Cloud Drive on a Seedbox: Amazon Cloud Drive Integration

What Cloud Drive Is

Cloud Drive is Bytesized's wrapper around acd_cli, a tool for mounting Amazon Cloud Drive as a local folder. You'd point it at your Amazon Cloud Drive account and access the files like any other folder on your slice.

This was a big deal back when Amazon offered unlimited cloud storage; you could keep huge media libraries on Amazon and stream them through your seedbox. Amazon discontinued unlimited storage in 2017 and the use case has narrowed considerably since.

Should You Use Cloud Drive?

Honest take: probably not for new setups.

• Rclone. Modern, supports 70+ providers including Amazon Cloud Drive. Active development.
• Cloud Drive (acd_cli). Single-purpose, older, less actively maintained.

If you're moving cloud-storage-heavy workflows to a seedbox today, Rclone is the right tool. Cloud Drive is here for users who set it up years ago.

Why Run It on a Seedbox?

For the legacy use case:

• 10 Gbit upload, so initial sync to Amazon is fast
• Mounted folder available to all your other apps
• One-click install
• Same panel as your media stack
• EU servers in Luxembourg, France, and Netherlands

Installing Cloud Drive

Open the Bytesized Panel, find Cloud Drive in the app catalog, click install. The panel sets up acd_cli and a default mount point.

There's no web UI. Cloud Drive runs as a CLI; you configure it via SSH or the panel's terminal.

First-Time Configure

After install:

1. SSH to your slice or use the panel's terminal.
2. Run acd_cli init. acd_cli prompts you to authenticate with Amazon.
3. Open the URL it gives you in a browser. Sign in to Amazon. Paste the auth token back.

After that, run acd_cli sync to pull metadata, then acd_cli mount /path/to/mount to mount the cloud as a local folder.

Mounting and Using

Once mounted, the folder behaves like any other folder. Plex can index it as a library; Sonarr and Radarr can move files into it.

Access patterns are slow compared to local storage; reads stream from Amazon. Caching helps but doesn't make it as fast as local. Plan accordingly.

Common Gotchas

Amazon login fails. Tokens expire. Re-run acd_cli init to refresh.

Mount disappears. Disconnects happen. The panel can wire in auto-remount on a schedule; ask support if you need this set up.

Slow streaming. Amazon's bandwidth is the cap. Most plans throttle to certain speeds; large libraries can be limited by this.

Modified file uploads stuck. acd_cli's write support is less stable than its read support. For a write-heavy workflow, Rclone is more reliable.

FAQ

Is Cloud Drive free? The Bytesized app is free. Amazon Cloud Drive is paid (no more unlimited tier).

Should I use Cloud Drive or Rclone? Rclone for new setups. Cloud Drive if you're already on it.

Will it work with the rest of my stack? Yes, treats the cloud as a folder; other apps don't know it's not local.

Are there alternatives to Amazon? Many. Rclone speaks 70+ providers including Google Drive, Dropbox, Backblaze B2, S3, OneDrive.

Should I migrate? If you're hitting acd_cli issues or want broader provider support, yes. Set up Rclone with the same Amazon Cloud Drive provider, retire Cloud Drive once verified.

Ready to Set It Up?

Browse Appbox plans, install Cloud Drive from the panel. For new cloud-storage workflows, Rclone is the better default.