rclone/docs/content/box.md

title	description	date
Box	Rclone docs for Box	2015-10-14

Box

Paths are specified as remote:path

Paths may be as deep as required, eg remote:directory/subdirectory.

The initial setup for Box involves getting a token from Box which you need to do in your browser. rclone config walks you through it.

Here is an example of how to make a remote called remote. First run:

 rclone config

This will guide you through an interactive setup process:

No remotes found - make a new one
n) New remote
s) Set configuration password
q) Quit config
n/s/q> n
name> remote
Type of storage to configure.
Choose a number from below, or type in your own value
[snip]
XX / Box
   \ "box"
[snip]
Storage> box
Box App Client Id - leave blank normally.
client_id> 
Box App Client Secret - leave blank normally.
client_secret> 
Remote config
Use auto config?
 * Say Y if not sure
 * Say N if you are working on a remote or headless machine
y) Yes
n) No
y/n> y
If your browser doesn't open automatically go to the following link: http://127.0.0.1:53682/auth
Log in and authorize rclone for access
Waiting for code...
Got code
--------------------
[remote]
client_id = 
client_secret = 
token = {"access_token":"XXX","token_type":"bearer","refresh_token":"XXX","expiry":"XXX"}
--------------------
y) Yes this is OK
e) Edit this remote
d) Delete this remote
y/e/d> y

See the remote setup docs for how to set it up on a machine with no Internet browser available.

Note that rclone runs a webserver on your local machine to collect the token as returned from Box. This only runs from the moment it opens your browser to the moment you get back the verification code. This is on http://127.0.0.1:53682/ and this it may require you to unblock it temporarily if you are running a host firewall.

Once configured you can then use rclone like this,

List directories in top level of your Box

rclone lsd remote:

List all the files in your Box

rclone ls remote:

To copy a local directory to an Box directory called backup

rclone copy /home/source remote:backup

Using rclone with an Enterprise account with SSO

If you have an "Enterprise" account type with Box with single sign on (SSO), you need to create a password to use Box with rclone. This can be done at your Enterprise Box account by going to Settings, "Account" Tab, and then set the password in the "Authentication" field.

Once you have done this, you can setup your Enterprise Box account using the same procedure detailed above in the, using the password you have just set.

Invalid refresh token

According to the box docs:

Each refresh_token is valid for one use in 60 days.

This means that if you

• Don't use the box remote for 60 days
• Copy the config file with a box refresh token in and use it in two places
• Get an error on a token refresh

then rclone will return an error which includes the text Invalid refresh token.

To fix this you will need to use oauth2 again to update the refresh token. You can use the methods in the remote setup docs, bearing in mind that if you use the copy the config file method, you should not use that remote on the computer you did the authentication on.

Here is how to do it.

$ rclone config
Current remotes:

Name                 Type
====                 ====
remote               box

e) Edit existing remote
n) New remote
d) Delete remote
r) Rename remote
c) Copy remote
s) Set configuration password
q) Quit config
e/n/d/r/c/s/q> e
Choose a number from below, or type in an existing value
 1 > remote
remote> remote
--------------------
[remote]
type = box
token = {"access_token":"XXX","token_type":"bearer","refresh_token":"XXX","expiry":"2017-07-08T23:40:08.059167677+01:00"}
--------------------
Edit remote
Value "client_id" = ""
Edit? (y/n)>
y) Yes
n) No
y/n> n
Value "client_secret" = ""
Edit? (y/n)>
y) Yes
n) No
y/n> n
Remote config
Already have a token - refresh?
y) Yes
n) No
y/n> y
Use auto config?
 * Say Y if not sure
 * Say N if you are working on a remote or headless machine
y) Yes
n) No
y/n> y
If your browser doesn't open automatically go to the following link: http://127.0.0.1:53682/auth
Log in and authorize rclone for access
Waiting for code...
Got code
--------------------
[remote]
type = box
token = {"access_token":"YYY","token_type":"bearer","refresh_token":"YYY","expiry":"2017-07-23T12:22:29.259137901+01:00"}
--------------------
y) Yes this is OK
e) Edit this remote
d) Delete this remote
y/e/d> y

Modified time and hashes

Box allows modification times to be set on objects accurate to 1 second. These will be used to detect whether objects need syncing or not.

Box supports SHA1 type hashes, so you can use the --checksum flag.

Transfers

For files above 50MB rclone will use a chunked transfer. Rclone will upload up to --transfers chunks at the same time (shared among all the multipart uploads). Chunks are buffered in memory and are normally 8MB so increasing --transfers will increase memory use.

Deleting files

Depending on the enterprise settings for your user, the item will either be actually deleted from Box or moved to the trash.

Standard Options

Here are the standard options specific to box (Box).

--box-client-id

Box App Client Id. Leave blank normally.

• Config: client_id
• Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_CLIENT_ID
• Type: string
• Default: ""

--box-client-secret

Box App Client Secret Leave blank normally.

• Config: client_secret
• Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_CLIENT_SECRET
• Type: string
• Default: ""

Advanced Options

Here are the advanced options specific to box (Box).

--box-upload-cutoff

Cutoff for switching to multipart upload (>= 50MB).

• Config: upload_cutoff
• Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_UPLOAD_CUTOFF
• Type: SizeSuffix
• Default: 50M

--box-commit-retries

Max number of times to try committing a multipart file.

• Config: commit_retries
• Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_COMMIT_RETRIES
• Type: int
• Default: 100

Limitations

Note that Box is case insensitive so you can't have a file called "Hello.doc" and one called "hello.doc".

Box file names can't have the \ character in. rclone maps this to and from an identical looking unicode equivalent ＼.

Box only supports filenames up to 255 characters in length.