Best cloud storage services with CLI for Emmabuntüs: (Comparison)

Introduction

Emmabuntüs is a lightweight Debian-based distribution designed for retrofitting older computers. When you need reliable, encrypted cloud storage with a command-line interface (CLI) on such systems, it’s essential to choose a solution that is both resource-efficient and well-supported on Linux. This article presents the top cloud storage providers offering native or easily integrable CLI tools, compares their features, and explains how to install, configure and troubleshoot each under Emmabuntüs.

Top Recommendations for Emmabuntüs

• pCloud – native Linux CLI daemon, on-disk encryption, unlimited remote download.
• MEGA – generous free storage, end-to-end encryption, official MegaCMD.
• Proton Drive – privacy-focused, Swiss-based, growing CLI support.
• Filen – end-to-end encryption via WebDAV, mountable with davfs2.
• Tresorit – enterprise-grade security, WebDAV-compatible for CLI tools.
• Icedrive – zero-knowledge encryption, native icedrive-cli.
• Dropbox – popular, widely supported via third-party CLI or rclone.
• rclone – universal CLI to access all of the above (and many more) through a single tool.

Comparison Table

How to Install and Use Each CLI

1. pCloud (pcloudcc)

pCloud offers an official CLI daemon called pcloudcc. You can install it via the .deb package:

wget https://downloads.pcloud.com/linux/pcloudcc_2.0.0-1_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i pcloudcc_2.0.0-1_amd64.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Login and mount:

pcloudcc -u you@example.com -p YourPassword
pcloudcc -m /home/user/pcloud

Typical problems: If the daemon fails to start, check systemctl status pcloudcc.service. Ensure FUSE is loaded (sudo modprobe fuse).

2. MEGA (MegaCMD)

MEGA’s official CLI is megacmd and is available in .deb form:

wget https://mega.nz/linux/MEGAsync/xUbuntu_20.04/amd64/megacmd_1.5.3-1.0.1_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i megacmd_.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Basic commands:

mega-login you@example.com YourPassword
mega-Mount /home/user/mega
mega-put localfile.txt /Root
mega-get /Root/remotefile.txt .
mega-sync /home/user/local /Root/backup

Typical problems: 2FA users must create an app-specific password. Unmount with fusermount -u /home/user/mega.

3. Proton Drive (proton-drive-cli rclone)

Proton Drive’s official (alpha) CLI can be installed via pip or built from source. Alternatively, use rclone’s Proton Drive backend.

Install via pip:

sudo apt-get install python3-pip
pip3 install proton-drive-cli

pd login
pd list
pd download  .
pd upload myfile.txt

Using rclone:

rclone config          # create “protondrive” remote with Proton Drive
rclone ls protondrive:
rclone copy ~/Docs protondrive:Backups

Typical problems: Token expiration—re-run pd login or rclone config reconnect. 2FA may require app-specific tokens.

4. Filen (WebDAV via davfs2)

Filen exposes WebDAV at https://dav.filen.io. Mount with davfs2:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install davfs2
sudo mkdir /mnt/filen
sudo bash -c echo https://dav.filen.io /mnt/filen davfs _netdev,auto,user 0 0 >> /etc/fstab
mount /mnt/filen

Then copy files as usual to /mnt/filen.

Typical problems: Certificate issues—add trust-server-cert in /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf. Ensure your user is in davfs2 group.

5. Tresorit (WebDAV or rclone)

Tresorit does not provide a native Linux CLI, but its WebDAV gateway (https://webdav.tresorit.com) works with davfs2 or rclone:

# Using davfs2
sudo mkdir /mnt/tresorit
sudo bash -c echo https://webdav.tresorit.com /mnt/tresorit davfs _netdev,auto,user 0 0 >> /etc/fstab
mount /mnt/tresorit

# Or using rclone
rclone config       # choose WebDAV, endpoint webdav.tresorit.com
rclone copy ~/file tresorit-remote:Folder

Typical problems: Slow performance—use rclone with parallel transfers. Check your Tresorit plan for WebDAV limits.

6. Icedrive (icedrive-cli)

Icedrive offers a native icedrive-cli .deb:

wget https://icedrive.net/download/linux/icedrive-cli_1.2.0_amd64.deb
sudo dpkg -i icedrive-cli_.deb
sudo apt-get install -f

Usage:

icedrive login
icedrive mount /home/user/icedrive
icedrive upload file.txt /drive/MyFiles
icedrive download /drive/MyFiles/file.txt .

Typical problems: FUSE errors—ensure /dev/fuse exists and your user is in fuse group. Check version compatibility.

7. Dropbox (dropbox.py or rclone)

Dropbox provides a headless Python script (dropbox.py) and is also supported by rclone.

# Install dropbox.py
sudo apt-get install python3-gpg
wget -O dropbox.py https://www.dropbox.com/download?dl=packages/dropbox.py
chmod  x dropbox.py
./dropbox.py start -i
./dropbox.py status

Or use rclone:

rclone config      # choose Dropbox
rclone ls dropbox:
rclone sync ~/Local dropbox:Backup

Typical problems: Scripts may break after API changes. Prefer rclone for stability.

8. rclone (Universal CLI)

rclone unifies all cloud storage services under one binary. Install from the official repo:

curl https://rclone.org/install.sh  sudo bash
rclone config

Examples:

rclone listremotes
rclone copy ~/Documents pcloud:Backups
rclone sync ~/Videos mega:VideosBackup --transfers 8 --checkers 16
rclone mount protondrive: /mnt/protondrive --daemon

Typical problems: Mounts require FUSE. Check rclone docs for service-specific flags.

Which One to Choose?

• If you need a native, full-featured Linux daemon with optional client-side encryption, choose pCloud.
• For maximum free storage and end-to-end encryption, MEGA with MegaCMD is excellent.
• Proton Drive is ideal for privacy purists, though CLI tools are less mature—use rclone for stability.
• If you prefer WebDAV, Filen and Tresorit integrate easily via davfs2 or rclone.
• For zero-knowledge and an official CLI, Icedrive is an emerging candidate.
• Long-term, rclone offers the greatest flexibility, letting you mix and match services under one interface.

Conclusion

Emmabuntüs users benefit from lightweight, stable CLI tools. Your choice depends on storage needs, privacy requirements and preferred workflow:

• Try pCloud or MegaCMD for native CLIs.
• Leverage rclone for multi-cloud management and advanced scripting.
• Use WebDAV-compatible services like Filen or Tresorit when you want simple mounts via davfs2.

Whichever service you pick, following the steps above will have you syncing, backing up and mounting cloud storage in no time—right from the terminal on your Emmabuntüs setup.