Ubuntu Tips n Tricks

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

How to Synchronize Dropbox and Ubuntu One Online Backup Services

Posted: 21 Sep 2010 12:46 AM PDT

How to Synchronize Dropbox and Ubuntu One Online Backup Services: Dropbox and Ubuntu One are two of my favorite online backup services. They both provide safe, reliable, and easy-to-use cloud storage solutions. Their features may vary but they are all important to me, so I have installed and used Dropbox and Ubuntu One together on my Ubuntu desktop.

I have Linux, Windows, and Mac computers at home and I find Dropbox essential for quickly synchronizing files across different operating systems. Meanwhile, Ubuntu One is integrated with some of the applications I've installed on Ubuntu such as Evolution and Tomboy notes so I can't live without it too.

I find it inconvenient to maintain two online backup services on my Linux box that I decided to link and combine Dropbox and Ubuntu One so that they are synchronized. This means that whenever I made some changes or created some files on my Ubuntu One folder, it will automatically sync with my Dropbox folder, and vice versa. How did I do it? It's really easy.

If you have not installed Dropbox yet, I suggest you read this: How to install and use Dropbox in Ubuntu Linux

After installation, open the Dropbox preferences and change the default folder location or path and point it to your Ubuntu One folder.

Inside Ubuntu One, you will now be able to see the Dropbox folder. So, changes made inside the Dropbox folder will instantly be seen in Ubuntu One.

Next up, right-click on your Ubuntu One folder and click on the "Make Link" option. Move the "Link to Ubuntu One" folder and place it inside the Dropbox folder.

Your original Ubuntu One folder will now be synchronized with Dropbox, which also means you can now access your Ubuntu One folder from your other OS with a Dropbox desktop client installed.

That was a really simple trick, isn't it? But, I do hope some of you would also find it useful.