Set Up Local Mounts for the MEGA Remote File System

Support and Help
,
1

Prerequisites

Ubuntu Version: ubuntu 24.04.2
Kernel: 6.8.0-54-generic
Rclone Version: 1.69.1
Mega Version (web): 5.49.3

Mounts We Will Be Setting UP

We will be setting up a mount for the entire remote file system as well as mounting several directories in the remote file system with Mega (online storage). IF this fits your use case or you just want to try it this should work well for a proof of concept. The code examples given will insert the value for your home directory for you but if you experience any issues you can also replace $HOME with your actual /home/<username> as you proceed. You can find this by using the whoami command - it will show the username you are currently logged in under.

- Mega Root Filesystem: Mounts to $HOME/Mega
- Mega Collections Directory: Mounts to $HOME/Collections
- Mega Obsidian Directory: Mounts to $HOME/Obsidian
- Mega Projects Directory: Mounts to $HOME/Projects

Official Ubuntu documentation (as of the time of this post) can be found here

Create Directories

First we need to make sure that the directories (folders) that we need are there for us when we move on to the the steps that come after. Copy each of the lines below and execute them one-by-one on your command line to create the mount directories on your local machine as well as directories on the mega remote filesystem.

Create mount directories on your local machine

mkdir $HOME/Mega

mkdir $HOME/Collections

mkdir $HOME/Obsidian

mkdir $HOME/Projects

Create directories on Mega

After you have successfully logged into the web interface perform the following steps in order to create each directory on the remote file system.

  1. Click the Cloud drive tab located in the left sidebar (expand the sidebar if it is collapsed).
  2. Right mouse click and select Create folder (or click the Create folder button in the top right hand corner area).
  3. Enter one of
  • Collections
  • Obsidian
  • Projects

Repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 for each of the directories we need to create.

Official Mega documentation (as of the time of this post) can be found here but it does not appear to have an article on this procedure that I can find at this time.

Remote Configuration With Rclone

First lets set up our rclone configuration and make sure it works.

Set up the rclone config for Mega

Assuming we are using rclone version 1.69.1

  1. Run the following command to start and create the rclone configuration:

    rclone config

  2. You will be prompted with the following options:

    e) Edit existing remote
n) New remote
d) Delete remote
r) Rename remote
c) Copy remote
s) Set configuration password
q) Quit config

Type n and press Enter to create a new remote.

  1. You will be asked to name the remote. Enter a name of your choice (e.g., Mega):

    name> Mega

  2. Next, you will see a list of storage types. Select Mega by typing 33 and pressing Enter:

    > Type of storage to configure.
Choose a number from below, or type in your own value.
...
33 / Mega
   \ (Mega)
...
Storage> 33

  3. You will be prompted to enter your Mega username (email) and password:

    user> your_email@example.com
pass> your_password

  4. If you want to use advanced settings, you can configure them now. Otherwise, press Enter to accept the defaults.

  5. Finally, confirm the configuration by typing y and pressing Enter:

    y) Yes this is OK
e) Edit this remote
d) Delete this remote
y/e/d> y

  6. Our Mega remote is now set up and ready to use. You can quit this configuration by typing q and pressing Enter.

Official Rclone documentation (as of the time of this post) can be found here

Testing the Connection to the Remote

Test that the remote can be mounted (this verifies the rclone config and that the connection to mega is working).

rclone mount Mega:/ $HOME/Mega --allow-other --vfs-cache-mode writes

Creating and Enabling System Services with Systemd

Now its time to make things persistent. By doing these steps we will be able to retain the work we’ve done even if the computer is shut off or rebooted. Lets create and Enable service files - one for each mount. We’re mounting remote directories; and, in one case, the whole thing).

Create the service file to mount the storage root (the entire mega remote file system)

`nano ~/.config/systemd/user/mega-storage-root-mount.service`

Service File Contents
Filename: mega-storage-root-mount.service

[Unit]
Description=Rclone Mount for Mega Root Filesystem
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=rclone mount Mega:/ $HOME/Mega \
--allow-other \
--vfs-cache-mode writes

ExecStop=/bin/fusermount -u $HOME/Mega
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Check the contents of the service file

less ~/.config/systemd/user/mega-storage-root-mount.service

Create the service file to mount the Collections directory

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/mega-storage-collections-mount.service

Service File Contents
Filename: mega-storage-collections-mount.service

[Unit]
Description=Rclone Mount for Mega Collections Directory
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=rclone mount Mega:/Collections $HOME/Collections \
--allow-other \
--vfs-cache-mode writes

ExecStop=/bin/fusermount -u $HOME/Collections
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Check the contents of the service file

less ~/.config/systemd/user/mega-storage-collections-mount.service

Create the service file to mount the Obsidian Directory

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/mega-storage-obsidian-mount.service

Service File Contents
Filename: mega-storage-obsidian-mount.service

[Unit]
Description=Rclone Mount for Mega Collections Directory
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=rclone mount Mega:/Obsidian $HOME/Obsidian \
--allow-other \
--vfs-cache-mode writes

ExecStop=/bin/fusermount -u $HOME/Obsidian
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Check the contents of the service file

less ~/.config/systemd/user/mega-storage-obsidian-mount.service

Create the service file to mount the Projects Directory

nano ~/.config/systemd/user/mega-storage-projects-mount.service

Service File Contents
Filename: mega-storage-projects-mount.service

[Unit]
Description=Rclone Mount for Mega Projects Directory
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=rclone mount Mega:/Projects $HOME/Projects \
--allow-other \
--vfs-cache-mode writes

ExecStop=/bin/fusermount -u $HOME/Projects
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Check the contents of the service file

less ~/.config/systemd/user/mega-storage-projects-mount.service

Add The Services To Systemd And Get Them Going

Reload the daemon

`systemctl --user daemon-reload`

Enable each service file

Copy each of the lines below and execute them one-by-one on your command line. This will enable each of the service files we have just created in the previous step.

systemctl --user enable mega-storage-root-mount

systemctl --user enable mega-storage-collections-mount

systemctl --user enable mega-storage-obsidian-mount

systemctl --user enable mega-storage
Start and check the status of each service file
systemctl --user start mega-storage-root-mount

systemctl --user status mega-storage-root-mount

systemctl --user start mega-storage-collections-mount

systemctl --user status mega-storage-collections-mount

systemctl --user start mega-storage-obsidian-mount

systemctl --user status mega-storage-obsidian-mount

systemctl --user start mega-storage-projects-mount

systemctl --user status mega-storage-projects-mount

Reboot your computer

Lets see by practical example whether it does what it’s supposed to?

Check in the file manager for the mount

Check it out - see if you can see and use it in your file manager?

Check the statuses of the service files again for a final confirmation

systemctl --user status mega-storage-root-mount
systemctl --user status mega-storage-collections-mount
systemctl --user status mega-storage-obsidian-mount
systemctl --user status mega-storage-projects-mount

If everything has gone well you should have a working system of mounts that mount the mega remote file system (and a few directories in it) to your local machine.

Links

Official Ubuntu Documentation
Official Mega Documentation
Official Rclone Documentation

2

Just wanted to share what I have in the hope it may benefit someone. There’s different kinds of guides out there but this one aims to just walk you through a practical example. Let me know if you find any inconsistencies, typos, whatever - I’ll try my best to fix em’

peace

3

This topic was automatically closed 3 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.