This guide explains how to import data from iCloud Drive or iCloud Photos to kDrive Infomaniak using rclone.

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Introduction

• This method is intended for experienced users who wish to transfer iCloud data to kDrive without manually copying files one by one.
• rclone allows you to configure an iCloud Drive or iCloud Photos source, and then a kDrive destination via WebDAV.
• Accessing iCloud with rclone requires the usual Apple ID password and two-factor Apple authentication. Apple application passwords are not accepted for this configuration.
• iCloud authentication may need to be renewed periodically using rclone reconnect or rclone config.
• The rclone copy command copies files to kDrive without deleting them from the source iCloud.

1. Install rclone

rclone can be installed via the command line. On macOS, Linux, or BSD, open the Terminal application and run the following command:

sudo -v ; curl {{URL_1}} | sudo bash

If necessary, consult the official rclone installation guide, especially for Windows or for a manual installation.

Once the installation is complete, verify that rclone is responding correctly:

rclone version

2. Configure the iCloud source in rclone

1. In Terminal, start the rclone configuration:

   rclone config

2. Choose n to create a new remote disk.

3. Give this source an explicit name, for example:

   iCloudDrive

4. Choose the iclouddrive storage type.
5. To import documents stored in iCloud Drive, keep the default drive service.
6. To import items from iCloud Photos, choose the photos service or create a second dedicated remote drive, for example iCloudPhotos.
7. Enter your Apple ID, which is usually an email address.
8. Choose to enter your own password, then enter your usual Apple ID password.
9. Answer n to advanced configuration, unless you have a specific need.
10. Confirm the connection from your trusted Apple device, then enter the two-factor authentication code when rclone prompts you.
11. When the summary is correct, answer y to save the configuration.

Check that the iCloud source is accessible:

rclone lsd iCloudDrive:

If you have configured a dedicated source for iCloud Photos, check it as well:

rclone lsd iCloudPhotos:

3. Configure the kDrive destination in rclone

kDrive must be configured in rclone as a WebDAV storage.

1. Restart the configuration if you are no longer in the rclone menu:

   rclone config

2. Choose n to create a new remote disk.

3. Give the destination an explicit name, for example:

   kDrive

4. Choose the webdav storage type.

5. For the URL, enter the direct WebDAV access to your kDrive:

   {{URL_3}}

   • Replace ID_KDRIVE with your kDrive ID; refer to this other guide if needed.
6. For the WebDAV provider (vendor), choose other.
7. For the user (user), enter the email address used to log in to the Infomaniak account.
8. For the password, enter:
   • an application password if two-factor authentication is enabled on the Infomaniak account;
   • the password for the Infomaniak user account if two-factor authentication is not enabled.
9. Leave the bearer_token field blank.
10. Answer n to the advanced configuration prompt, unless you have a specific need.
11. If the summary is correct, answer y to save the configuration.

The resulting configuration will look like this in the rclone configuration file:

[kDrive]
type = webdav
url = {{URL_6}}
vendor = other
user = user@example.com
pass = PASSWORD_STORED_BY_RCLONE

Verify that the kDrive destination is accessible:

rclone lsd kDrive:

4. Copy iCloud data to kDrive

Before launching a full copy, list the available folders on the source:

rclone lsd iCloudDrive:

It is recommended to perform a test without actual transfer using --dry-run:

rclone copy iCloudDrive: kDrive:iCloudDrive --dry-run --progress

If the result is correct, start the copy:

rclone copy iCloudDrive: kDrive:iCloudDrive --progress --transfers 4 --checkers 8 --retries 5 --low-level-retries 10 --log-level INFO --log-file "$HOME/Desktop/rclone-kdrive-import.log"

This command copies the folders, subfolders, and files from the source iCloudDrive: to the iCloudDrive folder in your kDrive.

If the connection or computer is interrupted, restart the same command. rclone will resume the comparison and avoid copying files that are already present when their size and available information match.

To verify the consistency of the copied volume, you can compare the source and destination by size:

rclone check iCloudDrive: kDrive:iCloudDrive --size-only --one-way --progress

Copying iCloud Photos

If you have configured a dedicated source for iCloud Photos, first list the available libraries and folders:

rclone lsd iCloudPhotos:

Then, adjust the source path according to the directory structure displayed by rclone. Example:

rclone copy iCloudPhotos: kDrive:iCloudPhotos --dry-run --progress

Then, start the copy if the test result is correct:

rclone copy iCloudPhotos: kDrive:iCloudPhotos --progress --transfers 4 --checkers 8 --retries 5 --low-level-retries 10 --log-level INFO --log-file "$HOME/Desktop/rclone-kdrive-photos.log"

5. Correct the dates of the photos if necessary

After exporting or copying photos, the system dates of the files may no longer correspond to the original date the photos were taken. If the chronological display is not correct, you can correct the dates on a local copy of the files before sending them permanently to kDrive.

To prepare a local folder for correction, copy the photos, for example, into a temporary folder on your desktop:

rclone copy iCloudPhotos: "$HOME/Desktop/iCloud-Photos" --progress

Next, install ExifTool from https://exiftool.org/index.html, then run the script below on macOS from the Terminal application.

The script searches for a date in the file's metadata and then in its name. The corrected files are listed in DateFound.txt, and the files without a usable date are listed in DateError.txt, on the desktop.

The script to copy and paste:

/bin/bash <<'BASH'
#!/bin/bash
set -u

ROOT="$(osascript -e 'POSIX path of (choose folder with prompt "Select the folder containing the files to update")')" || exit 0

DESKTOP="$HOME/Desktop"
LOG_FOUND="$DESKTOP/DateFound.txt"
LOG_ERROR="$DESKTOP/DateError.txt"
: > "$LOG_FOUND"
: > "$LOG_ERROR"

find_exiftool() {
    if command -v exiftool >/dev/null 2>&1; then
        command -v exiftool
        return 0
    fi
    if [ -x "/usr/local/bin/exiftool" ]; then
        printf '%s\n' "/usr/local/bin/exiftool"
        return 0
    fi
    if [ -x "/opt/homebrew/bin/exiftool" ]; then
        printf '%s\n' "/opt/homebrew/bin/exiftool"
        return 0
    fi
    return 1
}

EXIFTOOL="$(find_exiftool)" || {
    printf '%s\n' "ExifTool not found. Install it, then run the script again." >> "$LOG_ERROR"
    printf '%s\n' "ExifTool not found. Check DateError.txt on the desktop."
    exit 1
}

if [ ! -d "$ROOT" ]; then
    printf 'Invalid folder: %s\n' "$ROOT" >> "$LOG_ERROR"
    printf '%s\n' "Invalid folder. Check DateError.txt on the desktop."
    exit 1
fi

get_exif_date() {
    "$EXIFTOOL" -s3 -d "%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S" -DateTimeOriginal -CreateDate -MediaCreateDate -TrackCreateDate -CreationDate -ModifyDate -- "$1" 2>/dev/null | awk '/^[0-9]{4}:[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2} [0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}:[0-9]{2}/ { print substr($0, 1, 19); exit }'
}

get_name_date() {
    local name
    name="$(basename "$1")"
    if [[ "$name" =~ ([12][0-9]{3})[-_]?([01][0-9])[-_]?([0-3][0-9])([_\ -]?([0-2][0-9])[-_\.]?([0-5][0-9])[-_\.]?([0-5][0-9]))? ]]; then
        local year="${BASH_REMATCH[1]}"
        local month="${BASH_REMATCH[2]}"
        local day="${BASH_REMATCH[3]}"
        local hour="12"
        local minute="00"
        local second="00"
        if [ -n "${BASH_REMATCH[5]:-}" ]; then
            hour="${BASH_REMATCH[5]}"
            minute="${BASH_REMATCH[6]}"
            second="${BASH_REMATCH[7]}"
        fi
        printf '%s:%s:%s %s:%s:%s\n' "$year" "$month" "$day" "$hour" "$minute" "$second"
        return 0
    fi
    return 1
}

is_valid_date() {
    date -j -f "%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S" "$1" "+%Y:%m:%d %H:%M:%S" >/dev/null 2>&1
}

to_touch_date() {
    printf '%s' "$1" | sed -E 's/^([0-9]{4}):([0-9]{2}):([0-9]{2}) ([0-9]{2}):([0-9]{2}):([0-9]{2})$/\1\2\3\4\5.\6/'
}

write_metadata() {
    local file="$1"
    local date_value="$2"
    "$EXIFTOOL" -overwrite_original "-DateTimeOriginal=$date_value" "-CreateDate=$date_value" "-ModifyDate=$date_value" -- "$file" >/dev/null 2>&1 || true
}

process_file() {
    local file="$1"
    local date_value=""
    local source=""

    date_value="$(get_exif_date "$file")"
    if [ -n "$date_value" ]; then
        source="EXIF"
    else
        date_value="$(get_name_date "$file")"
        if [ -n "$date_value" ]; then
            source="file name"
        fi
    fi

    if [ -n "$date_value" ] && is_valid_date "$date_value"; then
        local touch_value
        touch_value="$(to_touch_date "$date_value")"

        if [ "$source" != "EXIF" ]; then
            write_metadata "$file" "$date_value"
        fi

        if touch -t "$touch_value" "$file" 2>/dev/null; then
            printf '%s | %s | %s\n' "$source" "$date_value" "$file" >> "$LOG_FOUND"
        else
            printf 'Unable to update file date: %s\n' "$file" >> "$LOG_ERROR"
        fi
    else
        printf 'No valid date found: %s\n' "$file" >> "$LOG_ERROR"
    fi
}

while IFS= read -r -d '' file; do
    case "$file" in
        *.json|*_original) continue ;;
    esac
    process_file "$file"
done < <(find "$ROOT" -type f -print0)

printf '%s\n' "Done. Check DateFound.txt and DateError.txt on the desktop."
BASH

After correction, send the corrected local folder to kDrive:

rclone copy "$HOME/Desktop/iCloud-Photos" kDrive:iCloudPhotos --progress --transfers 4 --checkers 8 --retries 5 --low-level-retries 10

6. Accessing data from kDrive

Once the copy is complete, your data is accessible from the kDrive web app, the kDrive mobile apps, and devices synchronized with the kDrive desktop app.

If you are also using the kDrive desktop app, wait for the local synchronization to complete before moving or renaming the imported folders.