How can I control Dropbox sync programmatically?

Solution 1:

You can control the Dropbox daemon by using dropbox with the start and stop command. Type dropbox help to view the full list of available commands.

Solution 2:

Install dropbox using the download from dropbox.com.

Install Dropbox via command line The Dropbox daemon works fine on all 32-bit and 64-bit Linux servers. To install, run the following command in your Linux terminal.

32-bit:

cd ~ && wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86" | tar xzf -

64-bit:

cd ~ && wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86_64" | tar xzf -

Next, run the Dropbox daemon from the newly created .dropbox-dist folder.

~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

If you're running Dropbox on your server for the first time, you'll be asked to copy and paste a link in a working browser to create a new account or add your server to an existing account. Once you do, your Dropbox folder will be created in your home directory. Download this CLI script to control Dropbox from the command line. For easy access, put a symlink to the script anywhere in your PATH.

Now run the dropbox daemon only when you want your folders to sync.