Connect Drive with rclone

rclone is a command-line sync tool that works with WebDAV. Unlike Finder or Windows Explorer, rclone has no file-size limit, uploads in parallel, and supports two-way sync and scheduled backups. It's the best option for large transfers and unattended jobs.

Before you start

You need a device password. Sync apps get their own one-time password — that way you can revoke rclone without touching your dashboard login.

1. Open Sync devices in your TrekMail dashboard.
2. Click + Add new device.
3. Name it (e.g. Laptop — rclone).
4. Leave View files and Edit files checked.
5. Click Generate password and copy the password (dsync_...).

For read-only backup to Drive, Edit files is required. For one-way restore from Drive (download only), View files alone is enough.

Install rclone

• macOS: brew install rclone
• Linux: curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash
• Windows: download from rclone.org/downloads and add to PATH.

Configure the remote

Run the interactive configurator:

rclone config

Then:

1. n — new remote.
2. Name it trekmail-drive (or anything you like).
3. Pick WebDAV from the list (number changes between versions; look for the word "Webdav").
4. URL: paste the Drive server URL from the Sync devices page — it looks like https://drive.YOUR-DOMAIN/dav/files/account/. Keep the trailing slash.
5. Vendor: pick other.
6. User: your TrekMail account email.
7. Password: pick y (yes, type my own password), then paste the dsync_... device password.
8. Bearer token: leave blank.
9. Edit advanced config: n.
10. Confirm: y.

You can also write the config file directly. Open ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf and add:

[trekmail-drive]
type = webdav
url = https://drive.YOUR-DOMAIN/dav/files/account/
vendor = other
user = you@example.com
pass = <obscured-password>

Generate the obscured password with rclone obscure dsync_....

Day-to-day commands

List files

rclone ls trekmail-drive:
rclone lsd trekmail-drive:        # directories only

Upload a file

rclone copy ./backup.zip trekmail-drive:Backups/

Upload a folder (one-way, with progress)

rclone copy ./Documents trekmail-drive:Documents \
  --progress --transfers 8

--transfers 8 uploads up to 8 files in parallel. Bump it higher on fast networks.

Sync a folder (mirror — deletes on Drive what's missing locally)

rclone sync ./Documents trekmail-drive:Documents --progress

Caution: sync deletes files on Drive that don't exist locally. Use copy if you're not sure.

Mount as a folder

mkdir ~/trekmail
rclone mount trekmail-drive: ~/trekmail \
  --vfs-cache-mode writes --daemon

This makes Drive show up as ~/trekmail. Tools that don't speak WebDAV (Photos, Lightroom, etc.) can use it like any local folder.

Unmount

fusermount -u ~/trekmail           # Linux
umount ~/trekmail                  # macOS

Scheduled backups

On Linux/macOS, add to your crontab (crontab -e):

# Back up ~/Documents nightly at 2 AM
0 2 * * * /usr/local/bin/rclone copy ~/Documents trekmail-drive:Documents --quiet

On Windows, use Task Scheduler to run the same rclone copy command.

Tuning for big transfers

For large files (multi-GB videos, datasets):

rclone copy ./big.iso trekmail-drive:ISOs/ \
  --transfers 4 \
  --multi-thread-streams 4 \
  --buffer-size 64M \
  --progress

rclone splits large uploads into chunks and runs them in parallel. The server reassembles them.

Troubleshooting

• 401 Unauthorized — password is wrong or revoked. Generate a new one in Sync devices.
• 403 insufficient_scope — the device password is read-only but you're trying to upload. Create a new password with Edit files checked.
• 429 Too Many Requests — back off --transfers to 4 and try again. Drive rate-limits per device password.
• 507 Insufficient Storage — your Drive pool is full. Resize your add-on or empty the trash.
• Mounted folder shows stale files — clear rclone's cache with rclone mount options --vfs-cache-mode writes --dir-cache-time 1m.

For broader sync issues, see Drive Sync troubleshooting.