Rclone Integration

Zerobyte integrates with rclone to provide support for 40+ cloud storage providers including Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, pCloud, Mega, and many more. This gives you the flexibility to store your backups on virtually any cloud storage service.

Overview

Rclone can be used in Zerobyte for two purposes:

Repository Backend - Store encrypted backups on cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.)
Volume Backend - Mount cloud storage as a source to back up from (requires additional configuration)

Before using rclone with Zerobyte, you must configure rclone on your Docker host system and mount the configuration into the container.

Prerequisites

Docker with Docker Compose
Linux host (required for rclone volume mounting)
rclone installed on the Docker host

Installation

1. Install rclone on Host

If rclone is not already installed on your Docker host:

curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash

Verify installation:

rclone version

2. Configure Cloud Storage Remote

Run rclone’s interactive configuration wizard:

rclone config

Follow the prompts to set up your cloud storage provider. For OAuth providers like Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive, rclone will guide you through the authentication flow in your browser.

Give your remote a descriptive name (e.g., gdrive, dropbox, onedrive) as this will appear in Zerobyte’s repository creation interface.

3. Verify Remote Configuration

Confirm your remote is properly configured:

# List all configured remotes
rclone listremotes

# Test listing directories (replace 'myremote' with your remote name)
rclone lsd myremote:

# Test reading files
rclone ls myremote:path/to/test

If these commands fail on your host, fix your rclone configuration before proceeding. Most rclone issues in Zerobyte are due to misconfigured remotes on the host.

4. Mount Rclone Config into Container

Update your docker-compose.yml to mount the rclone configuration directory:

docker-compose.yml

services:
  zerobyte:
    image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/zerobyte:latest
    container_name: zerobyte
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "4096:4096"
    environment:
      - TZ=${TZ:-UTC}
    volumes:
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - /var/lib/zerobyte:/var/lib/zerobyte
      - ~/.config/rclone:/root/.config/rclone:ro  # Add this line

The rclone config is mounted read-only (:ro) for security. The default path is ~/.config/rclone on Linux. For root users, use /root/.config/rclone.

5. Restart Zerobyte

After updating the configuration:

docker compose down
docker compose up -d

Using Rclone Repositories

Once configured, rclone remotes will appear in the repository creation dropdown:

Navigate to Repositories in the Zerobyte UI
Click Create Repository
Select rclone as the backend type
Choose your configured remote from the dropdown
Specify the path on the remote where backups should be stored
Click Create

Zerobyte will initialize a new Restic repository on your cloud storage.

Supported Cloud Providers

Rclone supports 40+ storage providers. Popular options include:

Dropbox - Cloud storage with 2GB free tier
Google Drive - 15GB free tier
OneDrive - Microsoft’s cloud storage
Box - Enterprise cloud storage
pCloud - European cloud storage
Mega - End-to-end encrypted storage
Amazon Drive - Amazon’s cloud storage
Backblaze B2 - Low-cost cloud storage
SFTP - Any SSH/SFTP server
WebDAV - Generic WebDAV servers
FTP - Traditional FTP servers

For a complete list, see the official rclone documentation.

Rclone Volume Mounting

You can also use rclone to mount cloud storage as a volume source to back up from. This requires additional Docker privileges.

Requirements for Volume Mounting

Linux Docker host (not supported on Windows/macOS)
/dev/fuse device access
SYS_ADMIN capability
FUSE support on host system

Configuration for Volume Mounting

Update your docker-compose.yml:

docker-compose.yml

services:
  zerobyte:
    image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/zerobyte:latest
    container_name: zerobyte
    restart: unless-stopped
    cap_add:
      - SYS_ADMIN  # Required for mounting
    devices:
      - /dev/fuse:/dev/fuse  # Required for FUSE
    ports:
      - "4096:4096"
    environment:
      - TZ=${TZ:-UTC}
    volumes:
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - /var/lib/zerobyte:/var/lib/zerobyte
      - ~/.config/rclone:/root/.config/rclone:ro

Granting SYS_ADMIN allows the container to perform mount operations. Only use this if you need rclone volume mounting.

Testing Rclone Mount on Host

Before using rclone volumes in Zerobyte, verify mounting works on your host:

# Create test mount point
mkdir -p /tmp/rclone-test

# Mount remote (replace 'myremote' and path)
rclone mount myremote:path /tmp/rclone-test --daemon --vfs-cache-mode writes

# Test access
ls /tmp/rclone-test

# Unmount when done
fusermount -u /tmp/rclone-test

If this works, you can create rclone volumes in Zerobyte.

Authentication Issues

OAuth Token Expiration

OAuth tokens for providers like Google Drive and Dropbox can expire. If you see “Failed to Create File System” errors:

# Re-authenticate the remote
rclone config

# Select your remote and choose "Reconnect"
# Follow the OAuth flow again

# Verify authentication
rclone lsd remote:

# Restart Zerobyte
docker compose restart

SFTP Remote with SSH Keys

When using SFTP remotes with SSH key authentication, the key file must be accessible inside the container. Option 1: Mount SSH keys (Recommended)

docker-compose.yml

services:
  zerobyte:
    volumes:
      - ~/.config/rclone:/root/.config/rclone:ro
      - ~/.ssh:/root/.ssh:ro  # Mount SSH keys

Option 2: Embed key in rclone config Convert your SSH key to single-line format:

awk '{printf "%s\\n", $0}' < ~/.ssh/id_rsa

Update ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf:

rclone.conf

[sftp-remote]
type = sftp
host = example.com
user = backup
key_pem = -----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----\nb3BlbnNzaC1rZXktdjEAAAAABG5v...\n-----END OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY-----

Option 3: Use ssh-agent Configure the remote to use ssh-agent:

rclone.conf

[sftp-remote]
type = sftp
host = example.com
user = backup
key_use_agent = true

Mount the SSH agent socket:

docker-compose.yml

services:
  zerobyte:
    environment:
      - SSH_AUTH_SOCK=/ssh-agent
    volumes:
      - ~/.config/rclone:/root/.config/rclone:ro
      - ${SSH_AUTH_SOCK}:/ssh-agent

Non-Root Containers

For non-root container environments (e.g., TrueNAS), set the correct config path:

docker-compose.yml

services:
  zerobyte:
    environment:
      - RCLONE_CONFIG_DIR=/home/appuser/.config/rclone
    volumes:
      - ~/.config/rclone:/home/appuser/.config/rclone:ro

Example: Complete Setup

See the rclone-config-mount example in the repository for a complete working configuration.

docker-compose.yml

services:
  zerobyte:
    image: ghcr.io/nicotsx/zerobyte:latest
    container_name: zerobyte
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "4096:4096"
    environment:
      - TZ=${TZ:-UTC}
    volumes:
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      - /var/lib/zerobyte:/var/lib/zerobyte
      - ${RCLONE_CONFIG_DIR}:/root/.config/rclone:ro

.env

TZ=UTC
RCLONE_CONFIG_DIR=/home/user/.config/rclone

Verification

To verify rclone is properly configured inside the container:

# Check if config is accessible
docker exec zerobyte ls -la /root/.config/rclone/

# View rclone config
docker exec zerobyte cat /root/.config/rclone/rclone.conf

# List remotes inside container
docker exec zerobyte rclone listremotes

Best Practices

Test on host first - Always verify rclone works on your Docker host before troubleshooting container issues
Use descriptive names - Name remotes clearly (e.g., personal-gdrive, work-dropbox)
Read-only mount - Keep the rclone config mounted as :ro for security
Backup your config - Store a copy of ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf securely
Monitor tokens - OAuth tokens can expire; re-authenticate periodically
Use separate folders - Create dedicated folders on cloud storage for Zerobyte backups

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Guides

Advanced

Rclone Integration

Overview

Prerequisites

Installation

1. Install rclone on Host

2. Configure Cloud Storage Remote

3. Verify Remote Configuration

4. Mount Rclone Config into Container

5. Restart Zerobyte

Using Rclone Repositories

Supported Cloud Providers

Rclone Volume Mounting

Requirements for Volume Mounting

Configuration for Volume Mounting

Testing Rclone Mount on Host

Authentication Issues

OAuth Token Expiration

SFTP Remote with SSH Keys

Non-Root Containers

Example: Complete Setup

Verification

Best Practices

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Guides

Advanced

​Overview

​Prerequisites

​Installation

​1. Install rclone on Host

​2. Configure Cloud Storage Remote

​3. Verify Remote Configuration

​4. Mount Rclone Config into Container

​5. Restart Zerobyte

​Using Rclone Repositories

​Supported Cloud Providers

​Rclone Volume Mounting

​Requirements for Volume Mounting

​Configuration for Volume Mounting

​Testing Rclone Mount on Host

​Authentication Issues

​OAuth Token Expiration

​SFTP Remote with SSH Keys

​Non-Root Containers

​Example: Complete Setup

​Verification

​Best Practices

​Related Resources

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

Prerequisites

Installation

1. Install rclone on Host

2. Configure Cloud Storage Remote

3. Verify Remote Configuration

4. Mount Rclone Config into Container

5. Restart Zerobyte

Using Rclone Repositories

Supported Cloud Providers

Rclone Volume Mounting

Requirements for Volume Mounting

Configuration for Volume Mounting

Testing Rclone Mount on Host

Authentication Issues

OAuth Token Expiration

SFTP Remote with SSH Keys

Non-Root Containers

Example: Complete Setup

Verification

Best Practices

Related Resources