rclone with WebShield S3

rclone is a versatile command-line tool for syncing files to and from object storage. It works with WebShield S3 through the generic S3 backend. See Object storage for how to obtain your keys and create buckets.

Prerequisites

Endpoint: https://s3.webshield.pro
Access Key ID and Secret Access Key from the S3 storage page in the control panel.
The full bucket name including the account prefix (for example, u42-backups).

Install

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install rclone
# macOS
brew install rclone
# or the official installer: https://rclone.org/install/

Configure a remote

Add a remote to ~/.config/rclone/rclone.conf (create the file if it does not exist):

[webshield]
type = s3
provider = Other
access_key_id = WSS...
secret_access_key = <secret>
endpoint = https://s3.webshield.pro
force_path_style = true

provider = Other and force_path_style = true are what make rclone talk to a generic, path-style S3 endpoint. Alternatively, run rclone config and pick Amazon S3 Compliant → Other, then enter the same values interactively.

Everyday commands

The remote name (webshield:) is followed by bucket/path:

rclone ls webshield:u42-backups                 # list objects
rclone copy ./dump.sql.gz webshield:u42-backups/db/   # upload one file
rclone sync ./media webshield:u42-backups/media       # mirror a directory (deletes extras)
rclone copy webshield:u42-backups/db ./restore        # download
rclone delete webshield:u42-backups/old               # delete a path

rclone sync makes the destination match the source, including deletions — use rclone copy if you only want to add or update files.

Useful flags:

rclone sync ./media webshield:u42-backups/media \
  --progress \            # live transfer stats
  --transfers 16 \        # parallel transfers
  --checksum              # compare by checksum, not modification time

Notes

WebShield uses path-style addressing; force_path_style = true selects it.
Buckets are created and deleted only in the control panel; rclone mkdir webshield:name cannot create a bucket.
If the account balance goes negative, storage becomes read-only: copy/sync uploads fail while downloads keep working. Top up the balance to restore writes.