Install Maestral : Open Source Dropbox Client on Linux

Maestral, an open source client for Dropbox recently received an update and should be presented here. I’m not a Dropbox user and I didn’t know this on GitHub so far client for Linux and macOS, which was developed . I remember, however, that 3 years ago Dropbox a lot of Linux users alienated because the support for all file systems except for unencrypted Ext4 in the official client was removed.

Supports all file systems

The Maestral written in Python bypasses such restrictions. The focus is on file synchronization; are currently not supported Dropbox Paper and the management of Dropbox teams or shared folders . Maestral uses the public Dropbox API, which, unlike the official client, does not allow the transfer of changes to only one file (binary diff). Maestral can therefore possibly use more bandwidth than the official client. However, it avoids uploading or downloading a file if it already exists locally or in the cloud with the same content.

Installed by PyPi

Maestral supports syncing multiple Dropbox accounts and excluding local files from syncing with one .mignore-File. Avoid synchronizing a local folder with Maestral and the official Dropbox client at the same time. Network drives and some external hard drives are not supported as storage locations for the Dropbox folder.

Maestral : Open Source Dropbox Client

The client can be installed from Python’s package index PyPI with the package installer pip with and without GUI:

$ python3 -m pip install --upgrade maestral
oder
$ python3 -m pip install --upgrade maestral[gui]

Alternatively, a Docker container can be set up:

docker pull maestraldbx/maestral

The documentation answers further questions. The client can be used on the command line by entering maestral --helplists the options. The GUI can be accessed from there by entering maestral guito be started. So if you like Dropbox or are dependent on it, you might find a suitable client in Maestral. You are welcome to leave in the comments which Dropbox client you are using.

Maestral Command line usage

After installation, Maestral will be available as a command line script by typing maestral in the command prompt. Type maestral --help to get a full list of available commands. The most important are:

  • maestral gui: Starts the Maestral GUI. Creates a sync daemon if not already running.
  • maestral start|stop: Starts or stops the Maestral sync daemon.
  • maestral pause|resume: Pauses or resumes syncing.
  • maestral autostart -Y|-N: Sets the daemon to start on log in.
  • maestral status: Gets the current status of Maestral.
  • maestral filestatus LOCAL_PATH: Gets the sync status of an individual file or folder.
  • maestral excluded add|remove|list: Command group to manage excluded folders.
  • maestral ls DROPBOX_PATH: Lists the contents of a directory on Dropbox.
  • maestral notify snooze N: Snoozes desktop notifications for N minutes.

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