Dropbox Server Backup

This tutorial will help you create an automatic backup on dropbox for your server.

1) Install

First, be root user by using `su` and entering your password. We'll download and install dropbox to the opt directory. Note: If you're running a 32 bit OS, `change lnx.x86_64` to `lnx.x86`

cd /opt
wget -O dropbox.tar.gz "http://www.dropbox.com/download/?plat=lnx.x86_64"
tar -xvzf dropbox.tar.gz
cd .dropbox-dist

In order to link your account with your server, run dropbox and follow the link it gives.

./dropbox

After you log in, Dropbox will immideately start syncing. Exit the dropbox program with Ctrl+D or Ctrl+C.

2) Startup Script

Now we will set up a script so dropbox will be registered as a service.

vi /etc/init.d/dropbox

Insert this text in that file:

# chkconfig: 345 85 15
# description: Dropbox client
#
# processname: dropbox
# pidfile: /var/run/dropbox.pid
. /etc/rc.d/init.d/functions
RETVAL=0
start() {
        echo -n "Starting dropbox client "
        daemon --user root /bin/sh -c "/opt/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd&"
        RETVAL=$?
        echo
        if [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ]; then
                touch /var/lock/subsys/dropbox
        fi
        return $RETVAL
}
stop() {
        echo -n "Stopping dropbox client: "
        killproc /opt/.dropbox-dist/dropbox
        RETVAL=$?
        echo
        [ $RETVAL -eq 0 ] && rm -f /var/lock/subsys/dropbox
}
case "$1" in
    start)
    start
    ;;
    stop)
    stop
    ;;
    condrestart)
        if [ -f /var/lock/subsys/dropbox ]; then
            stop
            start
        fi
        ;;
    restart|reload|force-reload)
    stop
    start
    ;;
        status)
                status dropbox
                RETVAL=$?
    ;;
    *)
    echo $"Usage: $0 {start|stop|restart|status|condrestart}"
    exit 1
esac
exit 0

To start dropbox automatically, run:

chmod +x /etc/init.d/dropbox
                chkconfig dropbox on

now start dropbox with

service dropbox start

-- OR --

/etc/init.d/dropbox start

You can view current status by running:

service dropbox status

3) Backing up

Your dropbox is now mounted root's home directory (should be /root/Dropbox), so you can simply copy any file you want to that location and it will be uploaded.
For example:

cp someFile.txt /root/Dropbox

I really like Lasse Bunk's backup script. Follow his steps for how to use it.

About

I built the tutorial and startup script for Centos. It should work on many other flavors of Linux as well, but is most likely to work on RedHat based systems.
If you don't have a dropbox account, you can sign up for one here. They are free for up to 5 GB of storage, and it's not hard to get a bit more for free.
https://www.dropbox.com/getspace

Resources used:

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