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andreafabrizi/Dropbox-Uploader · source
Snapshot 0 · 2026-11-04T12:47:21Z · Shell · GPL-3.0
Content fingerprint
4feb53fab824a705262f63f8e874890fdce95ba6ece7c4b29a79f4c0bf827160GitHub description at capture
Dropbox Uploader is a BASH script which can be used to upload, download, list or delete files from Dropbox, an online file sharing, synchronization and backup service.
README at capture
# Dropbox Uploader
Dropbox Uploader is a **BASH** script which can be used to upload, download, delete, list files (and more!) from **Dropbox**, an online file sharing, synchronization and backup service.
It's written in BASH scripting language and only needs **cURL**.
You can take a look to the [GitHub project page](https://github.com/andreafabrizi/Dropbox-Uploader).
**Why use this script?**
* **Portable:** It's written in BASH scripting and only needs `cURL` (curl is a tool to transfer data from or to a server, available for all operating systems and installed by default in many linux distributions).
* **Secure:** It's not required to provide your username/password to this script, because it uses the official Dropbox API v2 for the authentication process.
Please refer to the [Wiki](https://github.com/andreafabrizi/Dropbox-Uploader/wiki) for tips and additional information about this project. The Wiki is also the place where you can share your scripts and examples related to Dropbox Uploader.
## Features
* Cross platform
* Support for the official Dropbox API v2
* No password required or stored
* Simple step-by-step configuration wizard
* Simple and chunked file upload
* File and recursive directory download
* File and recursive directory upload
* Shell wildcard expansion (only for upload)
* Delete/Move/Rename/Copy/List/Share files
* Create share link
* Monitor for changes
## Getting started
First, clone the repository using git (recommended):
```bash
git clone https://github.com/andreafabrizi/Dropbox-Uploader.git
```
or download the script manually using this command:
```bash
curl "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/andreafabrizi/Dropbox-Uploader/master/dropbox_uploader.sh" -o dropbox_uploader.sh
```
Then give the execution permission to the script and run it:
```bash
$chmod +x dropbox_uploader.sh
$./dropbox_uploader.sh
```
The first time you run `dropbox_uploader`, you'll be guided through a wizard in order to configure access to your Dropbox. This configuration will be stored in `~/.dropbox_uploader`.
## Usage
The syntax is quite simple:
```
./dropbox_uploader.sh [PARAMETERS] COMMAND...
[%%]: Optional param
<%%>: Required param
```
**Available commands:**
* **upload** <LOCAL_FILE/DIR ...> <REMOTE_FILE/DIR>
Upload a local file or directory to a remote Dropbox folder.
If the file is bigger than 150Mb the file is uploaded using small chunks (default 50Mb);
in this case a . (dot) is printed for every chunk successfully uploaded and a * (star) if an error
occurs (the upload is retried for a maximum of three times).
Only if the file is smaller than 150Mb, the standard upload API is used, and if the -p option is specified
the default curl progress bar is displayed during the upload process.
The local file/dir parameter supports wildcards expansion.
* **download** <REMOTE_FILE/DIR> [LOCAL_FILE/DIR]
Download file or directory from Dropbox to a local folder
* **delete** <REMOTE_FILE/DIR>
Remove a remote file or directory from Dropbox
* **move** <REMOTE_FILE/DIR> <REMOTE_FILE/DIR>
Move or rename a remote file or directory
* **copy** <REMOTE_FILE/DIR> <REMOTE_FILE/DIR>
Copy a remote file or directory
* **mkdir** <REMOTE_DIR>
Create a remote directory on Dropbox
* **list** [REMOTE_DIR]
List the contents of the remote Dropbox folder
* **monitor** [REMOTE_DIR] [TIMEOUT]
Monitor the remote Dropbox folder for changes. If timeout is specified, at the first change event the function will return.
* **share** <REMOTE_FILE>
Get a public share link for the specified file or directory
* **saveurl** <URL> <REMOTE_DIR>
Download a file from an URL to a Dropbox folder directly (the file is NOT downloaded locally)
* **search** <QUERY>
Search for a specific pattern on Dropbox and returns the list of matching files or directories
* **info**
Print some info about your Dropbox account
* **space**
Print some info about the space usage on your Dropbox account
* **unlink**
Unlink the script from your Dropbox account
**Optional parameters:**
* **-f <FILENAME>**
Load the configuration file from a specific file
* **-s**
Skip already existing files when download/upload. Default: Overwrite
* **-d**
Enable DEBUG mode
* **-q**
Quiet mode. Don't show progress meter or messages
* **-h**
Show file sizes in human readable format
* **-p**
Show cURL progress meter
* **-k**
Doesn't check for SSL certificates (insecure)
* **-x <FILENAME>**
Ignores/excludes directories or files from syncing.
-x filename -x directoryname.
**Examples:**
```bash
./dropbox_uploader.sh upload /etc/passwd /myfiles/passwd.old
./dropbox_uploader.sh upload *.zip /
./dropbox_uploader.sh -x .git upload ./project /
./dropbox_uploader.sh download /backup.zip
./dropbox_uploader.sh delete /backup.zip
./dropbox_uploader.sh mkdir /myDir/
./dropbox_uploader.sh upload "My File.txt" "My File 2.txt"
./dropbox_uploader.sh share "My File.txt"
./dropbox_uploader.sh list
```
## Tested Environments
* GNU Linux
* FreeBSD 8.3/10.0
* MacOSX
* Windows/Cygwin
* Raspberry Pi
* QNAP
* iOS
* OpenWRT
* Chrome OS
* OpenBSD
* Termux
If you have successfully tested this script on others systems or platforms please let me know!
## Running as cron job
Dropbox Uploader relies on a different configuration file for each system user. The default configuration file location is `$HOME/.dropbox_uploader`. This means that if you setup the script with your user and then you try to run a cron job as root, it won't work.
So, when running this script using cron, please keep in mind the following:
* Remember to setup the script with the user used to run the cron job
* Always specify the full script path when running it (e.g. /path/to/dropbox_uploader.sh)
* Use always the -f option to specify the full configuration file path, because sometimes in the cron environment the home folder path is not detected correctly (e.g. -f /home/youruser/.dropbox_uploader)
* My advice is, for security reasons, to not share the same configuration file with different users
## How to setup a proxy
To use a proxy server, just set the **https_proxy** environment variable:
**Linux:**
```bash
export HTTP_PROXY_USER=XXXX
export HTTP_PROXY_PASSWORD=YYYY
export https_proxy=http://192.168.0.1:8080
```
**BSD:**
```bash
setenv HTTP_PROXY_USER XXXX
setenv HTTP_PROXY_PASSWORD YYYY
setenv https_proxy http://192.168.0.1:8080
```
## BASH and Curl installation
**Debian & Ubuntu Linux:**
```bash
sudo apt-get install bash (Probably BASH is already installed on your system)
sudo apt-get install curl
```
**BSD:**
```bash
cd /usr/ports/shells/bash && make install clean
cd /usr/ports/ftp/curl && make install clean
```
**Cygwin:**
You need to install these packages:
* curl
* ca-certificates
* dos2unix
Before running the script, you need to convert it using the dos2unix command.
**Build cURL from source:**
* Download the source tarball from http://curl.haxx.se/download.html
* Follow the INSTALL instructions
## DropShell
DropShell is an interactive DropBox shell, based on DropBox Uploader:
```bash
DropShell v0.2
The Intractive Dropbox SHELL
Andrea Fabrizi - andrea.fabrizi@gmail.com
Type help for the list of the available commands.
andrea@Dropbox:/$ ls
[D] 0 Apps
[D] 0 Camera Uploads
[D] 0 Public
[D] 0 scripts
[D] 0 Security
[F] 105843 notes.txt
andrea@DropBox:/ServerBackup$ get notes.txt
```
## Running as Docker Container
First build the docker image:
```bash
docker build https://github.com/sircuri/Dropbox-Uploader.git -f Dockerfile -t <TAG>
```
or for RaspBerry:
```bash
docker build https://github.com/sircuri/Dropbox-Uploader.git -f Dockerfile.pi -t <TAG>
```
then, you can run it as following:
```bash
docker run -i --rm --user=$(id -u):$(id -g) -v <LOCAL_CONFIG_PATH>:/config -v <YOUR_DATA_DIR_MOUNT>:/workdir <TAG> <Arguments>
```
This will store the auth token information in the given local directory in `<LOCAL_CONFIG_PATH>`. To ensure access to your mounted directories it can be important to pass a UID and GID to the docker deamon (as stated in the example by the --user argument)
Using the script with docker makes it also possible to run the script even on windows machines.
To use a proxy, just set the mentioned environment variables via the docker `-e` parameter.
## Related projects
[thunar-dropbox](https://github.com/mDfRg/Thunar-Dropbox-Uploader-plugin/tree/thunar-dropbox/plugins/thunar): A simple extension to Dropbox Uploader that provides a convenient method to share your Dropbox files with one click!
## Upgrading from old dropbox API
Starting September 30th, 2021, Dropbox is updating their API (OAuth scopes, PKCE, refresh tokens, and short-lived access tokens)
dropbox_uploader.sh configurations made with the old API will not longer work after that date.
Reconfigure dropbox_uploader.sh:
* Go to https://www.dropbox.com/account/connected_apps, expand your configuration, and click the button 'Disconnect'
* Rename or delete your configuration file .dropbox_uploader
## Donations
If you want to support this project, please consider donating:
* PayPal: https://paypal.me/AndreaF83
* BTC: 1JHCGAMpKqUwBjcT3Kno9Wd5z16K6WKPqG