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For some reason installing Dropbox via software center does not work.

I get a message that sends me to Dropbox website where I follow the instructions. But at the end it says it says:

Next, run the Dropbox daemon from the newly created .dropbox-dist folder.

I am not able to do this. Running the command ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd fails for me.

Running Ubuntu on Windows 7 Home Edition.

girardengo
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danielson
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    Running on Windows 7 means VM, wubi??? – wojox Apr 27 '12 at 14:51
  • May be before trying any of solutions you should try to rm ~/.dropbox*. check the right name with nautilus, I don't remember exactly and on windows machine. – Anton May 03 '12 at 05:35
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    What error message do you get when you try to run ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd? You should edit your question to tell us this, and also to tell us what you mean by "Runnung Ubuntu on Windows..." Do you have a Wubi system (where you installed Ubuntu while running Windows, then rebooted to get into Ubuntu)? Are you using a virtual machine? – Eliah Kagan Jun 23 '12 at 07:19

7 Answers7

74

  • Add Dropbox’s repository key

      sudo apt-key adv --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 5044912E

  • Add Dropbox’s repository

      sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main"

  • Update and install Dropbox

      sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install nautilus-dropbox

Follow the steps When dropbox prompted with the screen

For Ubuntu 12.10

Add repository key

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 5044912E

Add repository

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu precise main"

Update your system and install Dropbox

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install dropbox

  • When prompted with the screen, click "Next"

  • Then click "Start Dropbox" to continue.

On Ubuntu 20.04

Add repo

sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu bionic main"

Import Dropbox GPG key

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com --recv-keys 1C61A2656FB57B7E4DE0F4C1FC918B335044912E

If the above failed to receive keyserver, use below:

sudo apt-key adv --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 1C61A2656FB57B7E4DE0F4C1FC918B335044912E

Update and install

sudo apt update

sudo apt install python3-gpg dropbox
Achu
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  • For 12.04 32bit, this added a duplicate entry for dropbox to software sources. – david6 Jun 23 '12 at 05:45
  • Need to replace very last step ("Follow the steps .."), with Cancel and manual download of replacement software. See answer from http://askubuntu.com/questions/154671/dropbox-fails-to-install-stuck-at-99 – david6 Jun 23 '12 at 07:00
  • This doesn't work for 12.10 – Dave Oct 31 '12 at 18:47
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    @HDave Updated ;) try the new one. – Achu Oct 31 '12 at 18:58
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    One additional note. When I followed these instructions and then when I start dropbox it says "Dropbox is running from an unsupported location" then it asks me to go to their install page. I hit cancel on that page and then it proceeded to set things up correctly. it did make me a little nervous but it seems to be working. – snowguy Jan 20 '13 at 17:12
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    Seems like proper support for Ubuntu 12.10 has now been added (8th of march 2013?) judging by the existence of this folder: http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/dists/quantal/ -- so Achu, you may want to update your answer again. – Hugo Heden Mar 10 '13 at 11:20
  • for 10.04, its "dropbox" not "nautilus-dropbox" – tir38 Jul 16 '13 at 21:43
  • If the bottom set of steps is for version 12.10, what version is the top set of instructions for? – Mark Amery Oct 31 '13 at 14:24
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    In case you are using Lubuntu 13.10, it works the same way except that in the last step you run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install dropbox – pablofiumara Mar 31 '14 at 01:04
  • In support of @pablofiumara this also seems to be the case with Ubuntu 12.04. I had problems installing the package nautilus-dropbox, but package dropbox worked fine. This may have had something to do with me using Xubuntu :). – Bobble May 03 '15 at 09:34
  • See also this link. – Bobble May 03 '15 at 09:40
  • I am on ubuntu 20.04 and after running second command it says the following: 
    Err:6 http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu focal Release
  404  Not Found [IP: 99.86.1.52 80]
Reading package lists... Done
E: The repository 'http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu focal Release' does not have a Release file.
N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.
N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.```
    – Delsilon Jul 09 '20 at 17:06
  • @Delsilon Answer updated. Please use the new way for Ubuntu 20.04 – Achu Jul 11 '20 at 12:18
33

Ubuntu repository (13.04 ≤ version)

This is the simplest method; choose this unless you have a reason not to. 

sudo apt-get install nautilus-dropbox

Official PPA (8.04 ≤ version < 16.04)

This is the way to go on Ubuntu 12.04 and older.

  1. Add Dropbox’s repository key

    sudo apt-key adv --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 5044912E

  2. Add Dropbox’s repository

    sudo add-apt-repository "deb http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu $(lsb_release -sc) main"

  3. Update and install Dropbox

    sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nautilus-dropbox

  4. Follow the instructions on the screen.

Debian packages

There are current direct links at Dropbox website. You can install them manually.

Binary distribution

The Dropbox daemon works fine on all 32-bit and 64-bit Linux servers. To install, run the following command in your Linux terminal.

32-bit:

cd ~ && wget -O - "http://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86" | tar xz

64-bit:

cd ~ && wget -O - "http://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86_64" | tar xz

Next, run the Dropbox daemon from the newly created .dropbox-dist folder:

~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

For additional information here's the official manual.

cubuspl42
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Ashu
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    Is nautilus-dropbox should be running in Graphical-mode only? Or for headless servers it will work as well? – BBK Sep 04 '12 at 18:34
  • If I install if from the command-line, will it be automatically tracked and updated by apt? – Seanny123 Oct 14 '14 at 01:19
  • @Seanny123, I guess so, if the package dropbox is installed and it has a repository entry in /etc/apt/sources.list or in one of the files in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ – jarno May 06 '15 at 21:41
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    On Ubuntu 14.04 sudo apt-get install nautilus-dropbox gave me an error about you have held broken packages. sudo apt-get install dropbox sort of worked, but after starting Dropbox (which I found from searching in Ubuntu's "The Dash" feature) I had to install python-gpgme sudo apt-get install python-gpgme and allow it to "download the proprietary daemon". – geneorama Dec 01 '15 at 04:26
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Download the latest dropbox .deb file from the official site : https://www.dropbox.com/install?os=lnx and run it. When it show the welcome screen, follow it carefully. Just now I installed it on my machine without any issues.

THpubs
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6

This doesn't work on 12.10 (quantal) because dropbox hasn't put a quantal package in its repository. You can see that by manually looking at the repo (http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/dists/) and see that quantal isn't there.

I solved this by using precise in my source file instead of quantal. Technically, I'm using a version of dropbox that's not meant for my system, but I'm assuming the differences are small (it's only 6 months). So far, no problems on two different machines. YMMV.

Note: this is valid as of the time I'm typing this. They may add quantal support in the future.

Colby M. White
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    Seems like they have now added proper support of Ubuntu 12.10 -- there is now a quantal folder there: http://linux.dropbox.com/ubuntu/dists/quantal/ – Hugo Heden Mar 10 '13 at 11:23
6

Very simple on Ubuntu 13.04, 13.10 and 14.04 (last one checked by Craig McQueen, thanks :-))

sudo apt-get install nautilus-dropbox

If the graphical wizard does not download dropbox, you can perform it within a terminal:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure nautilus-dropbox

You may need to stop nautilus or to check whether it is currently running:

pgrep nautilus     # check if it is running (no output = no running)
pkill nautilus     # stop it nicely 
pkill -9 nautilus  # kill it brutally (to avoid when possible)

reference: How To Install Dropbox In Ubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail by Richard W.

Community
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oHo
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  • ...and 14.04 too it seems. – Craig McQueen May 07 '14 at 06:41
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    Didn't work for me. I get the following error: The following packages have unmet dependencies: nautilus-dropbox : Depends: dropbox but it is not going to be installed E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages. – Seanny123 Oct 14 '14 at 01:12
  • Hi @Seanny123. Do you use Ubuntu 14.10 ? I can check that tonight... – oHo Oct 14 '14 at 09:26
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    14.04. Ended up installing via the command line, which seemed to work fine, so don't worry about checking it. I think I just had a weird setup. – Seanny123 Oct 14 '14 at 16:56
  • What version of DropBox does this install? I think it's better to use dropbox's repository as it gets updated more frequently. – AlikElzin-kilaka Jan 28 '15 at 07:58
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    Checked it out. The version on DB's site is 1.6.2, but in Ubuntu's repository, it's 1.6.1-1. Still a very simple an nice way. Voted up. – AlikElzin-kilaka Jan 28 '15 at 08:05
4

I went to https://www.dropbox.com/install/ and downloaded the .deb file. There are three steps to follow:

Install Dropbox via command line (Terminal)

The Dropbox daemon works fine on all 32-bit and 64-bit Linux servers. To install, run the following command in your Linux terminal.

32-bit:

cd ~ && wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86" | tar xzf -

64-bit:

cd ~ && wget -O - "https://www.dropbox.com/download?plat=lnx.x86_64" | tar xzf -

Next, run the Dropbox daemon from the newly created .dropbox-dist folder.

~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

It worked for me in 12.04 and 12.10.

Seth
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payorivero
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0

Dropbox integration with Nautilus, Caja and Thunar file browsers is enabled by installing one or more of the following three packages with sudo apt install <package-name> in all currently supported versions of Ubuntu.

  • nautilus dropbox - Nautilus Dropbox is an extension that integrates the Dropbox web service with your GNOME Desktop. Installing this package will download the proprietary dropbox binary from https://www.dropbox.com.

  • caja-dropbox - Dropbox integration for Caja. To use this package you need to install the proprietary dropbox package from https://www.dropbox.com/install.

  • thunar-dropbox-plugin - context menu items from Dropbox for Thunar. This plugin does not come with Dropbox itself, you will need to install that separately.

Install the Dropbox client for Ubuntu from the 32-bit or 64-bit .deb files at the official Dropbox website (https://www.dropbox.com). Then change directories with cd to the directory containing the dropbox_xxxx.xx.xx_amd64.deb file that you downloaded and install it with a command that has the following form:

sudo apt install ./dropbox_xxxx.xx.xx_amd64.deb
karel
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