Is there a Google Drive client available?

Question

I'd like to install a Google Drive client for Xubuntu (12.04).

I'm getting non-English Google results, and I didn't find grive in the Xubuntu repositories.

Does anyone know of a client that works well for Ubuntu or it's supported derivates (or installation instructions for grive?)

Answer 1

Unfortunately, Not with an official client. An unofficial driver exists online.

Note that there is no 12.04 PPA. I've contacted the maintainer asking for one to be made.

There is currently no official Linux client supported by Google.

For Linux

Google Drive isn't currently available for the Linux operating system. Linux users can still access Google Drive on the web – drive.google.com New Window or through the Google Drive mobile app.

Refer to http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2375082

There is an unofficial Gdrive FS in a PPA:

1. execute sudo add-apt-repository ppa:invernizzi/google-docs-fs to add the PPA.

2. once the command finishes, run sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install google-docs-fs to install GdriveFS. Please be patient as this step may take a while.

3. Create a folder within your home folder called "Drive".

4. Execute: gmount Drive username@gmail.com, replacing your username as necessary, to mount your Google Drive. This must be run in a terminal. Test show that this application works fine, and is filemanager-independent, being an FS driver.

Answer 2

Apparently grive exists on a ppa - I installed it and it works reasonably well. This is preferable in my opinion over the google-docs-fs solution, since that doesn't put your files permanently on your drive, and grive does. Also, grive isn't a commercial venture like InSync - which is described as "free during beta".

The PPA for grive can be found on webupd8's site using these instructions:

http://www.webupd8.org/2012/05/grive-open-source-google-drive-client.html

One limitation that the current version of grive has is that it doesn't automatically sync your drive directory. But I found this blog post describing a script to fix this and make grive sync whenever a file in the drive directory is changed.

(This answer is originally based on @uri's comment, which has since disappeared)

Answer 3

OmgUbuntu posted an article about Google Drive and Ubuntu recently.

InSync

Note: this app is still in beta.

• Download the Insync.tar.gz

• Extract to your Home folder

• Open a new terminal and navigate into the extracted Insync folder using the ‘cd’ command (e.g. cd insync/)

• Run: sudo ./insync-installer Follow any on-screen prompts After installing there are a few other things to note:

After installation

• Insync must be started from the Terminal by running insync
• The app doesn’t auto-start by default, and there is no in-app way to enable this

google-docs-fs

This app mounts your drive so you can thread it like a file system. Instructions come from OmgUbuntu.

• sudo add-apt-repository ppa:invernizzi/google-docs-fs
• sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install google-docs-fs

Once everything that’s needed has been installed log out and back in.

• Open Nautilus
• Create a new folder in your Home folder titled ‘Drive’
• Open a Terminal and run: -
• gmount Drive username@gmail.com
• Input your password

Your Google Drive is now mounted in the ‘Drive’ folder

Answer 4

The official Google Drive app for linux is not yet released. But there are third party options. InSync is a really good option.

Download the Insync.tar.gz from

http://s.insynchq.com/builds/insync-linux-beta1-py27.tar.bz2
Extract to your Home folder
Open a new terminal and navigate into the extracted Insync folder using the ‘cd’ command (e.g. cd insync/)
Run: sudo ./insync-installer
Follow any on-screen prompts

After installing there are a few other things to note:

Insync must be started from the Terminal by running ‘insync’
The app doesn’t auto-start by default, and there is no in-app way to enable this

Source : OMG!UBUNTU!

Answer 5

Insync repository is available for Ubuntu now.

Here is the steps to install Insync:

1. Add the source to /etc/apt/sources.list file (Sample line: deb http://apt.insynchq.com/[DISTRIBUTION] [CODENAME] non-free)

   To add the line directly to sources.list file do the following:
   
   echo "deb http://apt.insynchq.com/ubuntu $(lsb_release -cs) non-free" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/insync.list

2. Import the key

   wget -O - https://d2t3ff60b2tol4.cloudfront.net/services@insynchq.com.gpg.key \ | sudo apt-key add -

sudo apt-get update

3. Install Insync

   sudo apt-get install insync-beta-ubuntu

Source: insynchq.com

Answer 6

You can use this unofficial client as there is no Official client available http://www.gotechtips.net/2012/12/how-to-use-google-drive-on-linux.html

Answer 7

This won't answer your question completely, but I'll post this anyway in case it helps you or other people.

Also, this answer is only going to be useful if you want the client for the sake of accessing your Documents offline.

If you use Google Chrome, you can get the Google Drive extensions which works offline once you activate it on your account. (There is an "Offline Docs" tab in your Google Docs' left side bar.)

You can get the extension here: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/google-drive/apdfllckaahabafndbhieahigkjlhalf

I must say, it's rather limited. Documents is the only format that you can view and edit. You will be able to view your Spreadsheets, but not edit them. In my case, those limitations are okay since I mostly only use Documents.

More info: http://support.google.com/drive/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1628467