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Rclone Backup to Google Drive - Encrypted, Unencrypted, Cron, and Security Best Practices

This guide explains how to correctly back up your server using rclone, including encrypted and unencrypted methods, cron automation, scripts, and security precautions.

Important: root_folder_id Behavior

If your rclone remote is configured like:

remote: gdrive
root_folder_id: 1AbCdEfGh...

Then this:

rclone copy /backup gdrive

Adding it again creates:

mail-backups/mail-backups/

or causes errors.

1: Unencrypted Backup

rclone copy /backup gdrive -P

Pros:

Cons:

Create crypt remote:

rclone config

New remote:

name: gdrive-crypt
type: crypt
remote: gdrive:
filename encryption: standard
password: choose strong password

Backup:

rclone copy /backup gdrive-crypt -P

Now files are unreadable in Drive.

3: Scripted Backup

nano /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

Script;

#!/bin/bash

DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S)

DEST=/backup/mailbackup/mail-$DATE

mkdir -p $DEST

echo "Backing up mail data..."

cp -a /home/vmail $DEST/

echo "Backing up postfix..."

cp -a /etc/postfix $DEST/

echo "Backing up dovecot..."

cp -a /etc/dovecot $DEST/

echo "Backing up spamassassin..."

cp -a /etc/spamassassin $DEST/ 2>/dev/null
cp -a /etc/mail/spamassassin $DEST/ 2>/dev/null

echo "Backing up opendkim..."

cp -a /etc/opendkim $DEST/ 2>/dev/null
cp -a /etc/opendkim.conf $DEST/ 2>/dev/null

echo "Backing up cyberpanel..."

cp -a /etc/cyberpanel $DEST/ 2>/dev/null
cp -a /usr/local/CyberCP $DEST/ 2>/dev/null

echo "Dumping MySQL..."

mysqldump --all-databases > $DEST/mysql-all.sql

echo "Saving installed packages..."

dpkg --get-selections > $DEST/packages.txt

echo "Compressing..."

tar -czf $DEST.tar.gz $DEST

echo "Backup complete: $DEST.tar.gz"

Make executable:

chmod +x /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

Run:

./backup.sh

4: Cron Automation

Edit cron:

crontab -e

Example: Daily backup at 03:00:

0 3 * * * /usr/local/bin/backup.sh

5: Versioned Backup

Safer approach.

Script example:

#!/bin/bash

DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)

rclone copy /backup gdrive-crypt:$DATE -P

This creates:

Drive

2026-02-19
2026-02-20

Security Best Practices

Always use:

Encrypted remote

Never store backup unencrypted in cloud.

Use strong password.

Example:

16+ characters

Store password securely.

Restrict remote using root_folder_id

Limits access scope.

Protect config file

Location:

/root/.config/rclone/rclone.conf

Permissions:

chmod 600

Use separate Google account for backup

Never use personal Drive.

Monitor logs

Example:

tail -f /var/log/rclone-backup.log

Use:

Encrypted remote

Script

Cron

Versioned backups

Restricted root_folder_id

Final Command

rclone sync /backup gdrive-crypt
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