Rclone Cron Docker Image

This Docker image runs a scheduled cron job using rclone to sync files from a local folder to an S3 bucket.

Features

• Syncs files from a specified local folder (/backups) to an S3 bucket.
• Fully configurable via environment variables.
• AWS authentication without requiring an rclone.conf file.
• Lightweight and simple to use.

How it works

The container runs a cron job that executes an rclone sync based on the schedule defined in the CRON_SCHEDULE environment variable.

Cron Job

The cron job runs the following command:

rclone sync "$BACKUP_DIR" "$DESTINATION_DIR" \
  --s3-provider AWS \
  --s3-env-auth \
  --s3-region "$AWS_REGION" \
  --s3-no-check-bucket \
  --s3-force-path-style \
  --s3-bucket-acl private \
  --verbose >> "$LOG_FILE" 2>&1

✅ Note: Authentication is handled automatically through environment variables (--s3-env-auth).

Requirements

You must set the following environment variables:

• CRON_SCHEDULE: Cron expression defining the schedule for the sync job (e.g., 0 * * * * for every hour).
• AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: Your AWS access key for authentication.
• AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: Your AWS secret key for authentication.
• AWS_REGION: The AWS region where your S3 bucket is located.
• AWS_S3_BUCKET: The name of the S3 bucket.
• AWS_S3_BUCKET_PATH: The path inside the S3 bucket where files should be copied.

Example Usage

To run the container and sync files from a local directory to an S3 bucket, use the following docker run command:

docker run -d \
  --name rclone-cron \
  -v /local/path/to/backup:/backups:ro \
  -e CRON_SCHEDULE="*/30 * * * *" \
  -e AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=your_key \
  -e AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_secret \
  -e AWS_REGION=sa-east-1 \
  -e AWS_BUCKET=my-bucket-name \
  -e AWS_BUCKET_PATH=backups/my-folder \
  dannilosn/rclone-cron

This command will

• Run the container in detached mode (-d).
• Mount the local backup folder as /backups (read-only).
• Use AWS credentials and configuration from environment variables.
• Run the sync job every 30 minutes.

Customizing the Cron Schedule

Change the CRON_SCHEDULE variable as needed:

• */5 * * * * → Every 5 minutes
• 0 0 * * * → Every day at midnight
• 0 * * * * → Every hour

License

Include the license if applicable (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, etc.).