dbox

An easy way to push and pull your Dropbox folders, with fine-grained control over what folder you are syncing, where you are syncing it to, and when you are doing it.

IMPORTANT: This is not an automated Dropbox client. It will exit after sucessfully pushing/pulling, so if you want regular updates, you can run it in cron, a loop, etc. If you do want to run it in a loop, take a look at sample_polling_script.rb.

Installation

Install dbox

$ gem install dbox

Get developer keys

  • Follow the instructions at https://www.dropbox.com/developers/quickstart to create a Dropbox development application, and copy the application keys. Unless you get your app approved for production status, these keys will only work with the account you create them under, so make sure you are logged in with the account you want to access from dbox.

  • Now either set the keys as environment variables:

$ export DROPBOX_APP_KEY=cmlrrjd3j0gbend
$ export DROPBOX_APP_SECRET=uvuulp75xf9jffl
  • Or include them in calls to dbox:
$ DROPBOX_APP_KEY=cmlrrjd3j0gbend DROPBOX_APP_SECRET=uvuulp75xf9jffl dbox ...

Generate an auth token

  • Make an authorize request:
$ dbox authorize
Please visit the following URL in your browser, log into Dropbox, and authorize the app you created.

http://www.dropbox.com/0/oauth/authorize?oauth_token=j2kuzfvobcpqh0g

When you have done so, press [ENTER] to continue.

  • Visit the given URL in your browser, and then go back to the terminal and press Enter.

  • Now either set the keys as environment variables:

$ export DROPBOX_AUTH_KEY=v4d7l1rez1czksn
$ export DROPBOX_AUTH_SECRET=pqej9rmnj0i1gcxr4
  • Or include them in calls to dbox:
$ DROPBOX_AUTH_KEY=v4d7l1rez1czksn DROPBOX_AUTH_SECRET=pqej9rmnj0i1gcxr4 dbox ...
  • This auth token will last for 10 years, or when you choose to invalidate it, whichever comes first. So you really only need to do this once, and then keep them around.

Using dbox from the Command-Line

Usage

Authorize

$ dbox authorize

Create a new Dropbox folder

$ dbox create <remote_path> [<local_path>]

Clone an existing Dropbox folder

$ dbox clone <remote_path> [<local_path>]

Pull (download changes from Dropbox)

$ dbox pull [<local_path>]

Push (upload changes to Dropbox)

$ dbox push [<local_path>]

Move (move/rename the Dropbox folder)

$ dbox move <new_remote_path> [<local_path>]

Example

$ export DROPBOX_APP_KEY=cmlrrjd3j0gbend
$ export DROPBOX_APP_SECRET=uvuulp75xf9jffl

$ dbox authorize

$ open http://www.dropbox.com/0/oauth/authorize?oauth_token=aaoeuhtns123456

$ export DROPBOX_AUTH_KEY=v4d7l1rez1czksn
$ export DROPBOX_AUTH_SECRET=pqej9rmnj0i1gcxr4

$ cd /tmp
$ dbox clone Public
$ cd Public
$ echo "Hello World" > hello.txt
$ dbox push

$ cat ~/Dropbox/Public/hello.txt
Hello World
$ echo "Oh, Hello" > ~/Dropbox/Public/hello.txt

$ dbox pull
$ cat hello.txt
Oh, Hello

Using dbox from Ruby

The Ruby clone, pull, and push APIs return a hash listing the changes made during that pull/push.

{ :created => ["foo.txt"], :deleted => [], :updated => [] }

Usage

Setup

  • Authorize beforehand with the command-line tool
require "dbox"

Create a new Dropbox folder

Dbox.create(remote_path, local_path)

Clone an existing Dropbox folder

Dbox.clone(remote_path, local_path)

Pull (download changes from Dropbox)

Dbox.pull(local_path)

Push (upload changes to Dropbox)

Dbox.push(local_path)

Move (move/rename the Dropbox folder)

Dbox.move(new_remote_path, local_path)

Check whether a Dropbox DB file is present

Dbox.exists?(local_path)

Example

$ export DROPBOX_APP_KEY=cmlrrjd3j0gbend
$ export DROPBOX_APP_SECRET=uvuulp75xf9jffl

$ dbox authorize

$ open http://www.dropbox.com/0/oauth/authorize?oauth_token=aaoeuhtns123456

$ export DROPBOX_AUTH_KEY=v4d7l1rez1czksn
$ export DROPBOX_AUTH_SECRET=pqej9rmnj0i1gcxr4

> require "dbox"
> Dbox.clone("/Public", "/tmp/public")
> File.open("/tmp/public/hello.txt", "w") {|f| f << "Hello World" }
> Dbox.push("/tmp/public")

> File.read("#{ENV['HOME']}/Dropbox/Public/hello.txt")
=> "Hello World"
> File.open("#{ENV['HOME']}/Dropbox/Public/hello.txt", "w") {|f| f << "Oh, Hello" }

> Dbox.pull("/tmp/public")
> File.read("#{ENV['HOME']}/Dropbox/Public/hello.txt")
=> "Oh, Hello"