--- title: "Box" description: "Rclone docs for Box" versionIntroduced: "v1.38" --- # {{< icon "fa fa-archive" >}} Box Paths are specified as `remote:path` Paths may be as deep as required, e.g. `remote:directory/subdirectory`. The initial setup for Box involves getting a token from Box which you can do either in your browser, or with a config.json downloaded from Box to use JWT authentication. `rclone config` walks you through it. ## Configuration Here is an example of how to make a remote called `remote`. 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 / Box \ "box" [snip] Storage> box Box App Client Id - leave blank normally. client_id> Box App Client Secret - leave blank normally. client_secret> Box App config.json location Leave blank normally. Enter a string value. Press Enter for the default (""). box_config_file> Box App Primary Access Token Leave blank normally. Enter a string value. Press Enter for the default (""). access_token> Enter a string value. Press Enter for the default ("user"). Choose a number from below, or type in your own value 1 / Rclone should act on behalf of a user \ "user" 2 / Rclone should act on behalf of a service account \ "enterprise" box_sub_type> Remote config Use web browser to automatically authenticate rclone with remote? * Say Y if the machine running rclone has a web browser you can use * Say N if running rclone on a (remote) machine without web browser access If not sure try Y. If Y failed, try N. y) Yes n) No y/n> y If your browser doesn't open automatically go to the following link: http://127.0.0.1:53682/auth Log in and authorize rclone for access Waiting for code... Got code -------------------- [remote] client_id = client_secret = token = {"access_token":"XXX","token_type":"bearer","refresh_token":"XXX","expiry":"XXX"} -------------------- y) Yes this is OK e) Edit this remote d) Delete this remote y/e/d> y ``` See the [remote setup docs](/remote_setup/) for how to set it up on a machine with no Internet browser available. Note that rclone runs a webserver on your local machine to collect the token as returned from Box. This only runs from the moment it opens your browser to the moment you get back the verification code. This is on `http://127.0.0.1:53682/` and this it may require you to unblock it temporarily if you are running a host firewall. Once configured you can then use `rclone` like this, List directories in top level of your Box rclone lsd remote: List all the files in your Box rclone ls remote: To copy a local directory to an Box directory called backup rclone copy /home/source remote:backup ### Using rclone with an Enterprise account with SSO If you have an "Enterprise" account type with Box with single sign on (SSO), you need to create a password to use Box with rclone. This can be done at your Enterprise Box account by going to Settings, "Account" Tab, and then set the password in the "Authentication" field. Once you have done this, you can setup your Enterprise Box account using the same procedure detailed above in the, using the password you have just set. ### Invalid refresh token According to the [box docs](https://developer.box.com/v2.0/docs/oauth-20#section-6-using-the-access-and-refresh-tokens): > Each refresh_token is valid for one use in 60 days. This means that if you * Don't use the box remote for 60 days * Copy the config file with a box refresh token in and use it in two places * Get an error on a token refresh then rclone will return an error which includes the text `Invalid refresh token`. To fix this you will need to use oauth2 again to update the refresh token. You can use the methods in [the remote setup docs](/remote_setup/), bearing in mind that if you use the copy the config file method, you should not use that remote on the computer you did the authentication on. Here is how to do it. ``` $ rclone config Current remotes: Name Type ==== ==== remote box 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> e Choose a number from below, or type in an existing value 1 > remote remote> remote -------------------- [remote] type = box token = {"access_token":"XXX","token_type":"bearer","refresh_token":"XXX","expiry":"2017-07-08T23:40:08.059167677+01:00"} -------------------- Edit remote Value "client_id" = "" Edit? (y/n)> y) Yes n) No y/n> n Value "client_secret" = "" Edit? (y/n)> y) Yes n) No y/n> n Remote config Already have a token - refresh? y) Yes n) No y/n> y Use web browser to automatically authenticate rclone with remote? * Say Y if the machine running rclone has a web browser you can use * Say N if running rclone on a (remote) machine without web browser access If not sure try Y. If Y failed, try N. y) Yes n) No y/n> y If your browser doesn't open automatically go to the following link: http://127.0.0.1:53682/auth Log in and authorize rclone for access Waiting for code... Got code -------------------- [remote] type = box token = {"access_token":"YYY","token_type":"bearer","refresh_token":"YYY","expiry":"2017-07-23T12:22:29.259137901+01:00"} -------------------- y) Yes this is OK e) Edit this remote d) Delete this remote y/e/d> y ``` ### Modification times and hashes Box allows modification times to be set on objects accurate to 1 second. These will be used to detect whether objects need syncing or not. Box supports SHA1 type hashes, so you can use the `--checksum` flag. ### Restricted filename characters In addition to the [default restricted characters set](/overview/#restricted-characters) the following characters are also replaced: | Character | Value | Replacement | | --------- |:-----:|:-----------:| | \ | 0x5C | ＼ | File names can also not end with the following characters. These only get replaced if they are the last character in the name: | Character | Value | Replacement | | --------- |:-----:|:-----------:| | SP | 0x20 | ␠ | Invalid UTF-8 bytes will also be [replaced](/overview/#invalid-utf8), as they can't be used in JSON strings. ### Transfers For files above 50 MiB rclone will use a chunked transfer. Rclone will upload up to `--transfers` chunks at the same time (shared among all the multipart uploads). Chunks are buffered in memory and are normally 8 MiB so increasing `--transfers` will increase memory use. ### Deleting files Depending on the enterprise settings for your user, the item will either be actually deleted from Box or moved to the trash. Emptying the trash is supported via the rclone however cleanup command however this deletes every trashed file and folder individually so it may take a very long time. Emptying the trash via the WebUI does not have this limitation so it is advised to empty the trash via the WebUI. ### Root folder ID You can set the `root_folder_id` for rclone. This is the directory (identified by its `Folder ID`) that rclone considers to be the root of your Box drive. Normally you will leave this blank and rclone will determine the correct root to use itself. However you can set this to restrict rclone to a specific folder hierarchy. In order to do this you will have to find the `Folder ID` of the directory you wish rclone to display. This will be the last segment of the URL when you open the relevant folder in the Box web interface. So if the folder you want rclone to use has a URL which looks like `https://app.box.com/folder/11xxxxxxxxx8` in the browser, then you use `11xxxxxxxxx8` as the `root_folder_id` in the config. {{< rem autogenerated options start" - DO NOT EDIT - instead edit fs.RegInfo in backend/box/box.go then run make backenddocs" >}} ### Standard options Here are the Standard options specific to box (Box). #### --box-client-id OAuth Client Id. Leave blank normally. Properties: - Config: client_id - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_CLIENT_ID - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-client-secret OAuth Client Secret. Leave blank normally. Properties: - Config: client_secret - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_CLIENT_SECRET - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-box-config-file Box App config.json location Leave blank normally. Leading `~` will be expanded in the file name as will environment variables such as `${RCLONE_CONFIG_DIR}`. Properties: - Config: box_config_file - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_BOX_CONFIG_FILE - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-access-token Box App Primary Access Token Leave blank normally. Properties: - Config: access_token - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_ACCESS_TOKEN - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-box-sub-type Properties: - Config: box_sub_type - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_BOX_SUB_TYPE - Type: string - Default: "user" - Examples: - "user" - Rclone should act on behalf of a user. - "enterprise" - Rclone should act on behalf of a service account. ### Advanced options Here are the Advanced options specific to box (Box). #### --box-token OAuth Access Token as a JSON blob. Properties: - Config: token - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_TOKEN - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-auth-url Auth server URL. Leave blank to use the provider defaults. Properties: - Config: auth_url - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_AUTH_URL - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-token-url Token server url. Leave blank to use the provider defaults. Properties: - Config: token_url - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_TOKEN_URL - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-root-folder-id Fill in for rclone to use a non root folder as its starting point. Properties: - Config: root_folder_id - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_ROOT_FOLDER_ID - Type: string - Default: "0" #### --box-upload-cutoff Cutoff for switching to multipart upload (>= 50 MiB). Properties: - Config: upload_cutoff - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_UPLOAD_CUTOFF - Type: SizeSuffix - Default: 50Mi #### --box-commit-retries Max number of times to try committing a multipart file. Properties: - Config: commit_retries - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_COMMIT_RETRIES - Type: int - Default: 100 #### --box-list-chunk Size of listing chunk 1-1000. Properties: - Config: list_chunk - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_LIST_CHUNK - Type: int - Default: 1000 #### --box-owned-by Only show items owned by the login (email address) passed in. Properties: - Config: owned_by - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_OWNED_BY - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-impersonate Impersonate this user ID when using a service account. Setting this flag allows rclone, when using a JWT service account, to act on behalf of another user by setting the as-user header. The user ID is the Box identifier for a user. User IDs can found for any user via the GET /users endpoint, which is only available to admins, or by calling the GET /users/me endpoint with an authenticated user session. See: https://developer.box.com/guides/authentication/jwt/as-user/ Properties: - Config: impersonate - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_IMPERSONATE - Type: string - Required: false #### --box-encoding The encoding for the backend. See the [encoding section in the overview](/overview/#encoding) for more info. Properties: - Config: encoding - Env Var: RCLONE_BOX_ENCODING - Type: MultiEncoder - Default: Slash,BackSlash,Del,Ctl,RightSpace,InvalidUtf8,Dot {{< rem autogenerated options stop >}} ## Limitations Note that Box is case insensitive so you can't have a file called "Hello.doc" and one called "hello.doc". Box file names can't have the `\` character in. rclone maps this to and from an identical looking unicode equivalent `＼` (U+FF3C Fullwidth Reverse Solidus). Box only supports filenames up to 255 characters in length. Box has [API rate limits](https://developer.box.com/guides/api-calls/permissions-and-errors/rate-limits/) that sometimes reduce the speed of rclone. `rclone about` is not supported by the Box backend. Backends without this capability cannot determine free space for an rclone mount or use policy `mfs` (most free space) as a member of an rclone union remote. See [List of backends that do not support rclone about](https://rclone.org/overview/#optional-features) and [rclone about](https://rclone.org/commands/rclone_about/) ## Get your own Box App ID Here is how to create your own Box App ID for rclone: 1. Go to the [Box Developer Console](https://app.box.com/developers/console) and login, then click `My Apps` on the sidebar. Click `Create New App` and select `Custom App`. 2. In the first screen on the box that pops up, you can pretty much enter whatever you want. The `App Name` can be whatever. For `Purpose` choose automation to avoid having to fill out anything else. Click `Next`. 3. In the second screen of the creation screen, select `User Authentication (OAuth 2.0)`. Then click `Create App`. 4. You should now be on the `Configuration` tab of your new app. If not, click on it at the top of the webpage. Copy down `Client ID` and `Client Secret`, you'll need those for rclone. 5. Under "OAuth 2.0 Redirect URI", add `http://127.0.0.1:53682/` 6. For `Application Scopes`, select `Read all files and folders stored in Box` and `Write all files and folders stored in box` (assuming you want to do both). Leave others unchecked. Click `Save Changes` at the top right.