SSH read only access

Insight & Feedback
1

I am not able to write in SSH. After logging in by my Zima OS login username and password I just get read only access and I not able to install Rclone in it.

2

Either use SUDO with each command, or run sudo -i one time authenticate, and then you will have root access. Also why install rclone at the os level instead of via docker? Also Zima OS already has rclone If I recall.

3

Actually I am new to this and to be frank don’t know anything about docker right now. All the insignificant amount of knowledge I have about running a home server is either from youtube or Chat GPT.
My main goal was to design a routine in which I can move the uploaded photos from my phone in onedrive to my NAS at some regular time interval (so that I can use the little free storage to upload few photos and then delete it later after successful upload) and then use that directory as import folder for immich app to show me all the uploaded photos in a more organised and used friendly way.

  • First step that chatGPT suggested was to download Rclone and schedule a task to regulary check the onedrive folder for some new files (in my case images and videos).
  • Move these files to designated folder for immich to access.
  • and after ensuring that all the files are moved empty the folder in the drive.

In this way I back up my photos in a more secure way remotely and also not fill the 5 GB free storage that we get in OneDrive.

4

This is normal behavior on ZimaOS, not a permission issue.

ZimaOS is buildroot-based, so the OS filesystem is read-only by design. Even with sudo or sudo -i you can’t install packages, and there’s no apt/yum. That’s why rclone can’t be installed at the OS level.

A few key points:

  • sudo won’t change this — root is still read-only
  • rclone already exists in ZimaOS and is used by the Backup app
  • anything you automate must live under /DATA (or /DATA/AppData), not system paths

For what you want to do (OneDrive > NAS > Immich), the supported ways are:

  • Use the built-in Backup app to sync/move OneDrive photos into a folder under /DATA, then point Immich’s import folder at it
  • Or run rclone in Docker, with config and data mounted under /DATA

So nothing is broken. Installing tools directly on the OS isn’t supported on ZimaOS, automation is done via the Backup app or Docker.

5

Why all server is linux application or os?

6

The problem is that in built-in Backup app I am not able to find move option. So it still leaves the files after copying the original source.

7

That’s expected, the Backup app is sync/copy only, not move.

It uses rclone in sync/copy mode, so the source (OneDrive) is intentionally left untouched. There is no delete-after-copy option in the UI.

Why this matters:

  • Backup is designed to be non-destructive
  • Auto-deleting cloud data would be risky, so it’s not exposed

Your options if you need move + empty OneDrive:

  1. rclone in Docker (correct solution)
    Use rclone move instead of copy/sync. This is the only supported way to automatically delete files from OneDrive after transfer on ZimaOS.
  2. Manual cleanup
    Use Backup app to copy, then manually delete from OneDrive (safe but not automated).
  3. OneDrive-side automation
    Use OneDrive rules / Power Automate to move files after upload (works, but outside ZimaOS).

So the limitation is real: Backup app cannot move.
If you want automation with deletion, Docker + rclone is required.