v0.91

Swift

Swift refers to OpenStack Object Storage. Commercial implementations of that being:

Paths are specified as remote:container (or remote: for the lsd command.) You may put subdirectories in too, e.g. remote:container/path/to/dir.

Configuration

Here is an example of making a swift configuration. 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 / OpenStack Swift (Rackspace Cloud Files, Blomp Cloud Storage, Memset Memstore, OVH)
   \ "swift"
[snip]
Storage> swift
Get swift credentials from environment variables in standard OpenStack form.
Choose a number from below, or type in your own value
 1 / Enter swift credentials in the next step
   \ "false"
 2 / Get swift credentials from environment vars. Leave other fields blank if using this.
   \ "true"
env_auth> true
User name to log in (OS_USERNAME).
user> 
API key or password (OS_PASSWORD).
key> 
Authentication URL for server (OS_AUTH_URL).
Choose a number from below, or type in your own value
 1 / Rackspace US
   \ "https://auth.api.rackspacecloud.com/v1.0"
 2 / Rackspace UK
   \ "https://lon.auth.api.rackspacecloud.com/v1.0"
 3 / Rackspace v2
   \ "https://identity.api.rackspacecloud.com/v2.0"
 4 / Memset Memstore UK
   \ "https://auth.storage.memset.com/v1.0"
 5 / Memset Memstore UK v2
   \ "https://auth.storage.memset.com/v2.0"
 6 / OVH
   \ "https://auth.cloud.ovh.net/v3"
 7  / Blomp Cloud Storage
   \ "https://authenticate.ain.net"
auth> 
User ID to log in - optional - most swift systems use user and leave this blank (v3 auth) (OS_USER_ID).
user_id> 
User domain - optional (v3 auth) (OS_USER_DOMAIN_NAME)
domain> 
Tenant name - optional for v1 auth, this or tenant_id required otherwise (OS_TENANT_NAME or OS_PROJECT_NAME)
tenant> 
Tenant ID - optional for v1 auth, this or tenant required otherwise (OS_TENANT_ID)
tenant_id> 
Tenant domain - optional (v3 auth) (OS_PROJECT_DOMAIN_NAME)
tenant_domain> 
Region name - optional (OS_REGION_NAME)
region> 
Storage URL - optional (OS_STORAGE_URL)
storage_url> 
Auth Token from alternate authentication - optional (OS_AUTH_TOKEN)
auth_token> 
AuthVersion - optional - set to (1,2,3) if your auth URL has no version (ST_AUTH_VERSION)
auth_version> 
Endpoint type to choose from the service catalogue (OS_ENDPOINT_TYPE)
Choose a number from below, or type in your own value
 1 / Public (default, choose this if not sure)
   \ "public"
 2 / Internal (use internal service net)
   \ "internal"
 3 / Admin
   \ "admin"
endpoint_type> 
Remote config
--------------------
[test]
env_auth = true
user = 
key = 
auth = 
user_id = 
domain = 
tenant = 
tenant_id = 
tenant_domain = 
region = 
storage_url = 
auth_token = 
auth_version = 
endpoint_type = 
--------------------
y) Yes this is OK
e) Edit this remote
d) Delete this remote
y/e/d> y

This remote is called remote and can now be used like this

See all containers

rclone lsd remote:

Make a new container

rclone mkdir remote:container

List the contents of a container

rclone ls remote:container

Sync /home/local/directory to the remote container, deleting any excess files in the container.

rclone sync --interactive /home/local/directory remote:container

Configuration from an OpenStack credentials file

An OpenStack credentials file typically looks something something like this (without the comments)

export OS_AUTH_URL=https://a.provider.net/v2.0
export OS_TENANT_ID=ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
export OS_TENANT_NAME="1234567890123456"
export OS_USERNAME="123abc567xy"
echo "Please enter your OpenStack Password: "
read -sr OS_PASSWORD_INPUT
export OS_PASSWORD=$OS_PASSWORD_INPUT
export OS_REGION_NAME="SBG1"
if [ -z "$OS_REGION_NAME" ]; then unset OS_REGION_NAME; fi

The config file needs to look something like this where $OS_USERNAME represents the value of the OS_USERNAME variable - 123abc567xy in the example above.

[remote]
type = swift
user = $OS_USERNAME
key = $OS_PASSWORD
auth = $OS_AUTH_URL
tenant = $OS_TENANT_NAME

Note that you may (or may not) need to set region too - try without first.

Configuration from the environment

If you prefer you can configure rclone to use swift using a standard set of OpenStack environment variables.

When you run through the config, make sure you choose true for env_auth and leave everything else blank.

rclone will then set any empty config parameters from the environment using standard OpenStack environment variables. There is a list of the variables in the docs for the swift library.

Using an alternate authentication method

If your OpenStack installation uses a non-standard authentication method that might not be yet supported by rclone or the underlying swift library, you can authenticate externally (e.g. calling manually the openstack commands to get a token). Then, you just need to pass the two configuration variables auth_token and storage_url. If they are both provided, the other variables are ignored. rclone will not try to authenticate but instead assume it is already authenticated and use these two variables to access the OpenStack installation.

Using rclone without a config file

You can use rclone with swift without a config file, if desired, like this:

source openstack-credentials-file
export RCLONE_CONFIG_MYREMOTE_TYPE=swift
export RCLONE_CONFIG_MYREMOTE_ENV_AUTH=true
rclone lsd myremote:

--fast-list

This remote supports --fast-list which allows you to use fewer transactions in exchange for more memory. See the rclone docs for more details.

--update and --use-server-modtime

As noted below, the modified time is stored on metadata on the object. It is used by default for all operations that require checking the time a file was last updated. It allows rclone to treat the remote more like a true filesystem, but it is inefficient because it requires an extra API call to retrieve the metadata.

For many operations, the time the object was last uploaded to the remote is sufficient to determine if it is "dirty". By using --update along with --use-server-modtime, you can avoid the extra API call and simply upload files whose local modtime is newer than the time it was last uploaded.

Modification times and hashes

The modified time is stored as metadata on the object as X-Object-Meta-Mtime as floating point since the epoch accurate to 1 ns.

This is a de facto standard (used in the official python-swiftclient amongst others) for storing the modification time for an object.

The MD5 hash algorithm is supported.

Restricted filename characters

Character Value Replacement
NUL 0x00 ␀
/ 0x2F ／

Invalid UTF-8 bytes will also be replaced, as they can't be used in JSON strings.

Standard options

Here are the Standard options specific to swift (OpenStack Swift (Rackspace Cloud Files, Blomp Cloud Storage, Memset Memstore, OVH)).

--swift-env-auth

Get swift credentials from environment variables in standard OpenStack form.

Properties:

  • Config: env_auth
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_ENV_AUTH
  • Type: bool
  • Default: false
  • Examples:
    • "false"
      • Enter swift credentials in the next step.
    • "true"
      • Get swift credentials from environment vars.
      • Leave other fields blank if using this.

--swift-user

User name to log in (OS_USERNAME).

Properties:

  • Config: user
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_USER
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-key

API key or password (OS_PASSWORD).

Properties:

  • Config: key
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_KEY
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-auth

Authentication URL for server (OS_AUTH_URL).

Properties:

  • Config: auth
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_AUTH
  • Type: string
  • Required: false
  • Examples:
    • "https://auth.api.rackspacecloud.com/v1.0"
      • Rackspace US
    • "https://lon.auth.api.rackspacecloud.com/v1.0"
      • Rackspace UK
    • "https://identity.api.rackspacecloud.com/v2.0"
      • Rackspace v2
    • "https://auth.storage.memset.com/v1.0"
      • Memset Memstore UK
    • "https://auth.storage.memset.com/v2.0"
      • Memset Memstore UK v2
    • "https://auth.cloud.ovh.net/v3"
      • OVH
    • "https://authenticate.ain.net"
      • Blomp Cloud Storage

--swift-user-id

User ID to log in - optional - most swift systems use user and leave this blank (v3 auth) (OS_USER_ID).

Properties:

  • Config: user_id
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_USER_ID
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-domain

User domain - optional (v3 auth) (OS_USER_DOMAIN_NAME)

Properties:

  • Config: domain
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_DOMAIN
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-tenant

Tenant name - optional for v1 auth, this or tenant_id required otherwise (OS_TENANT_NAME or OS_PROJECT_NAME).

Properties:

  • Config: tenant
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_TENANT
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-tenant-id

Tenant ID - optional for v1 auth, this or tenant required otherwise (OS_TENANT_ID).

Properties:

  • Config: tenant_id
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_TENANT_ID
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-tenant-domain

Tenant domain - optional (v3 auth) (OS_PROJECT_DOMAIN_NAME).

Properties:

  • Config: tenant_domain
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_TENANT_DOMAIN
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-region

Region name - optional (OS_REGION_NAME).

Properties:

  • Config: region
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_REGION
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-storage-url

Storage URL - optional (OS_STORAGE_URL).

Properties:

  • Config: storage_url
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_STORAGE_URL
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-auth-token

Auth Token from alternate authentication - optional (OS_AUTH_TOKEN).

Properties:

  • Config: auth_token
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_AUTH_TOKEN
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-application-credential-id

Application Credential ID (OS_APPLICATION_CREDENTIAL_ID).

Properties:

  • Config: application_credential_id
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_APPLICATION_CREDENTIAL_ID
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-application-credential-name

Application Credential Name (OS_APPLICATION_CREDENTIAL_NAME).

Properties:

  • Config: application_credential_name
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_APPLICATION_CREDENTIAL_NAME
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-application-credential-secret

Application Credential Secret (OS_APPLICATION_CREDENTIAL_SECRET).

Properties:

  • Config: application_credential_secret
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_APPLICATION_CREDENTIAL_SECRET
  • Type: string
  • Required: false

--swift-auth-version

AuthVersion - optional - set to (1,2,3) if your auth URL has no version (ST_AUTH_VERSION).

Properties:

  • Config: auth_version
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_AUTH_VERSION
  • Type: int
  • Default: 0

--swift-endpoint-type

Endpoint type to choose from the service catalogue (OS_ENDPOINT_TYPE).

Properties:

  • Config: endpoint_type
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_ENDPOINT_TYPE
  • Type: string
  • Default: "public"
  • Examples:
    • "public"
      • Public (default, choose this if not sure)
    • "internal"
      • Internal (use internal service net)
    • "admin"
      • Admin

--swift-storage-policy

The storage policy to use when creating a new container.

This applies the specified storage policy when creating a new container. The policy cannot be changed afterwards. The allowed configuration values and their meaning depend on your Swift storage provider.

Properties:

  • Config: storage_policy
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_STORAGE_POLICY
  • Type: string
  • Required: false
  • Examples:
    • ""
      • Default
    • "pcs"
      • OVH Public Cloud Storage
    • "pca"
      • OVH Public Cloud Archive

Advanced options

Here are the Advanced options specific to swift (OpenStack Swift (Rackspace Cloud Files, Blomp Cloud Storage, Memset Memstore, OVH)).

--swift-leave-parts-on-error

If true avoid calling abort upload on a failure.

It should be set to true for resuming uploads across different sessions.

Properties:

  • Config: leave_parts_on_error
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_LEAVE_PARTS_ON_ERROR
  • Type: bool
  • Default: false

--swift-fetch-until-empty-page

When paginating, always fetch unless we received an empty page.

Consider using this option if rclone listings show fewer objects than expected, or if repeated syncs copy unchanged objects.

It is safe to enable this, but rclone may make more API calls than necessary.

This is one of a pair of workarounds to handle implementations of the Swift API that do not implement pagination as expected. See also "partial_page_fetch_threshold".

Properties:

  • Config: fetch_until_empty_page
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_FETCH_UNTIL_EMPTY_PAGE
  • Type: bool
  • Default: false

--swift-partial-page-fetch-threshold

When paginating, fetch if the current page is within this percentage of the limit.

Consider using this option if rclone listings show fewer objects than expected, or if repeated syncs copy unchanged objects.

It is safe to enable this, but rclone may make more API calls than necessary.

This is one of a pair of workarounds to handle implementations of the Swift API that do not implement pagination as expected. See also "fetch_until_empty_page".

Properties:

  • Config: partial_page_fetch_threshold
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_PARTIAL_PAGE_FETCH_THRESHOLD
  • Type: int
  • Default: 0

--swift-chunk-size

Above this size files will be chunked.

Above this size files will be chunked into a a _segments container or a .file-segments directory. (See the use_segments_container option for more info). Default for this is 5 GiB which is its maximum value, which means only files above this size will be chunked.

Rclone uploads chunked files as dynamic large objects (DLO).

Properties:

  • Config: chunk_size
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_CHUNK_SIZE
  • Type: SizeSuffix
  • Default: 5Gi

--swift-no-chunk

Don't chunk files during streaming upload.

When doing streaming uploads (e.g. using rcat or mount with --vfs-cache-mode off) setting this flag will cause the swift backend to not upload chunked files.

This will limit the maximum streamed upload size to 5 GiB. This is useful because non chunked files are easier to deal with and have an MD5SUM.

Rclone will still chunk files bigger than chunk_size when doing normal copy operations.

Properties:

  • Config: no_chunk
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_NO_CHUNK
  • Type: bool
  • Default: false

--swift-no-large-objects

Disable support for static and dynamic large objects

Swift cannot transparently store files bigger than 5 GiB. There are two schemes for chunking large files, static large objects (SLO) or dynamic large objects (DLO), and the API does not allow rclone to determine whether a file is a static or dynamic large object without doing a HEAD on the object. Since these need to be treated differently, this means rclone has to issue HEAD requests for objects for example when reading checksums.

When no_large_objects is set, rclone will assume that there are no static or dynamic large objects stored. This means it can stop doing the extra HEAD calls which in turn increases performance greatly especially when doing a swift to swift transfer with --checksum set.

Setting this option implies no_chunk and also that no files will be uploaded in chunks, so files bigger than 5 GiB will just fail on upload.

If you set this option and there are static or dynamic large objects, then this will give incorrect hashes for them. Downloads will succeed, but other operations such as Remove and Copy will fail.

Properties:

  • Config: no_large_objects
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_NO_LARGE_OBJECTS
  • Type: bool
  • Default: false

--swift-use-segments-container

Choose destination for large object segments

Swift cannot transparently store files bigger than 5 GiB and rclone will chunk files larger than chunk_size (default 5 GiB) in order to upload them.

If this value is true the chunks will be stored in an additional container named the same as the destination container but with _segments appended. This means that there won't be any duplicated data in the original container but having another container may not be acceptable.

If this value is false the chunks will be stored in a .file-segments directory in the root of the container. This directory will be omitted when listing the container. Some providers (eg Blomp) require this mode as creating additional containers isn't allowed. If it is desired to see the .file-segments directory in the root then this flag must be set to true.

If this value is unset (the default), then rclone will choose the value to use. It will be false unless rclone detects any auth_urls that it knows need it to be true. In this case you'll see a message in the DEBUG log.

Properties:

  • Config: use_segments_container
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_USE_SEGMENTS_CONTAINER
  • Type: Tristate
  • Default: unset

--swift-encoding

The encoding for the backend.

See the encoding section in the overview for more info.

Properties:

  • Config: encoding
  • Env Var: RCLONE_SWIFT_ENCODING
  • Type: Encoding
  • Default: Slash,InvalidUtf8

--swift-description

Description of the remote.

Properties:

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

Limitations

The Swift API doesn't return a correct MD5SUM for segmented files (Dynamic or Static Large Objects) so rclone won't check or use the MD5SUM for these.

Troubleshooting

Rclone gives Failed to create file system for "remote:": Bad Request

Due to an oddity of the underlying swift library, it gives a "Bad Request" error rather than a more sensible error when the authentication fails for Swift.

So this most likely means your username / password is wrong. You can investigate further with the --dump-bodies flag.

This may also be caused by specifying the region when you shouldn't have (e.g. OVH).

Rclone gives Failed to create file system: Response didn't have storage url and auth token

This is most likely caused by forgetting to specify your tenant when setting up a swift remote.

OVH Cloud Archive

To use rclone with OVH cloud archive, first use rclone config to set up a swift backend with OVH, choosing pca as the storage_policy.

Uploading Objects

Uploading objects to OVH cloud archive is no different to object storage, you just simply run the command you like (move, copy or sync) to upload the objects. Once uploaded the objects will show in a "Frozen" state within the OVH control panel.

Retrieving Objects

To retrieve objects use rclone copy as normal. If the objects are in a frozen state then rclone will ask for them all to be unfrozen and it will wait at the end of the output with a message like the following:

2019/03/23 13:06:33 NOTICE: Received retry after error - sleeping until 2019-03-23T13:16:33.481657164+01:00 (9m59.99985121s)

Rclone will wait for the time specified then retry the copy.

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