How to install Google Drive Sync on Ubuntu 16.04 and higher

Google Drive on Ubuntu

Google drive is one of the many handy tools Google offers. It is a file synchronization tool that allows you to backup, store and share and access files in the cloud. I use it to collaborate on files with others or to sync movies that I can then easily publish on Youtube.



Unfortunately there is no native Google drive software for Linux Desktops. Luckily there is a way to have a proper sync setup on Ubuntu 16.04 and higher that uses the Google drive API and some Gui tools. Let me show you how I have this installed on my Ubuntu Desktop.

First I install the Grive2 commandline tool:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nilarimogard/webupd8
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install grive

No need to set it up right now. Instead let's first install grive-tools. This is a package that is only available up to Ununtu Vivid, but I have found that is works just the same on Ubuntu 16.04
Run the following from a terminal:

sudo su -c "nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/thefanclub*.list"
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/thefanclub/grive-tools/ubuntu vivid main
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install grive-tools

Now go to the dash and type Grive and click on the Grive Setup application link and follow the instructions to setup your Google Drive Sync.

Here's a screenshot of my Google drive and the grive tools open.