Mount Proton Drive on Linux using rclone and systemd

This guide automates the process of mounting Proton Drive on a Linux system using rclone and systemd.

Tested on Arch Linux, but should work on most Linux distributions with minor adjustments.

🔧 Features

• Mounts Proton Drive at login via systemd --user
• Uses rclone with --vfs-cache-mode writes for compatibility
• Enables background service with logging
• Adds FUSE support for --allow-other mounts

🚀 Quick Start

1. ✅ Install Dependencies

#### Install fuse3 (required for mounting):

sudo pacman -S fuse3

#### Install rclone (must be v1.64.0 or newer)

🔹 Option 1: Use precompiled binary (recommended)

curl -O https://downloads.rclone.org/rclone-current-linux-amd64.zip
unzip rclone-current-linux-amd64.zip
cd rclone-*-linux-amd64
sudo cp rclone /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/rclone

Verify:

rclone version
Must be v1.64.0 or higher

2. 🔐 Configure Proton Drive Remote

Run:

rclone config

Follow prompts:

• n → New remote
• Name: proton
• Type: protondrive
• Log in via browser when prompted
• Accept and save

chmod +x setup-proton-mount.sh
./setup-proton-mount.sh

• Create the mount point: ~/ProtonDrive
• Write the systemd user service
• Add user_allow_other to /etc/fuse.conf (if missing)
• Add user to the fuse group (if needed)
• Enable and start the mount service

If the script added you to the fuse group, you must log out and back in for the change to take effect.

🔍 Verify Mount

Check if Proton Drive is mounted:

ls ~/ProtonDrive

Check systemd service:

systemctl --user status rclone-proton.mount.service

🔁 Remount

If unmounted the Proton Drive can be remounted by:

systemctl --user restart rclone-proton.mount.service

Note the Proton Drive is mounted each time you login automatically.

🧼 Uninstall

To remove the auto-mount setup:

systemctl --user disable --now rclone-proton.mount.service
rm ~/.config/systemd/user/rclone-proton.mount.service

(Optional) Remove ~/ProtonDrive if you no longer need the mount point.

📁 Files

• setup-proton-mount.sh — full setup script
• ~/.config/systemd/user/rclone-proton.mount.service — systemd unit
• ~/ProtonDrive — mount location
• ~/.cache/rclone/rclone-proton.log — log output (optional)

• rclone >= 1.64.0 with Proton Drive support
• fuse3`
• A Proton Drive account

🛟 Troubleshooting

If the mount isn't working:

journalctl --user -u rclone-proton.mount.service

To restart the service manually:

systemctl --user restart rclone-proton.mount.service

📚 References

• rclone Proton Drive Docs
• systemd user services