rclone Züs Integration

Overview

rclone_zus is a custom integration of the rclone command-line tool with the Züs decentralized cloud. It enables users to interact with Züs storage using familiar rclone commands like copy, move, sync, and ls.

This backend implementation allows developers, DevOps teams, and cloud users to:

  • Use rclone’s powerful CLI and scripting capabilities with Züs

  • Perform efficient, server-side batch operations (copy, delete, move)

  • Use Züs as an S3-compatible remote via rclone without vendor lock-in

The Züs backend is now available via -type züs in your rclone.conf file and supports advanced Züs features including:

  • Sync & batch mode uploads

  • Server-side copy & move

  • Native delete, purge, and stat support

  • Directory listings and recursive operations

Why Use rclone_zus?

  • Scripting Ready: Automate uploads/downloads via shell scripts

  • Dev & CI Friendly: Plug into CI/CD pipelines with secure Züs backend

  • Zero Lock-in: Maintain open architecture with CLI-driven usage

  • Use Blimp UI to manage and render files in a carousel view

  • Share both public and encrypted files or folders with anyone instantly

  • Seamlessly scale by managing multiple allocations via Blimp and organizing data into multiple data rooms

  • Fast Sync: Avoid redundant uploads with batch commit

Prerequisites

  • Blimp account: If you do not have one, navigate to blimp.software. Click Sign Up for Free and you'll receive a free 2GB allocation.

  • Operating Systems: Linux, macOS, Windows (recent versions supported)

  • Go Toolchain [Optional] : Go ≥1.20; only required if building from source

Install rclone_zus

This section guides you through cloning, building, and configuring rclone_zus with the Züs backend. There are two ways of installing the rclone_zus plugin: download a pre-built binary or build the binary.

Download Pre-Built Binary

  1. Go to the releases page and download the pre-built binary for your OS.

  2. Place rclone.exe in your desired directory

  3. Run ./rclone in that directory. If it shows the help description, you're ready to start using rclone with Züs storage

💡 This is the preferred method for Windows users

Build the Binary

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/0chain/rclone_zus.git
cd rclone_zus

2. Build the Rclone Binary

Use the provided Makefile to build the project:

make

This will compile the rclone binary into the project root (./rclone), including the Züs backend.

💡 Troubleshooting: If make fails (e.g., missing make command or incompatible system), you can build manually:

go build -o rclone ./rclone.go

Ensure you have Go ≥1.20 installed (suggested go 1.23.4)and your GOPATH properly configured.

This will build a local ./rclone binary with the Züs backend integrated.

Note: If you're modifying backend code (e.g. backend/zus/zus.go), you can recompile by running the go build command again.

3. (Optional) Install as Global Command rclone_zus

To use your custom Rclone binary without the ./ prefix, install it globally by copying it to a directory in your system's $PATH, such as /usr/local/bin:

sudo cp ./rclone /usr/local/bin/rclone_zus

After this, you can run it from anywhere as a normal command:

rclone_zus move TestZus:/source TestZus:/dest

Renaming it to rclone_zus helps avoid conflicts with the system-installed rclone, if present.

Retrieve Wallet Files for Config Directory

Before using rclone_zus, you must have a wallet, allocation, and configuration files in place. There are two methods to retrieving these files: download wallet files via Blimp or CLI

Download Wallet via Blimp

The standard way to retrieve your Züs wallet is by downloading it through the Blimp user interface. This requires no command-line setup and ensures all required files are prepared for you.

  1. Visit Blimp

  2. Navigate to Manage Allocation

  3. Select your allocation

  4. Click the ellipsis (⋯) button

  5. Choose “Download Wallet”

  6. Enter your mnemonic or wallet password

  7. You’ll receive a .zip file containing:

    • wallet.json – Your Züs wallet credentials

    • allocation.txt – The Allocation ID

    • config.yaml – Züs network configuration (block worker, signature scheme, etc.)

Make sure your wallet.json file contains "is_split": false. This is required for compatibility with rclone_zus.

  1. Extract the ZIP and move all three files to your system’s default config directory:

  • Windows: C:\Users\<your-username>\.zcn

  • Linux/macOS: ~/.zcn/

📝 If the .zcn folder does not exist, create it manually.

By default, rclone_zus looks for your configuration files (wallet.json, allocation.txt, and optionally config.yaml) in the .zcn folder located at:

  • ~/.zcn/ on Linux/macOS

  • C:\Users\<YourName>\.zcn\ on Windows

However, if you want to avoid overwriting your default wallet files — for example, if you're working with multiple wallets, different environments (testnet vs mainnet), or shared systems — you can specify a custom configuration directory.

When running rclone config, you will be prompted with:

Config Directory - directory to read config files (defaults to ~/.zcn)
(config_dir)

Here, you can enter the full path to a custom folder that contains:

  • wallet.json — your wallet credentials

  • allocation.txt — your allocation ID

  • config.yaml — your network settings (optional, but recommended)

This allows you to isolate configs per project, user, or use case.

For example:

(config_dir)> /home/yourname/zcn-wallets/clientA

Once saved, this remote will always use that folder to locate its wallet and allocation files, regardless of what’s in your global .zcn directory.

Allocation Performance

For reliable performance:

  • Züs blobbers provide better stability and performance

CLI Method

Alternatively, you can create your wallet and allocation using the CLI.

  1. Create a wallet and allocation via Züs CLI tools

  2. Place the following files in your ~/.zcn (or Windows equivalent):

  • wallet.json

{
  "client_id": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "client_key": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
  "keys": [
    {
      "public_key": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
      "private_key": "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx"
    }
  ],
  "mnemonics": "xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx",
  "version": "1.0",
  "date_created": "2023-05-03T12:44:46+05:30",
  "nonce": 0,
  "is_split": false
}

Make sure your wallet.json file contains "is_split": false. This is required for compatibility with rclone_zus.

  • config.yaml

block_worker: https://mainnet.zus.network/dns
signature_scheme: bls0chain
min_submit: 50
min_confirmation: 50
confirmation_chain_length: 3

  • allocation.txt

<your allocation ID>

Ensure the CLI-generated wallet matches the allocation you're trying to access. This method is more error-prone for beginners and should only be used if you're familiar with the Züs CLI ecosystem.

Setup Remote

Remote Configuration

Here is an example of how to make a zus remote called myZus.

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> myZus
Type of storage to configure.
Enter a string value. Press Enter for the default ("").
Choose a number from below, or type in your own value
...
59 / Zus Decentralized Storage
   \ "zus"
...
Storage> zus
Zus Allocation ID - allocation ID.
allocation_id>
Config Directory - directory to read config files (defaults to ~/.zcn; make sure to use the correct windows path for  `C:\Users\Username\.zcn`).
config_dir>
Work Directory - directory to read/write files.
work_dir>
Encrypt - encrypt the data before uploading.
y) Yes
n) No (default)
y/n> n
Edit advanced config?
y) Yes
n) No (default)
y/n> n
Configuration complete.
Options:
- type: zus
- allocation_id: allocation_id
Keep this "myZus" remote?
y) Yes this is OK (default)
e) Edit this remote
d) Delete this remote
y/e/d> y

Make sure your rclone.conf file is created. Finding rclone.conf:

  • To locate your rclone configuration file (rclone.conf) via command line, use the command rclone config file

Example rclone.conf :

[myZus]
type = zus
allocation_id = <allocation_id>

Once configured, you can start using the remote myZus .

Run Key Commands for File Operations

This section will cover basic commands to manage your files and folders. For more options, check out the other rclone commands here.

List All Directories in Path

rclone lsd <remote name>:<absolute path>

Example to list all the files and directories inside the root directory of the remote "myZus"

rclone lsd myZus:/

Output example:

    -1 2025-05-14 15:27:59        -1 Encrypted
    -1 2025-07-12 17:25:15        -1 10MbFiles100
    -1 2025-07-12 17:44:35        -1 10MbFiles100M
    -1 2025-07-12 17:46:51        -1 project-zus
    -1 2025-07-14 22:45:57        -1 10MbFiles50

Make a New Directory

rclone mkdir myZus:<path>/<new_directory_name>

Example: create new directory in the root (This example shows new directory name as "newDirectory")

rclone mkdir myZus:/newDirectory

List the contents of a directory

rclone ls myZus:/<directory_path>

File Operations

Copy from source to destination (Local to Remote, Remote to Remote, Remote to Local)

rclone copy <source_remote>:<source_path> <target_remote>:<target_path>

Move from source to destination (Local to Remote, Remote to Remote, Remote to Local)

rclone move <source_remote>:<source_path> <target_remote>:<target_path>

Sync from source to destination (Local to Remote, Remote to Remote, Remote to Local)

  • Makes source and destination identical, modifying destination only.

  • --interactive flag is optional. Allows users to review each change before committing

rclone sync --interactive <source_remote>:<source_path> <target_remote>:<target_path>

Copy/move/sync commands only work within the same remote (same allocation). You cannot copy/move/sync across two different allocations (even if they have different remotes).

Local to Züs Examples:

# Windows example - copying from local Windows path to Züs remote
rclone copy "C:\Users\<username>\OneDrive\Desktop\New folder" myZus:/testDirectory

# Linux/macOS example - copying from local Unix path to Züs remote  
rclone copy /home/user/documents myZus:/backup

Züs to Local Examples:

# Windows example - copying from Züs remote to local Windows path
rclone copy myZus:/testDirectory "C:\Users\<username>\OneDrive\Desktop\New folder"

# Linux/macOS example - Copying from Züs remote to local directory
rclone copy myZus:/documents /home/user/downloads

Same Remote Operations (within the same allocation):

Using the same remote, you can copy/move files from one directory to another within the same allocation.

# Copying within the same Züs remote (source: myZus, target: myZus)
rclone copy myZus:/sourcefilesDir/ myZus:/destinationDir/

Cross-Remote Limitation: only works within the same remote/allocations. Does not work across different Züs allocations

Cross-Cloud Backup Examples (Google Drive ↔ Züs):

You can use rclone_zus to copy or sync files between your Züs storage allocation and other cloud providers such as Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, etc.

Step 1: Create a Remote for the Other Cloud Provider

To connect to another cloud provider, you must first create a remote for that service using the rclone config wizard.

Run:

rclone config

Follow the interactive prompts:

  • Choose n for a new remote

  • Name your remote (e.g., gdrive)

  • Select the desired provider from the list (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, etc.)

  • Follow the provider-specific instructions, such as:

  • Logging in via OAuth (for Google Drive)

  • Providing access tokens or keys (for Dropbox, S3, etc.)

  • Save your remote

  • Once created, you can use that remote name in any command.

Refer to rclone's official documentation for full setup guides for each provider: https://rclone.org/docs/

Step 2: Run Copy/Move Commands

You can now run standard rclone commands to transfer data between Züs (myZus) and the cloud remote you just created (gdrive, for example).

Google Drive to Züs

# Google Drive to Züs backup (source: gdrive, target: myZus)
rclone copy gdrive:important-files myZus:/backup

Züs to Google Drive

# Züs to Google Drive backup (source: myZus, target: gdrive)
rclone copy myZus:/documents gdrive:zus-backup

You can also use rclone move or rclone sync for the same remotes:

rclone move gdrive:/myFiles myZus:/archive
rclone sync myZus:/photos gdrive:/mirror/photos

Sync Mode Configuration

Use sync mode in rclone_zus for bulk operations

use --transfers=number of operations | --transfers=50 with the commands.

Edit advanced config?
y) Yes
n) No (default)
y/n> y

Option sdk_log_level.
Log level for the SDK
Enter a signed integer. Press Enter for the default (0).
sdk_log_level> leave empty

Option batch_mode.
Upload file batching sync|async|off.
This sets the batch mode used by rclone.
This has 3 possible values
- off - no batching
- sync - batch uploads and check completion (default)
- async - batch upload and don't check completion
Rclone will close any outstanding batches when it exits which may make
a delay on quit.
Enter a value of type string. Press Enter for the default (sync).
batch_mode> leave empty

Option batch_size.
Max number of files in upload batch.
This sets the batch size of files to upload. It has to be less than 50.
By default this is 0 which means rclone will calculate the batch size
depending on the setting of batch_mode.
- batch_mode: async - default batch_size is 100
- batch_mode: sync - default batch_size is the same as --transfers
- batch_mode: off - not in use
Rclone will close any outstanding batches when it exits which may make
a delay on quit.
Setting this is a great idea if you are uploading lots of small files
as it will make them a lot quicker. You can use --transfers 32 to
maximise throughput.
Enter a signed integer. Press Enter for the default (0).
batch_size> 50

Option batch_timeout.
Max time to allow an idle upload batch before uploading.
If an upload batch is idle for more than this long then it will be
uploaded.
The default for this is 0 which means rclone will choose a sensible
default based on the batch_mode in use.
- batch_mode: async - default batch_timeout is 5s
- batch_mode: sync - default batch_timeout is 500ms
- batch_mode: off - not in use
Enter a duration s,m,h,d,w,M,y. Press Enter for the default (0s).
batch_timeout> leave empty

Option batch_commit_timeout.
Max time to wait for a batch to finish committing
Enter a duration s,m,h,d,w,M,y. Press Enter for the default (10m0s).
batch_commit_timeout> leave empty

Option description.
Description of the remote.
Enter a value. Press Enter to leave empty.
description> leave empty

Edit advanced config?
y) Yes
n) No (default)
y/n> n

Configuration complete.

Bulk Copy from source to destination (Local to Remote, Remote to Remote, Remote to Local)

rclone copy <remote name>:<source path> <remote name>:<destination path>  --transfers=50

Bulk Move from source to destination (Local to Remote, Remote to Remote, Remote to Local)

rclone move <remote name>:<source path> <remote name>:<destination path>  --transfers=50

Using rclone_zus with Vult (Optional)

If you're a Vult user, you can also use rclone_zus to interact with your Züs allocation by following similar steps:

  1. Go to Profile & Wallet via the user icon in the top right corner.

  2. Scroll down and click Download Wallet.

  3. This will download a .zip file with:

    • wallet.json

    • allocation.txt

    • config.yaml

  4. Move these files to your .zcn directory (e.g. ~/.zcn on Linux/macOS or C:\Users\<YourName>\.zcn on Windows).

Make sure your wallet.json file contains "is_split": false. This is required for compatibility with rclone_zus.

🔄 You may switch between Vult and Blimp wallets by replacing these files.

If using multiple wallets, consider using rclone config to point to a custom config directory instead of overwriting .zcn.

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