proton-drive-linux/docs/INSTALL.md

Installation

This page covers installing Proton Drive for Linux from a package or from source, the first sign-in, running without a desktop, and removing the client again.

• Requirements
• Install a package
• Build from source
• First run
• Headless and server use
• Updating
• Uninstalling

Requirements

	Minimum
Architecture	x86_64 (release packages); other architectures build from source
Kernel	FUSE 3 (fuse3 package, /dev/fuse available to your user)
GTK / libadwaita	GTK 4.12, libadwaita 1.5 (1.8 or newer gets the newest widgets)
WebKitGTK	6.0 — used only for the CAPTCHA page during sign-in
Secret Service	GNOME Keyring, KWallet, KeePassXC, or another provider of org.freedesktop.secrets
Rust (source builds)	1.96

The session is stored only in the Secret Service. Without a running provider, sign-in succeeds but cannot be saved, and the service cannot start unattended.

Optional runtime extras:

Package	Adds
exiftool (perl-image-exiftool, libimage-exiftool-perl)	Thumbnails for camera RAW files
ffmpeg	Video thumbnails
iso-codes	Country names in your language on the Places map
xdg-utils	"Open Folder" in the tray, and the default file opener
fzf plus a terminal (foot, kitty, alacritty, …)	pdfs-prompt --fzf, the search-as-you-type launcher
AppIndicator extension (GNOME only)	The tray icon. KDE Plasma and most other desktops show it natively

Install a package

Every release ships a .deb, a signed .rpm and a .tar.gz of the raw binaries. All packages install the same files:

Path	Purpose
/usr/bin/pdfs	Command-line client and background service
/usr/bin/pdfs-app	Desktop app
/usr/bin/pdfs-tray	Tray icon
/usr/bin/pdfs-prompt	Search launcher
/usr/lib/systemd/user/proton-drive.service	User service that keeps the drive mounted
/etc/xdg/autostart/io.narl.proton-drive-linux-tray.desktop	Starts the tray at login
/usr/share/locale/*/LC_MESSAGES/pdfs.mo	Translations

Debian and Ubuntu (24.04 or newer)

sudo apt install ./proton-drive-linux_*_amd64.deb

Fedora (44 or newer)

sudo dnf install ./proton-drive-linux-*.x86_64.rpm

For a Fedora package built from your own checkout, see Build an RPM locally.

Arch Linux (AUR)

Three packages cover the usual choices. They conflict with each other, so install one:

Package	Contents
proton-drive-for-linux	Latest tagged release, built from source
proton-drive-for-linux-bin	Latest tagged release, prebuilt binaries
proton-drive-for-linux-git	main, built from git

paru -S proton-drive-for-linux     # or yay, or any other AUR helper

The recipes live in packaging/aur/.

Other distributions

Unpack the .tar.gz into a directory on your PATH, then install the service unit as shown in Using a binary outside /usr/bin.

Build from source

Build dependencies

Debian / Ubuntu 24.04+

sudo apt-get install -y pkg-config gettext libfuse3-dev libgtk-4-dev libadwaita-1-dev \
  libwebkitgtk-6.0-dev libsecret-1-dev libdbus-1-dev

Fedora 44+

sudo dnf install -y cargo rust gettext pkgconf-pkg-config fuse3-devel gtk4-devel \
  libadwaita-devel webkitgtk6.0-devel libsecret-devel dbus-devel glib2-devel

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S --needed rust gettext pkgconf fuse3 gtk4 libadwaita webkitgtk-6.0 libsecret dbus

Install Rust 1.96 or newer with rustup if your distribution ships an older toolchain.

Compile

git clone https://github.com/narrrl/proton-drive-linux.git
cd proton-drive-linux
cargo build --release --locked
po/build.sh target/locale        # optional: compile the translations

The four binaries are in target/release/: pdfs, pdfs-app, pdfs-tray and pdfs-prompt.

Build a package from the working tree

Arch Linux:

cd packaging && makepkg -fi

Fedora:

sudo dnf install -y rpm-build
rpmbuild -bb packaging/proton-drive-linux.spec \
  --define "git_dir $PWD" \
  --define "_rpmdir $PWD/packaging/out" \
  --define "_builddir $PWD/packaging/build" \
  --define "_sourcedir $PWD" \
  --define "_specdir $PWD/packaging" \
  --define "_srcrpmdir $PWD/packaging/out"
sudo dnf install packaging/out/x86_64/proton-drive-linux-*.rpm

Using a binary outside /usr/bin

The service unit starts /usr/bin/pdfs daemon. If you installed the binaries somewhere else, for example ~/.local/bin, install the unit for your user and point it at your binary:

mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user
cp packaging/proton-drive.service ~/.config/systemd/user/
sed -i "s|^ExecStart=.*|ExecStart=$HOME/.local/bin/pdfs daemon|" \
  ~/.config/systemd/user/proton-drive.service
systemctl --user daemon-reload

To start the tray at login, copy packaging/io.narl.proton-drive-linux-tray.desktop to ~/.config/autostart/. For the app launcher entry, copy packaging/io.narl.proton-drive-linux.desktop to ~/.local/share/applications/ and the icon packaging/io.narl.proton-drive-linux.svg to ~/.local/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/.

First run

With the desktop app

1. Open Proton Drive from your application menu, or run pdfs-app.
2. Sign in with your Proton email and password, and your two-factor code if the account has one. If Proton asks for a CAPTCHA (common on a VPN or a new network), the app shows the challenge in a window and continues after you solve it.
3. The app enables and starts proton-drive.service. Your Drive appears at ~/ProtonDrive.

The service is tied to your graphical session. It starts after you log in and stops when you log out. Change the folder location under Preferences → General → Location.

With the command line

pdfs login stores the session but does not enable the service, so a setup that runs the daemon another way stays untouched. Enable the service yourself:

pdfs login                                        # email, password, 2FA code
systemctl --user enable --now proton-drive.service
pdfs status                                       # account, mount and queue state

The CLI cannot show a CAPTCHA. If sign-in reports one, sign in once with pdfs-app instead; the session it stores is used by the CLI and the service as well.

Headless and server use

The service unit is bound to graphical-session.target. On a machine without a desktop session, run the daemon directly or from your own unit:

pdfs daemon                      # waits for a stored session, mounts, stays mounted
pdfs mount /srv/proton           # mounts once at a given path, blocks until unmounted

Both still need a Secret Service provider. On a server, run gnome-keyring-daemon --unlock or KeePassXC's Secret Service integration inside the user's D-Bus session.

Updating

Install the new package over the old one. The service picks up the new binary the next time it starts; to switch at once:

systemctl --user restart proton-drive.service

Database migrations run automatically and only move forward. A database written by a newer release refuses to open in an older one, so downgrading means clearing the local database (see Troubleshooting).

Uninstalling

Warning

Check that nothing is waiting to upload before you remove local state. pdfs sync queue must be empty. Queued writes exist only on this computer until they reach Proton Drive.

pdfs sync queue                                   # must list nothing
systemctl --user disable --now proton-drive.service
pdfs logout                                       # removes the session from the keyring

Then remove the package (sudo apt remove proton-drive-linux, sudo dnf remove proton-drive-linux, or sudo pacman -R proton-drive-for-linux), and, if you want no trace left, the local data:

rm -rf ~/.config/proton-drive-linux ~/.local/state/proton-drive-linux ~/.cache/proton-drive-linux

Sign out of the device in your Proton account settings as well, and remove the computer from Computers in the Proton Drive web app if you no longer want its backups.