Fedora, Box.com and rclone Banner

Overview

I need to rely on Box.com for daily work, but there is still no official desktop client for Linux, so I decided to try the much-praised rclone today.

This page documents a complete, reproducible workflow to:

  • Connect Linux to Box.com using rclone
  • Mount Box as a local directory
  • Automatically mount it at boot using systemd user services

The reference system is Fedora 43.
Notes are included where other Linux distributions may differ.

Environment

  • OS: Fedora 43
  • Init system: systemd
  • Mount method: rclone mount (FUSE)
  • Scope: user-level service
  • Box remote name (variable): mybox
  • Local mount point: ~/mybox

All commands below consistently use the variable name mybox.

1. Install rclone

Fedora

sudo dnf install -y rclone

Verify installation:

rclone version

2. Configure Box Remote

Start the rclone configuration wizard:

rclone config

Configuration summary:

  1. Select n → New remote
  2. Name: mybox
  3. Storage type: box
  4. Accept defaults unless you have special requirements
  5. Complete OAuth authentication in the browser

Verify the remote:

rclone listremotes

Expected output:

mybox:

3. Test Box Connectivity

Before proceeding, verify that the remote works correctly:

rclone lsd mybox:

If folders are listed successfully, authentication and API access are confirmed.

4. Create Local Mount Directory

mkdir -p ~/mybox

5. Create systemd User Service for Auto-Mount

5.1 Create systemd user directory (if missing)

mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user

5.2 Create the service file

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/rclone-mybox.service

5.3 Service definition (Fedora 43 example)

[Unit]
Description=Rclone Mount Box (mybox)
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/usr/bin/rclone mount mybox: %h/mybox \
    --vfs-cache-mode writes \
    --dir-cache-time 1h \
    --poll-interval 1m \
    --umask 002 \
    --log-level INFO
ExecStop=/usr/bin/fusermount3 -u %h/mybox
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

6. Linux Distribution Differences

fusermount vs fusermount3

  • Fedora / newer distributions: fusermount3

  • Older Debian / Ubuntu: fusermount

Check which binary exists:

command -v fusermount3 || command -v fusermount

Update ExecStop accordingly:

ExecStop=/usr/bin/fusermount -u %h/mybox

or

ExecStop=/usr/bin/fusermount3 -u %h/mybox

7. Enable and Start the Service

⚠️ Do NOT use sudo with systemctl –user

Reload user units:

systemctl --user daemon-reload

Enable and start immediately:

systemctl --user enable --now rclone-mybox.service

Check status:

systemctl --user status rclone-mybox.service

Expected state:

Active: active (running)

8. Verify the Mount

mount | grep mybox || true
ls ~/mybox | head

If files are visible, the mount is successful.

9. Enable Auto-Mount at Boot (Without Login) [Optional]

By default, user services start only after login. To mount Box immediately at boot, enable lingering:

sudo loginctl enable-linger $USER

This command only needs to be run once.

10. Troubleshooting and Logs

View service logs:

journalctl --user -u rclone-mybox.service -e

Restart or stop the service:

systemctl --user restart rclone-mybox.service
systemctl --user stop rclone-mybox.service

Conclusion

Using rclone + systemd user services, Box.com can be:

  • Mounted reliably on Linux
  • Exposed as a local filesystem
  • Automatically available at boot
  • Maintained without an official Box client

This setup is robust, portable across distributions with minor adjustments, and suitable for long-term daily use.

See you in the next post ✌️

-Chrispy