Moving Your Data Around with RClone

Rclone is a powerful command-line tool for managing and transferring files between local systems and cloud storage services. This hands-on workshop introduces rclone’s core concepts and workflows, with a focus on practical use for research, data management and backups.

Participants will learn how rclone compares to tools like rsync, how to install and configure it on their own machine, and how to use common commands to copy, sync, move and back up data between local and remote storage. The session also covers mounting cloud storage as a local file system and strategies for finding help in rclone’s documentation when things go wrong.

This workshop is part of UC Love Data Week and is suitable for researchers, staff and students who work with data across local and cloud environments.

Led by Jamie Jamison, UCLA Library Data Science Center

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

• Explain what rclone does and when to use it.
• Compare rclone with other file transfer and synchronization tools.
• Install and configure rclone on macOS, Windows, or Linux.
• Run common rclone commands with appropriate flags.
• Transfer and back up files between local and remote storage.
• Distinguish between copy, sync, move, and moveto.
• Mount remote storage as a local file system.
• Use rclone documentation and online resources for troubleshooting.

Prerequisites

Participants should be comfortable with:

• Basic command-line navigation.
• Common file operations like copying and moving files.
• Installing software on their operating system.
• Basic cloud storage concepts.

Prior exposure to a shell environment, such as the Shell Novice lesson from Software Carpentry, is recommended but not required.

Setup

Software set up instructions(opens in a new tab) for the workshop.

REGISTER NOW(opens in a new tab).