Glossary

Backend — the type of a remote: the code that knows how to talk to one kind of storage (local, drive, s3, crypt, and about seventy more).

Bisync — rclone's two-way sync command. Keeps state between runs and resolves double edits into .conflict files. Classed as experimental by rclone's own docs (chapter 12).

Checksum / hash — a short fingerprint computed from a file's contents (MD5, SHA-1, and friends). Two matching hashes are, for practical purposes, the same file. What check compares when it can.

Chunk — one piece of a large file as stored by a chunker remote, next to a small metadata file that describes how the pieces reassemble (chapter 11).

Config file — the INI file holding every remote's definition, including credentials and crypt keys (obscured, not encrypted). Find yours with rclone config file. Handle it like a key.

Crypt remote — a layered remote that encrypts contents (and optionally names) before they reach the remote underneath it. The underneath storage sees only ciphertext (chapter 10).

Dry run — --dry-run: rehearses a command, changing nothing, narrating each skipped copy, delete, and move as a NOTICE.

Filter — the pattern and fact rules (--include, --exclude, --filter-from, --max-age, --min-size, …) deciding which files a command can see. Applies to every verb.

Layered remote — a remote whose storage is another remote's path: crypt over Drive, chunker over S3, alias over a folder. Layers compose.

Listing — bisync's saved record of what each side contained after a run; the history that lets the next run tell "new" from "deleted."

Obscure — rclone's reversible encoding for passwords in the config file, applied by rclone obscure. Stops casual reading; stops nothing else.

Remote — a named storage place: a name, a backend type, and its settings, defined in the config file. Addressed as remote:path.

Salt — the crypt remote's second secret (password2). Seasons the encryption key; needed, with the password, to decrypt anything.

Server-side move/copy — a rename or copy the storage performs internally, without bytes passing through your machine. Fast, and reported as such.

Sync (the verb) — rclone sync: make the destination match the source, deletions included. Not a synonym for copying (chapter 6).

VFS — rclone's virtual filesystem layer, what mount uses to present a remote as a local folder, including its cache modes (chapter 12).