Getting Started Guide

How to Install and Use Rclone

This guide covers installing Rclone and using it to sync, copy, and mount cloud storage from 70+ providers including S3, Google Drive, and Azure Blob.

Prerequisites

-Linux, macOS, or Windows

Official Documentation

Install Rclone

Install Rclone from your package manager or the official script.

Official installer

curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash

macOS

brew install rclone

Verify

rclone version

Configure a Remote

Set up a connection to a cloud storage provider. The interactive config walks you through it.

Interactive setup

rclone config

List configured remotes

rclone listremotes

Note: Follow the prompts to set up S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, SFTP, or any of 70+ supported providers. Each remote gets a name you'll reference in commands.

Basic Operations

Copy, sync, and list files on your configured remotes.

List files

rclone ls remote:bucket/path

Copy files

rclone copy /local/path remote:bucket/path

Sync (mirror)

rclone sync /local/path remote:bucket/path

Move files

rclone move /local/path remote:bucket/path

Note: sync makes the destination match the source exactly - it will delete files at the destination that don't exist at the source. Use copy if you don't want deletions.

Mount as Filesystem

Mount a remote as a local filesystem. Access cloud storage like a local folder.

Mount

rclone mount remote:bucket /mnt/cloud --daemon

Unmount

fusermount -u /mnt/cloud

Note: Mounting is great for browsing cloud storage with normal file tools. Performance depends on your connection speed.

Security-Relevant Usage

Rclone is commonly used for data exfiltration simulation in pentests and for forensic evidence collection from cloud storage.

Encrypted remote

# During rclone config, choose 'crypt' as the remote type
# This adds client-side encryption to any other remote

Bandwidth limiting

rclone copy remote:bucket /local --bwlimit 1M

Note: In red team contexts, rclone's ability to sync to attacker-controlled cloud storage makes it a common exfiltration tool. Defenders should monitor for rclone.exe and its network signatures.

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