The Problem

Dropbox stops syncing when no user is logged in. On a headless server or a machine that isn't always attended, this means your files go stale whenever the session ends.

The Solution

Run Dropbox as a systemd user service with loginctl enable-linger. This keeps Dropbox running at boot — no active session required.

1. Create the service file

Place this at ~/.config/systemd/user/dropbox.service:

[Unit]
Description=Dropbox Sync Service
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
ExecStart=/home/YOUR_USER/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
Environment=HOME=/home/YOUR_USER
Environment=DISPLAY=
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

Replace YOUR_USER with your actual username.

2. Enable and start the service

systemctl --user enable dropbox.service
systemctl --user start dropbox.service

3. Enable linger

This is the key step — it tells systemd to start your user services at boot, even without an active login session:

sudo loginctl enable-linger YOUR_USER

4. Verify

systemctl --user status dropbox.service     # should show active (running)
loginctl show-user YOUR_USER | grep Linger  # should show Linger=yes

Important Note

Dropbox must be installed and linked to your account at least once in an interactive session before this setup works. Run dropboxd manually first, follow the authentication link, and then switch to the systemd service.