Install Dropbox on Ubuntu 22.04 – Easy Guide for Beginners

This guide intends to teach you to Install Dropbox on Ubuntu 22.04. Dropbox is a personal cloud storage service (sometimes referred to as an online backup service) that is frequently used for file sharing and collaboration.  The Dropbox application is available for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux desktop operating systems. There are also apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry devices.

Steps To Install Dropbox and Dropbox CLI on Ubuntu 22.04

To complete this guide, you must log in to your server as a non-root user with sudo privileges. To do this, you can follow our guide on Initial Server Setup with Ubuntu 22.04.

Install Dropbox on Ubuntu 22.04

First, you need to update your local package index with the following command:

sudo apt update

Dropbox Download Linux

At this point, you need to download the Dropbox package from the official Dropbox website using the wget command. To download the Dropbox package for 64-bit OS and extract it, run the following command in the Terminal:

sudo cd ~ && sudo wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86_64" | tar xzf -

In the case of 32-bit OS, you have to run the following command in the Terminal:

sudo cd ~ && sudo wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86" | tar xzf -

Note: The above command will create a hidden folder “.dropbox-dist” under your Home directory. To view this hidden folder, navigate to your  Home Directory using the cd ~ command and type ls -a.

Next, run the Dropbox daemon with the following command:

sudo ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

Note: If you’re running Dropbox on your server for the first time, you’ll be asked to copy and paste a link in a working browser to create a new account or add your server to an existing account. Once you do, your Dropbox folder will be created in your home directory.

Access Dropbox App

At this point, you have learned to Install Dropbox on Ubuntu 22.04. Now you can access the Dropbox app on your Ubuntu 22.04 desktop under Applications > Internet. Click on it to run your Dropbox app.

When you subscribe to Dropbox, you are allotted a certain amount of storage space in an online server known as “the cloud.” After installing the Dropbox app on your PC, mobile device, or Linux, any files that you store in your Dropbox locally will be copied to the Dropbox server as well.

Dropbox Command-Line Interface

Dropbox also includes a command-line interface (CLI) that lets you control Dropbox with the command line. It allows you to start, stop, synchronize, and view the current status of each file.

First, you need to install Python on Ubuntu 22.04:

sudo apt install python3

Download the Dropbox command line

Then, you need to download a Python script. It will be used to control Dropbox from the command line. Run the following command in the Terminal to download the Python script:

sudo wget -O /usr/local/bin/dropbox "https://www.dropbox.com/download?dl=packages/dropbox.py"

Next, make the script executable with the command below:

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/dropbox

To list all the commands that can be used to control Dropbox CLI, simply run the following command:

dropbox

Output
Dropbox command-line interface

commands:

Note: use dropbox help <command> to view usage for a specific command.

 autostart    automatically start Dropbox at login
 exclude      ignores/excludes a directory from syncing
 filestatus   get current sync status of one or more files
 help         provide help
 lansync      enables or disables LAN sync
 ls           list directory contents with current sync status
 proxy        set proxy settings for Dropbox
 puburl       get public url of a file in your Dropbox's public folder
 running      return whether Dropbox is running
 sharelink    get a shared link for a file in your Dropbox
 start        start dropboxd
 status       get current status of the dropboxd
 stop         stop dropboxd
 throttle     set bandwidth limits for Dropbox
 update       download latest version of Dropbox
 version      print version information for Dropbox

For example, to view the version of Dropbox, run the command below:

dropbox version

Output
Dropbox daemon version: 166.4.2920
Dropbox command-line interface version: 2020.03.04

Conclusion

At this point, you have learned to Install Dropbox on Ubuntu 22.04 and also install the DropBox CLI.

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