The Drive under Linux - Alternative Setup
I found some inspiration in a blog post for an alternative way to synchronize the files on my Mailbox Drive with a local directory on Linux.
It uses rclone bisync, which is currently a beta testing feature on the latest rclone version, which is not yet included in "stable" releases of common Linux distros. I installed the "testing" version of rclone on my Debian system, and I have had it running for a couple of weeks, so far without problems. I have not done any heavy usage or testing, however.
It is a bash script that installs itself as a user systemd service, and it uses inotifywait to trigger synchronization when local files are changed, and otherwise it synchronizes every 10 min. in case something changed in the other end.
You can find the script and a more detailed description here: https://codeberg.org/jfrickmann/rcloud
I like this idea 
Thanks for sharing your interesting implementation - I was unaware that rclone can now use bisync to solve the two-way sync problem.
The official knowledgebase article that describes the manual process of connecting Mailbox Drive on Linux suggests using a software called FreeFileSync to solve that problem. But that software requires a paid license for commercial use, so your rclone solution nicely maintains the Free and Open Source Software spirit.
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I was curious about your implementation because I also implemented a setup assistant for Mailbox Drive on Linux (although mine uses FreeFileSync): https://github.com/kevin-pw/mailboxorg-drive-assistant
This collection of shell scripts automates all of the steps described in the official knowledgebase article because I needed to simplify the on-boarding of my team members onto Mailbox Drive. The setup script mounts the remote Drive via WebDAV, creates a local working directory, and configures automatic background syncing between the directories.
Features include:
- The interactive setup guides the user through the installation.
- The installation is idempotent with robust error handling so that the setup can safely re-run after a failed attempt.
- Sensible default values specific to Mailbox.org and auto-detection of configuration variables minimize required user inputs.
- After installation, the local and remote directories automatically sync in both directions and on system startup.
- The README.md describes the complete Drive synchronization architecture, its components, and its dependencies.
- The uninstall script cleanly removes all components associated with any previous complete or incomplete installation attempts.
Please excuse that I am posting my repo in your thread, but I think collecting our similar tools in one place is more appropriate than starting a new unsolicited post on this forum. I have tested and refined my repo with my team, so hopefully this thread is useful for others.
Thanks for sharing your interesting implementation - I was unaware that rclone can now use bisync to solve the two-way sync problem.
The official knowledgebase article that describes the manual process of connecting Mailbox Drive on Linux suggests using a software called FreeFileSync to solve that problem. But that software requires a paid license for commercial use, so your rclone solution nicely maintains the Free and Open Source Software spirit.
---
I was curious about your implementation because I also implemented a setup assistant for Mailbox Drive on Linux (although mine uses FreeFileSync): https://github.com/kevin-pw/mailboxorg-drive-assistant
This collection of shell scripts automates all of the steps described in the official knowledgebase article because I needed to simplify the on-boarding of my team members onto Mailbox Drive. The setup script mounts the remote Drive via WebDAV, creates a local working directory, and configures automatic background syncing between the directories.
Features include:
- The interactive setup guides the user through the installation.
- The installation is idempotent with robust error handling so that the setup can safely re-run after a failed attempt.
- Sensible default values specific to Mailbox.org and auto-detection of configuration variables minimize required user inputs.
- After installation, the local and remote directories automatically sync in both directions and on system startup.
- The README.md describes the complete Drive synchronization architecture, its components, and its dependencies.
- The uninstall script cleanly removes all components associated with any previous complete or incomplete installation attempts.
Please excuse that I am posting my repo in your thread, but I think collecting our similar tools in one place is more appropriate than starting a new unsolicited post on this forum. I have tested and refined my repo with my team, so hopefully this thread is useful for others.
Hi Kevin,
I am aware of the solution provided by the Mailbox KB using FFS. What I like about my own solution, is that it syncs directly without needing a local mount, that it works as a standard systemd service, that it sends errors and warnings to the GUI with notify-send, and that so far it has worked without any problems for me.
But it should be noted that my solution is based on a beta feature in the newer versions of rclone that are not yet the standard version in most distros today. Since it is, however, in the current Debian testing repo, it can be expected to be included when Forky becomes the next stable release sometime in the middle of 2027. And when Debian has it, everyone has it :-)
Hi Kevin,
I am aware of the solution provided by the Mailbox KB using FFS. What I like about my own solution, is that it syncs directly without needing a local mount, that it works as a standard systemd service, that it sends errors and warnings to the GUI with notify-send, and that so far it has worked without any problems for me.
But it should be noted that my solution is based on a beta feature in the newer versions of rclone that are not yet the standard version in most distros today. Since it is, however, in the current Debian testing repo, it can be expected to be included when Forky becomes the next stable release sometime in the middle of 2027. And when Debian has it, everyone has it :-)
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