672 6-Feb-2021 14:10

sJBs:

I have tried adding my google accounts to the desktop and then have them appear as networked drives in Nemo, however I find them terribly slow and basically makes your system feel unresponsive.

can't comment on nemo, but for me kio-gdrive on openSUSE Tumbleweed (plasma 5.20.5) is as snappy for me as google drive on my win10 laptop.

HP

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cyril7

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#2648741 6-Feb-2021 17:15

Hi, I too use exclusively Mint but also have a Chromebook as a current laptop, I have given up on any solution, but to be honest most of the stuff in my GDrive is Google Docs so a mounted instance is less of an issue as everything is web based.

Cyril

sJBs

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#2648789 6-Feb-2021 19:32

cyril7:

Hi, I too use exclusively Mint but also have a Chromebook as a current laptop, I have given up on any solution, but to be honest most of the stuff in my GDrive is Google Docs so a mounted instance is less of an issue as everything is web based.

Cyril

I fully agree. With most things already in the cloud, something like ChromeOS or PeppermintOs works very well on old hardware. LinuxMint has now also incorporated this Webaps functionality from PeppermintOS, allowing you to use the likes of Google Sheets and Docs or Office365 similar to a traditional desktop app, except it actually running in the cloud.

However, there are still some aspects that just work faster, easier and better when the data is local, such as scanning, image manipulation, which is where the sync functionality would be required.

CachyOS with 5070ti, 5050 and 4060ti, with lots of ZFS for storage

geocom

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#2648815 6-Feb-2021 20:48

I use insync. Has had issues in the past with files not syncing correctley but have not had that issue recently. Never had it delete something it should not have done. Have used rclone to do backups to google drive does the trick but is a bit trickier to setup

Geoff E

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#2648901 7-Feb-2021 11:09

sJBs: However, there are still some aspects that just work faster, easier and better when the data is local, such as scanning, image manipulation, which is where the sync functionality would be required.

Agreed, those functions are better with local storage. Then again, how frequent are those? Using rclone with a scheduled 30min sync interval should cover those instances? Do you really need those files sync'ed "instantly" to the Google Drive? On the very rare occasions that "instant" sync is required, why not kick off a manual rclone sync?

Please keep this GZ community vibrant by contributing in a constructive & respectful manner.

sJBs

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#2648917 7-Feb-2021 11:53

geocom:

I use insync. Has had issues in the past with files not syncing correctly but have not had that issue recently. Never had it delete something it should not have done. Have used rclone to do backups to google drive does the trick but is a bit trickier to setup

Insync looks like the answer, but I'm reluctant to make use of another company's software to fully control my google account.

Seems like the best fit for me now is RClone (open source) for both Backblaze and GoogleDrive running on a scheduler.

CachyOS with 5070ti, 5050 and 4060ti, with lots of ZFS for storage