v1.40

Alias

The alias remote provides a new name for another remote.

Paths may be as deep as required or a local path, e.g. remote:directory/subdirectory or /directory/subdirectory.

During the initial setup with rclone config you will specify the target remote. The target remote can either be a local path or another remote.

Subfolders can be used in target remote. Assume an alias remote named backup with the target mydrive:private/backup. Invoking rclone mkdir backup:desktop is exactly the same as invoking rclone mkdir mydrive:private/backup/desktop.

There will be no special handling of paths containing .. segments. Invoking rclone mkdir backup:../desktop is exactly the same as invoking rclone mkdir mydrive:private/backup/../desktop. The empty path is not allowed as a remote. To alias the current directory use . instead.

The target remote can also be a connection string. This can be used to modify the config of a remote for different uses, e.g. the alias myDriveTrash with the target remote myDrive,trashed_only: can be used to only show the trashed files in myDrive.

Configuration

Here is an example of how to make an alias called remote for local folder. First run:

 rclone config

This will guide you through an interactive setup process:

No remotes found, make a new one?
n) New remote
s) Set configuration password
q) Quit config
n/s/q> n
name> remote
Type of storage to configure.
Choose a number from below, or type in your own value
[snip]
XX / Alias for an existing remote
   \ "alias"
[snip]
Storage> alias
Remote or path to alias.
Can be "myremote:path/to/dir", "myremote:bucket", "myremote:" or "/local/path".
remote> /mnt/storage/backup
Remote config
Configuration complete.
Options:
- type: alias
- remote: /mnt/storage/backup
Keep this "remote" remote?
y) Yes this is OK
e) Edit this remote
d) Delete this remote
y/e/d> y
Current remotes:

Name                 Type
====                 ====
remote               alias

e) Edit existing remote
n) New remote
d) Delete remote
r) Rename remote
c) Copy remote
s) Set configuration password
q) Quit config
e/n/d/r/c/s/q> q

Once configured you can then use rclone like this,

List directories in top level in /mnt/storage/backup

rclone lsd remote:

List all the files in /mnt/storage/backup

rclone ls remote:

Copy another local directory to the alias directory called source

rclone copy /home/source remote:source

Standard options

Here are the Standard options specific to alias (Alias for an existing remote).

--alias-remote

Remote or path to alias.

Can be "myremote:path/to/dir", "myremote:bucket", "myremote:" or "/local/path".

Properties:

  • Config: remote
  • Env Var: RCLONE_ALIAS_REMOTE
  • Type: string
  • Required: true

Advanced options

Here are the Advanced options specific to alias (Alias for an existing remote).

--alias-description

Description of the remote.

Properties:

  • Config: description
  • Env Var: RCLONE_ALIAS_DESCRIPTION
  • Type: string
  • Required: false