Best method to linux auto sync bidirectionally?

[saltysyncs]

What is the problem you are having with rclone?

I would like to automatically sync multiple Ubuntu (22.04/23.10) devices via an encrypted cloud directory. Once this is in place I would like it to require minimal future manual interaction, which I assume must mean syncing every x minutes or when changes are detected. I used Insync for this in the past but there were issues with it periodically, and setting up a new device introduced risk of corruption.

Below are two different approaches I have found and I wonder if someone with more experience could please confirm if one of those is best to use, or some alternative method?

Run the command 'rclone version' and share the full output of the command.

rclone v1.65.2
- os/version: ubuntu 23.10 (64 bit)
- os/kernel: 6.5.0-17-generic (x86_64)
- os/type: linux
- os/arch: amd64
- go/version: go1.21.6
- go/linking: static
- go/tags: none

-->

Which cloud storage system are you using? (eg Google Drive)

Google Drive. I would prefer to use my Proton account but last I checked there are still some issue with that.

The command you were trying to run (eg rclone copy /tmp remote:tmp)

Inotifiy and rclone sync: Continuous immediate file sync with Rclone - blog.rymcg.tech

Bisync and systemd: Sync Google Drive in Linux using rclone - zihad.com.bd

[kapitainsky]

rclone bisync has got recently serious face-lifting and if you decide to go this route wait for rclone v.1.66 release or try the latest beta. You will find more details on beta docs page.

But if your goal is "automatically sync multiple Ubuntu (22.04/23.10) devices" I would also recommend to look beyond rclone and check other open source options like syncthing. It is something I use myself and it works great. Does not support though syncing to cloud.

Maybe you can even combine both options to achieve what you want.

I am afraid there is nothing like "best method" - all depends on your specific setup and needs.

@saltysyncs

Google Drive. I would prefer to use my Proton account but last I checked there are still some issue with that.

Yes - forget Proton for anything but small experiments. It is not really working reliably yet. Google Drive is far from great neither. If you want peace of mind go for S3 storage like iDrive e2 S3, Backblaze or Wasabi.