Documentation update for DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH environment variable

[shalafi99]

Hello,

I have set up dropbox for usage with docker-volume-backup today and noticed what appears to be an incorrect (or maybe just outdated because dropbox changed the API behavior, not sure) instruction inside the corresponding recipe/howto:

The dropbox "how-to" (link) states:

Other parameters
Important: If you chose App folder access during the creation of your Dropbox app in step 1 above, you can only write in the app’s directory! This means, that DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH must start with e.g. /Apps/YOUR_APP_NAME or /Apps/YOUR_APP_NAME/some_sub_dir

As does the related "recipe" while referencing that same environment variable named DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH

While setting up mine, I scoped permissions only to the app:

Including the absolute path like instructed (/Apps/appname) resulted in this:

I had to change it to DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH=/diun (a relative path to the app) to achieve what would be the expected outcome:

level=INFO msg="Starting upload session for backup '/tmp/backup-diun-2024-09-16T16-18-37.tar.gz' at path '/diun'." storage=Dropbox
level=INFO msg="Uploaded a copy of backup '/tmp/backup-diun-2024-09-16T16-18-37.tar.gz' at path '/diun'." storage=Dropbox

(Note: I had not yet deleted the path from the previous run while taking the screenshot above)

I have not done this before, but supposedly I could go for a PR to update "docs/recipes/index.md" and "docs/how-tos/set-up-dropbox.md" ?

Cheers

[m90]

I've never used the Dropbbox Storage (or even Dropbox) myself, so I can't tell if this is a change in API behavior or never worked as documented. Maybe @MaxJa4 who added this knows more about this?

[shalafi99]

I've noticed that in the "Configuration Reference" under github.io (link), the example value for DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH appears to reflect current behavior:

# DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH="/my/directory"

Also, there is no accompanying explanation text pointing out a need to include /Apps/appname in the variable (like it happens with the how-to / recipe).

[shalafi99]

I wonder if instead this tool would need to set a value for this to work consistently, but tbh I don't understand yet which value would be needed here.

What do you think? I suppose the explanation could go both ways, somewhat like this (draft wording)

Other parameters
Important: If you chose App folder access during the creation of your Dropbox app in step 1 above, DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH will be a relative path under the App folder (For example, DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH=/somedir means the backup file will be uploaded to /Apps/myapp/somedir). On the other hand, if you chose Full Dropbox access the value for DROPBOX_REMOTE_PATH will be an absolute path inside your Dropbox storage (Using the same value example above, the backup file would be uploaded to a folder "somedir" placed directly in the root for Dropbox)

Too long?

[m90]

I think it's just about the right length. If you need help with getting that PR ready, let me know. Thanks a lot in advance in any case.

[shalafi99]

I think it's just about the right length. If you need help with getting that PR ready, let me know. Thanks a lot in advance in any case.

Just one question, for starters: is it perfectly ok to not create an issue out of this discussion and instead just reference the PR directly to here?

[m90]

Yup, that's perfectly fine with me.

[shalafi99]

Yup, that's perfectly fine with me.

I think I got it - PR #473