Accessing a share (rclone + SMB) Introduction This guide teaches you how to access a network share using rclone via the SMB protocol. This guide assumed that you have established a connection to my network; see Connecting to my network if you haven't already. Before we begin.. I SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSSES ARISING FROM ANY USE OF THE NETWORK SHARE, INCLUDING ANY INTERRUPTIONS TO THE NETWORK SHARE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY POWER OUTAGES, SYSTEM FAILURES, NETWORK ATTACKS, SCHEDULED OR UNSCHEDULED MAINTENANCE, OR OTHER INTERRUPTIONS. YOU are responsible for keeping enough backups of your data. Recommended reading: https://www.backblaze.com/blog/the-3-2-1-backup-strategy/ With that out of the way, let's begin! Prerequisites A Linux machine; A working WireGuard or Tailscale connection to my homelab; The following three strings: The share name; The username for SMB authentication; The password for SMB authentication. Installing dependencies We only really need to install  rclone. On Debian sudo apt install rclone On Arch Linux sudo pacman -S rclone Adding the remote $> rclone config Current remotes: Name Type ==== ==== unrelated1 http unrelated2 smb # ..bla bla.. e/n/d/r/c/s/q> n # Choose a name for your remote: name> example_smb # A very long list appears, you can ignore it. # Just write: Storage> smb # Enter this host exactly: Option host. host> truenas.storage.jorislab.nl # Enter your first name, in lower case. For example: Option user. user> joris # Port number: default port> # press Enter # Use a password? Yes. Option pass. y/g/n> y Enter the password: password: # Paste the password you were given. Confirm the password: password: # Paste it again. # No specific domain domain> # press Enter Edit advanced config? y/n> n # No # Save the remote. Keep this "example" remote? y/e/d> y # yes # You should now land back at the start. # Write 'q' to exit e/n/d/r/c/s/q> q Testing the remote After exiting the interactive CLI, you should now be able to run: # Format: : $> rclone ls example_smb:/example/ It might seem odd to write 'example' as path here. The format is :. However, SMB is a directory, even at the very top level: the root directory is just a list of shares. Because of this you first have to write your share name as the first 'folder' in the path. Folders and files below that are yours. To test reading and writing: # Create a file: $> echo hello > hello.txt # Copy the file to the remote: $> rclone copy hello.txt example_smb:/example/ # List files in the remote: $> rclone ls example_smb:/example/ 6 hello.txt Wrapping up I suggest heading over to the rclone docs to find how you want to utilize rclone effectively. The two most common use-cases I've found are rclone copy and  rclone sync; the only difference being that the latter also deletes files. And we're done! Enjoy!