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I'm using Dropbox without the GUI in Linux. I would like to limit the upload rate, sometimes large files eats my internet bandwidth. Anyone knows how I do that?

Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
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user1101
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3 Answers3

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You can start the Dropbox executable under trickle. This is a simple program that limits the bandwidth used by the program that it starts.

trickle -u 42 dropbox.py
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
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  • Great idea! Unfortunately trickle together with dropbox causes 100% CPU for me - [any ideas?](http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/141036/trickle-bandwidth-shaper-with-dropbox-causes-100-cpu) – fanti Jul 06 '14 at 21:22
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If using the CLI program provided by Dropbox, then the builtin throttling can easily be accessed.

Example

./dropbox.py throttle 2000 100

Documentation

$ ./dropbox.py throttle help
set bandwidth limits for Dropbox
dropbox throttle DOWNLOAD UPLOAD

Set bandwidth limits for file sync.

DOWNLOAD - either "unlimited" or a manual limit in KB/s
UPLOAD - one of "unlimited", "auto", or a manual limit in KB/s

Kevin
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For dropbox this doesn't work well since the runner script is just that, a script.

In order for trickle to have any effect it needs to be run on the binary itself.

e.g.

trickle -s -u 100 -d 200 -w 5 ~/.dropbox-dist/dropbox-lnx.x86_64-54.4.90/dropbox

but the version number can change!

Delphis
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