/rclone_gitannex

title: "rclone gitannex"
description: "Speaks with git-annex over stdin/stdout."
aliases:
  - /commands/rclone_git-annex-remote-rclone-builtin/
versionIntroduced: v1.67.0
# autogenerated - DO NOT EDIT, instead edit the source code in cmd/gitannex/ and as part of making a release run "make commanddocs"

> **Official documentation:** [https://rclone.org/commands/rclone_gitannex/](https://rclone.org/commands/rclone_gitannex/)

rclone gitannex

Speaks with git-annex over stdin/stdout.

Synopsis

Rclone's `gitannex` subcommand enables [git-annex] to store and retrieve content from an rclone remote. It is meant to be run by git-annex, not directly by users.

[git-annex]: https://git-annex.branchable.com/

Installation on Linux

1. Skip this step if your version of git-annex is [10.20240430] or newer. Otherwise, you must create a symlink somewhere on your PATH with a particular name. This symlink helps git-annex tell rclone it wants to run the "gitannex" subcommand.

Create the helper symlink in "$HOME/bin":

   ln -s "$(realpath rclone)" "$HOME/bin/git-annex-remote-rclone-builtin"

   Verify the new symlink is on your PATH:

   ```console
   which git-annex-remote-rclone-builtin

[10.20240430]: https://git-annex.branchable.com/news/version_10.20240430/

2. Add a new remote to your git-annex repo. This new remote will connect git-annex with the `rclone gitannex` subcommand.

Start by asking git-annex to describe the remote's available configuration parameters.

If you skipped step 1:

   git annex initremote MyRemote type=rclone --whatelse

If you created a symlink in step 1:

   git annex initremote MyRemote type=external externaltype=rclone-builtin --whatelse

> **NOTE**: If you're porting an existing [git-annex-remote-rclone] remote to > use `rclone gitannex`, you can probably reuse the configuration parameters > verbatim without renaming them. Check parameter synonyms with `--whatelse` > as shown above. > > [git-annex-remote-rclone]: https://github.com/git-annex-remote-rclone/git-annex-remote-rclone

The following example creates a new git-annex remote named "MyRemote" that will use the rclone remote named "SomeRcloneRemote". That rclone remote must be one configured in your rclone.conf file, which can be located with `rclone config file`.

   git annex initremote MyRemote         \
       type=external                     \
       externaltype=rclone-builtin       \
       encryption=none                   \
       rcloneremotename=SomeRcloneRemote \
       rcloneprefix=git-annex-content    \
       rclonelayout=nodir

3. Before you trust this command with your precious data, be sure to **test the remote**. This command is very new and has not been tested on many rclone backends. Caveat emptor!

   git annex testremote MyRemote

Happy annexing!

rclone gitannex [flags]

Options

  -h, --help   help for gitannex

See the [global flags page](/flags/) for global options not listed here.

See Also

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• [rclone](/commands/rclone/) - Show help for rclone commands, flags and backends.

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