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Forum Discussion

Skawt's avatar
Skawt
New member | Level 2
6 years ago

Run Dropbox as Service, without being logged on

I have been scouring the internet for how to setup Dropbox to run on Windows Server 2012 R2 as a service.  I have seen tutorials for 3rd party applications that will start it on boot and allow sync, ...
Desktop
Sync
Windows
Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Hi there, the Dropbox desktop application can’t be run as a service on a server, without the assistance of a third party app.
 
It does need to be run within the computer profile, which needs to be signed in consistently for the files to sync.
 
I’m sure that there are some other users on the forum that might be able to provide a solution of their own!
Sam242's avatar
Sam242
Explorer | Level 4
6 years ago

Why doesn't DropBox make a version that can run as a service? I too have managed to hack it to work but why not atually make this an official feature? It would be a brilliant addition.

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    6 years ago
    Sam242 wrote:

    Why doesn't DropBox make a version that can run as a service?

    Because Dropbox has never intended for it to be used in that manner. It has always been meant as an application for one individual; not run as a service or be installed on server-based operating systems. Can it be done? Sure, but it's not on Dropbox to provide a built-in option when it's not meant to be run in that manner.

    • GRS-Vin's avatar
      GRS-Vin
      Explorer | Level 4
      6 years ago

      I have been using Always-Up on Server 2008 - 2016 for years without issue. There was a time when DB went from installing in the user profile to installing it in Program Files for all user access and the software did not work as a service but the Always Up team addressed that in hours.

      • Sam242's avatar
        Sam242
        Explorer | Level 4
        6 years ago

        As do I - just would be brilliant if it was 'built-in'. It would gain DropBox more custom and be a really easy way into the server side market.

    • Sam242's avatar
      Sam242
      Explorer | Level 4
      6 years ago

      It seems like a well requested feature and would compliment DropBox beautifully. After all why wouldn't a back up service for client machines want to exand into the server market? Seems a real missed opportunity. Can Google Drive or OneDrive run as a service? As soon as they can I - and I am asure others - will move over.

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