Skip to main content

Run Rclone Engine on AWS EC2

This guide walks through setting up Rclone’s rcd daemon on an Ubuntu-based EC2 instance, enabling remote API access from outside AWS.

✅ Step-by-Step Overview​

  1. Launch an EC2 instance
  2. Configure Security Group (open port 5572)
  3. SSH into the instance
  4. Install Rclone
  5. Run rclone rcd daemon
  6. Test Rclone API access externally
  7. Run Rclone rcd as a systemd Service

Launch an EC2 Instance​

  • Log in to the AWS Management Console
  • Navigate to EC2 → Launch Instance
  • Configure as follows:
    • Name: rclone-server (or your choice)
    • AMI: Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (or 20.04 LTS)
    • Instance type: t2.micro (Free Tier eligible)
    • Key pair: Create a new one or select existing (for SSH access)
    • Storage: At least 8 GB
    • Network: Default VPC
    • Security group inbound rules:
      • SSH (port 22): restricted to your IP
      • Custom TCP (port 5572): 0.0.0.0/0 — required for Rclone API
  • Launch the instance

Adjust Security Group (if needed)​

Visit EC2 → Instances → Select your instance → Security tab → Click Security Group → Edit inbound rules:

Type: Custom TCP
Port: 5572
Source: 0.0.0.0/0  (or restrict to your IP)

SSH Into the EC2 Instance​

From your local terminal:

chmod 400 /path/to/your-key.pem
ssh -i /path/to/your-key.pem ubuntu@<EC2-PUBLIC-IP>

🔗 For guidance on creating and using .pem key pairs, see AWS’s official “Create a key pair” page  .

Install Rclone​

curl https://rclone.org/install.sh | sudo bash
rclone version

Run the rclone rcd Daemon​

rclone rcd \
  --rc-user=admin \
  --rc-pass=admin \
  --rc-addr=0.0.0.0:5572
  • --rc-user/--rc-pass: secures API access
  • --rc-addr: listens on all interfaces so you can connect externally
  • --rc-web-gui: launches the web interface

💡 For continuous operation, consider running it under tmux, screen, or as a systemd service.

Verify External API Access​

Run a simple health check using curl:

curl -X POST -u admin:admin \
  "http://<EC2-PUBLIC-IP-or-DNS>:5572/rc/noop"

Expected response:

{}

This confirms that the Rclone remote control (RC) API is running and accepting authenticated requests.

🛠️ Notes
  • Be sure to replace admin:admin with the actual --rc-user and --rc-pass you defined when starting the daemon.
  • Replace <EC2-PUBLIC-IP-or-DNS> with your actual public IP or DNS name of the EC2 instance.
  • The endpoint must begin with /rc/. The /rc/noop command does nothing and simply confirms that the API is available.

🔐 Recommended Security Best Practices​

  • Use strong, unique credentials for --rc-user / --rc-pass
  • Restrict access via:
    • Narrow IP whitelist in AWS Security Group, or
    • Bind to specific IP: --rc-addr=<your_ip>:5572
  • To secure traffic, consider adding HTTPS via a reverse proxy (e.g., Nginx + TLS) or services like Cloudflare Tunnel

Run Rclone rcd as a systemd Service​

To keep the Rclone daemon (rcd) running in the background even after reboots, you can register it as a systemd service on your Linux system (such as Ubuntu EC2 instance).

  • It will start automatically on system boot.
  • It runs reliably in the background with automatic restarts on failure.

1. Create a systemd Service File​

Create the following file:


```bash
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/rclone-rcd.service

Paste the following content (adjust your rc-user, rc-pass, and any flags as needed):

[Unit]
Description=Rclone Remote Control Daemon
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=ubuntu
ExecStart=/usr/bin/rclone rcd \
  --rc-user=admin \
  --rc-pass=admin \
  --rc-addr=0.0.0.0:5572 \
  --rc-web-gui \
  --log-file=/var/log/rclone.log \
  --log-level=INFO
Restart=on-failure

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

🔒 Security Note: Change the admin credentials to something secure in production environments.

2. Reload systemd and Enable the Service​

sudo systemctl daemon-reexec
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable rclone-rcd
sudo systemctl start rclone-rcd

3. Verify Status​

To confirm that the daemon is running:

sudo systemctl status rclone-rcd

You should see active (running) in green.

With these steps, your Rclone daemon runs in the cloud, fully accessible via RcloneView or other clients—ready to efficiently manage your remote storage from anywhere.