Ubuntu CLI config rclone with Google Drive

rclone config

Making your own client_id

When you use rclone with Google drive in its default configuration you are using rclone's client_id. This is shared between all the rclone users. There is a global rate limit on the number of queries per second that each client_id can do set by Google. rclone already has a high quota and I will continue to make sure it is high enough by contacting Google.

It is strongly recommended to use your own client ID as the default rclone ID is heavily used. If you have multiple services running, it is recommended to use an API key for each service. The default Google quota is 10 transactions per second so it is recommended to stay under that number as if you use more than that, it will cause rclone to rate limit and make things slower.

Here is how to create your own Google Drive client ID for rclone:

Log into the Google API Console with your Google account. It doesn't matter what Google account you use. (It need not be the same account as the Google Drive you want to access)

Select a project or create a new project.

Under "ENABLE APIS AND SERVICES" search for "Drive", and enable the "Google Drive API".

Click "Credentials" in the left-side panel (not "Create credentials", which opens the wizard).

If you already configured an "Oauth Consent Screen", then skip to the next step; if not, click on "CONFIGURE CONSENT SCREEN" button (near the top right corner of the right panel), then select "External" and click on "CREATE"; on the next screen, enter an "Application name" ("rclone" is OK); enter "User Support Email" (your own email is OK); enter "Developer Contact Email" (your own email is OK); then click on "Save" (all other data is optional). You will also have to add some scopes, including

https://www.googleapis.com/auth/docs https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive in order to be able to edit, create and delete files with RClone. https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly which you may also want to add. If you want to add all at once, comma separated it would be https://www.googleapis.com/auth/docs,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive,https://www.googleapis.com/auth/drive.metadata.readonly. After adding scopes, click "Save and continue" to add test users. Be sure to add your own account to the test users. Once you've added yourself as a test user and saved the changes, click again on "Credentials" on the left panel to go back to the "Credentials" screen.

(PS: if you are a GSuite user, you could also select "Internal" instead of "External" above, but this will restrict API use to Google Workspace users in your organisation).

Click on the "+ CREATE CREDENTIALS" button at the top of the screen, then select "OAuth client ID".

Choose an application type of "Desktop app" and click "Create". (the default name is fine)

It will show you a client ID and client secret. Make a note of these.

Get auth from remote using SSH Tunnel

ssh -L localhost:53682:localhost:53682 username@remote_server