Requires the Essential tier or above.
Drive Management works from a synchronised inventory of your shared drives, so sync needs enabling before the list will populate.
Turn it on
- Go to Settings > Domain Settings > Domain Actions.
- Enable Automatic Shared Drive Sync.
Shared drive sync only runs when a feature that needs it is switched on, so there is no extra load on domains not using Drive Management.
Waiting for the first sync
Shared drives are synchronised as part of your existing domain sync, under Settings > Domain Settings > Domain synchronisation, alongside users, groups and organisational units. Domain sync runs roughly every 48 hours. It collects shared drive information such as name, organisational unit, and members and permissions.
Until the first sync completes, the Shared Drives list will be empty or incomplete.
The sync is one way. It reads from Google Workspace into CloudM. Changes you make in CloudM are sent straight to Google as separate actions.
When domain sync finds a new drive, its first details sync is normally picked up within about 20 minutes. Sync now, one of the shared drive actions, runs the per-drive details sync for one drive without waiting. A small drive finishes in seconds; larger drives, or busy periods, take longer. With automatic sync on, a drive's basic information and membership are already current, so Sync now is mainly useful for refreshing file and public link counts sooner, and for bringing a change you made in CloudM back into the list.
Two syncs, two clocks
| Sync | When it runs | What it brings in |
|---|---|---|
| Domain sync | Roughly every 48 hours, alongside users, groups and organisational units | Shared drives are synchronised as part of it. With automatic sync on, basic shared drive information and membership stay current |
| Per-drive details sync | Roughly every five days per drive. A new drive's first details sync is normally picked up within about 20 minutes | The file count and public link count for that drive |
A new drive that has not appeared yet is waiting on the domain sync. An out-of-date file count or public link count is waiting on the per-drive details sync. A file that looks wrong inside a drive is not waiting on anything, because files are read live.
Three things that sound similar
- Refresh asks for the latest data already stored in CloudM. It does not contact Google.
- Sync pulls data from Google into CloudM. It does not send CloudM data to Google.
- Actions, such as creating or renaming a drive, go straight from CloudM to Google. They do not wait for a sync. Use Sync now on the drive to see the change in CloudM.
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