Dropbox → Google Drive Migration via VPS

A step-by-step procedure for migrating large Dropbox accounts (500 GB – 2 TB) to Google Drive using rclone on a cheap cloud VPS, with a real-time monitoring dashboard. This avoids consuming local internet bandwidth — all data flows server-to-server.

Estimated cost: Free (within UpCloud's €250 trial) or under €0.50 if paying.

Estimated duration: 1–3 days depending on data volume (Google Drive allows 750 GB/day upload).

Prerequisites

• rclone installed on your local Windows PC (e.g. in C:\rclone)
• Dropbox and Google Drive accounts
• An SSH client (built into Windows PowerShell)

Step 1: Create the VPS

1. Sign up at https://upcloud.com — free trial gives €250 credit for 30 days

2. Go to Servers → Deploy server and configure:

   • Location: NL-AMS1 (Amsterdam) — or closest to your region
   • Plan: Developer, 1 core, 1 GB RAM, €3/mo — sufficient for rclone
   • OS: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (or 24.04 LTS)
   • Network: Public IPv4 enabled
   • Login method: SSH key (see Step 2 if you don't have one)

   • Initialization script: paste the following:

     #!/bin/bash
     apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -y -qq tmux curl unzip && curl -sSL https://rclone.org/install.sh | bash
     

   • Hostname: migration (or whatever you prefer)
3. Click Deploy — server is ready in ~45 seconds
4. Note the IP address from the server list

Alternative providers

Any Ubuntu VPS works. Hetzner CX22 (€3.79/mo) is another good option. See the comparison document for details.

Step 2: Generate SSH Key (if needed)

If the VPS provider requires SSH key authentication (e.g. Ubuntu 24.04 on UpCloud):

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "migration"

Press Enter for all defaults. Copy the public key:

Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ed25519.pub" | clip

Paste it in the VPS provider's SSH key field during deployment.

Step 3: SSH into the VPS

ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP

Accept the host fingerprint when prompted.

Step 4: Configure rclone Remotes

rclone was pre-installed by the initialization script. Now configure the cloud storage remotes.

Create the config file

mkdir -p /root/.config/rclone

Authorize Dropbox

On your local Windows PC (not the VPS), open a new PowerShell window:

C:\rclone\rclone authorize "dropbox"

A browser opens → log in to Dropbox → authorize → rclone prints a JSON token in the terminal. Copy the entire JSON (from { to }).

Authorize Google Drive

On your local Windows PC, in the same or another PowerShell window:

C:\rclone\rclone authorize "drive"

Browser opens → log in to Google → authorize → copy the JSON token.

Write the config file on the VPS

Back in the VPS SSH session, create the config with both tokens. Replace PASTE_DROPBOX_TOKEN_HERE and PASTE_GDRIVE_TOKEN_HERE with the actual JSON tokens:

cat > /root/.config/rclone/rclone.conf << 'CONF'
[dropbox]
type = dropbox
token = PASTE_DROPBOX_TOKEN_HERE

[gdrive]
type = drive
scope = drive
token = PASTE_GDRIVE_TOKEN_HERE
CONF

Verify both remotes

rclone lsd dropbox: --max-depth 0

Should list your Dropbox root folders. Ctrl+C if the list is long.

rclone lsd gdrive: --max-depth 0

Should list your Google Drive root folders. If both work, you're ready.

Step 5: Start the Migration

Choose a dashboard password (replace YOUR_PASSWORD below), then run:

LOGFILE="/root/migration_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).log"

tmux new-session -d -s migration "rclone move dropbox: gdrive: \
    --exclude '/GIT/**' \
    --update \
    --use-server-modtime \
    --transfers 16 \
    --checkers 32 \
    --buffer-size 64M \
    --drive-chunk-size 128M \
    --tpslimit 10 \
    --tpslimit-burst 20 \
    --retries 5 \
    --retries-sleep 10s \
    --low-level-retries 10 \
    --ignore-errors \
    --stats 1m \
    --stats-log-level NOTICE \
    --stats-one-line \
    --log-file $LOGFILE \
    --log-level INFO \
    --rc \
    --rc-addr 0.0.0.0:5572 \
    --rc-user admin \
    --rc-pass YOUR_PASSWORD \
    --rc-enable-metrics \
    --rc-allow-origin '*' \
    --progress"

Key flags explained

Modify the exclude pattern

Adjust --exclude '/GIT/**' to match your needs, or add multiple excludes:

--exclude '/GIT/**' \
--exclude '*.tmp' \
--exclude '/Old Backups/**' \

Step 6: Monitor via Dashboard

Open rclone-dashboard.html in your browser (the file provided alongside this procedure).

1. Select Remote VPS

2. Enter:

   • URL: http://YOUR_VPS_IP:5572
   • Username: admin
   • Password: the password you chose in Step 5
3. Click Connect

The dashboard shows:

• Overview tab: live progress bar, transfer speed, files transferred, data moved, elapsed time, errors, active transfers with per-file progress, and speed/files charts over time
• Transfers tab: recently completed files with status
• Hourly Log tab: automatic snapshots every hour

You can now close the SSH session — the migration continues in tmux on the VPS.

Step 7: Check Progress (optional)

Via the dashboard

Just open rclone-dashboard.html anytime from any device.

Via SSH

ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP

# Attach to migration terminal
tmux attach -t migration
# Detach without stopping: Ctrl+B then D

# Check if rclone is running
ps aux | grep rclone

# View recent log entries
tail -50 /root/migration_*.log

Step 8: Clean Up

Once the dashboard shows the migration is complete:

1. Verify by SSH-ing in and checking the log:

   tail -20 /root/migration_*.log
   

2. Delete the VPS from the UpCloud console: Servers → select server → Destroy

3. Optionally remove the SSH known host on your PC:

   ssh-keygen -R YOUR_VPS_IP
   

Troubleshooting

Google Drive 403 rate limit errors

Normal for large migrations. The --tpslimit 10 and --retries 5 flags handle this automatically. Google allows 750 GB/day upload, so a 1.5 TB migration takes ~2 days.

Dropbox token expired

Dropbox tokens expire after a few hours but rclone auto-refreshes using the refresh_token. If auth fails:

# Stop the migration
tmux kill-session -t migration

# Re-authorize on your local PC
C:\rclone\rclone authorize "dropbox"

# Edit the config on the VPS
nano /root/.config/rclone/rclone.conf
# Replace the dropbox token line with the new token

# Restart migration (it resumes where it left off)
bash /root/run-migration.sh

Dashboard shows "Disconnected"

• Check VPS is still running in UpCloud console
• Verify port 5572 is open: try curl http://YOUR_VPS_IP:5572/core/stats -u admin:YOUR_PASSWORD
• Check rclone is still running: ssh root@YOUR_VPS_IP "ps aux | grep rclone"

Migration was interrupted

rclone with --update is safe to re-run — it skips files already transferred. Just re-run the Step 5 command.

Out of memory on 1 GB VPS

Reduce concurrent operations:

--transfers 8 \
--checkers 16 \
--buffer-size 32M \

Files Included