Sync Files with OneDrive on Ubuntu 14.04 - A How-To Guide
Leveraging OneDrive Storage on Ubuntu with OneDrive-D
In June 2014, Microsoft increased the free storage allocation for OneDrive accounts to 15GB, a significant upgrade from the previous 7GB. With this expanded capacity, utilizing your online storage becomes even more advantageous. Perhaps you prefer the Ubuntu operating system over Windows? That presents no obstacle.
A solution exists in the form of a tool called “OneDrive-D.” This software is freely available, though it isn’t directly accessible through the Ubuntu Software Center. We will guide you through the installation process of OneDrive-D and demonstrate how to establish a connection to your OneDrive account for seamless content synchronization.
Important Note Regarding Text Input
Throughout this guide, when you encounter text enclosed in quotation marks, please refrain from typing the quotes themselves, unless explicitly instructed otherwise.
Installing OneDrive-D: A Step-by-Step Guide
The initial step involves downloading the program from GitHub. Open your Files Manager and navigate to the directory where the downloaded file resides. To unpack the contents of the .zip archive, right-click on the file and choose the “Extract Here” option.
Access the extracted folder, named “onedrive-d-master.”
Within the “onedrive-d-master” directory, you will find an installation script responsible for handling the program’s installation and any necessary dependencies. To execute this script, the Terminal will be utilized.
Press Ctrl + Alt + T to launch a Terminal window. At the command prompt, change your current directory to “onedrive-d-master.” If assistance with directory navigation is needed, refer to our article detailing the use of the Linux Terminal.
To initiate the installation of OneDrive-D, type the following command at the prompt and press “Enter.”
sudo ./inst install
You will be prompted for your password; enter it and press “Enter.”
The installation progress will be displayed, followed by a message indicating the anticipated disk space usage. When prompted to continue, type “Y” and press Enter.
Upon completion of the installation, the OneDrive-D “Settings” dialog box will appear. The first task is to connect to your OneDrive account. To do so, click “Connect to OneDrive.com”.
Important: Keep the Terminal window open, as it will be needed later in this process.
Connecting to Your OneDrive Account
In the “Connect to OneDrive.com” dialog box, enter your Microsoft account email address and password, then click “Sign in.”
A subsequent dialog box will request permission for OneDrive-D to access your OneDrive information. To proceed, click “Yes.”
A confirmation message will appear above the “Connect to OneDrive.com” button, indicating a successful connection to your OneDrive account.
Configuring Synchronization Settings
Next, you must designate a directory on your hard drive where the content from your OneDrive account will be synchronized. This can be accomplished either through the Terminal window (as detailed in our Linux Terminal guide) or directly within the Files Manager.
After creating a directory for your OneDrive content, click the “Location” drop-down list and select “Other...”.
In the “Choose your local OneDrive folder” dialog box, navigate to the newly created directory and click “Open.”
Note: If a new folder is required, utilize the “Create Folder” button.
By default, all file types are selected for exclusion from synchronization. To include specific file types, deselect the corresponding check boxes in the “Exclusions” section. Once your settings are finalized, click “OK.”
A message confirming the successful saving of your preferences will be displayed. Click “OK” to close the dialog box.
You will be returned to the “Settings” dialog box. Click “Close.”
Initiating Synchronization
To begin synchronizing your OneDrive content, return to the open Terminal window and type the following command, then press “Enter.”
onedrive-d
The synchronization process will commence, and its progress will be displayed in the Terminal window.
Notifications will also appear on the right side of your screen as files are synchronized.
Once synchronization is complete, OneDrive-D establishes “watches.” This enables real-time synchronization as you modify files within the synced directory or add/remove files from it.
To maintain the watch functionality, the Terminal window must remain open. Closing it will trigger a message; click “Cancel” to continue the watch or “Close Terminal” to terminate it.
Automatic Synchronization on Boot
If you frequently use OneDrive across multiple devices, you may wish to automatically synchronize your content upon booting your Ubuntu machine. To achieve this, add OneDrive-D to your startup applications.
You should find an item similar to “OneDrive Sync” in the startup applications list; ensure it is checked and click “Close.”
Alternatively, you can create a desktop shortcut for quick access to OneDrive-D, even if it isn’t added to startup.
Note: The desktop shortcut guide refers to older Ubuntu versions, but the process remains applicable to Ubuntu 14.04.
Double-clicking the shortcut will initiate synchronization, uploading any changes made to the synced folder and downloading any updates from OneDrive.
When running OneDrive-D, it operates in the background. If you wish to terminate the process, use the “ps” and “kill” commands in the Terminal, as described in our Linux Terminal process management guide.