Software:ownCloud

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Short description: Free software for cloud computing

ownCloud
OwnCloud logo and wordmark.svg
Developer(s)ownCloud GmbH, Community
Stable release[1]
Written inPHP, Javascript, Go
Operating systemServer: Linux
Clients: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS
TypeOnline storage, data synchronization
LicenceServer: AGPL-3.0-or-later
Enterprise: Proprietary
Websiteowncloud.com

ownCloud is a free and open-source software project for content collaboration and sharing and syncing of files in distributed and federated enterprise scenarios. It allows companies and remote end-users to organize their documents on servers, computers and mobile devices and work with them collaboratively, while keeping a centrally organized and synchronized state.

ownCloud supports extensions for online document editing such as Collabora, OnlyOffice, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Online Office and synchronization of calendars and contacts. Users can access data and documents through a web browser on a computer or mobile device and on a variety of client apps on operating systems like Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Most of ownCloud is published under APGL and GPL licenses, except for some enterprise extensions.

ownCloud is available in two versions: ownCloud 10 and Infinite Scale. While the classic ownCloud 10 is still written in PHP (ownCloud maintains and hardens its own version of the no longer officially supported PHP version 7.4 [2]) and is based on the LAMP stack, the newer version "Infinite Scale", created in the scientific environment of the European nuclear research center CERN, is written in Google's Go programming language and uses an architecture with microservices, cloud-native technologies and a frontend in Vue.js[3].While ownCloud 10 uses PHP scripts to access an SQLite, MySQL or PostgreSQL database installed on the server, Infinite Scale works without a database. The new Infinite Scale version was developed to ensure more file actions in less time and immediate access to scientific data, for example, even in scenarios where this is no longer possible with PHP and LAMP or security issues prohibit these setups.

History

The ownCloud project was launched in 2010 by Frank Karlitschek [4][5][6] who shortly afterwards founded the company of the same name together with Markus Rex and Holger Dyroff. In 2016, ownCloud CTO Karlitschek left the company[7] and founded the fork Nextcloud[8] including Nextcloud GmbH.[9] ownCloud GmbH continued with a new investor and Tobias Gerlinger as a new CEO, Holger Dyroff the new COO.[10] Nextcloud and ownCloud still offer similar software today, but the focus of the projects and products as well as the technologies used now differ greatly. ownCloud has recently focused on larger users from the public and scientific sectors and does not have a similarly large range of community apps as Nextcloud. With the new ownCloud version "Infinite Scale", which was created in 2021, many similarities in the technological foundation also end.

At the end of 2023, ownCloud and the American cloud software manufacturer Kiteworks announced the merger of the companies, with ownCloud's open source code remaining free software also in the long term.[11] At the beginning of 2024, CERN, the European Science Cloud,[12] Sciebo – the North Rhine-Westphalia science network with 22 universities [13]– and the Bavarian municipalities in the "Bayernbox" of the Bavarian State Office for Digitization, Broadband and Surveying)[14] used ownCloud. In the "BayernCloud Schule" (ByCS), Infinite Scale provides 4.7 million users (pupils, teachers, parents, administration) with a GDPR-compliant and secure learning platform.[15]

"Infinite Scale" Platform - Concept and Usage

While ownCloud 10 server is built on PHP and still is fully supported, ownCloud published its new version "Infinite Scale" in 2021. Infinite Scale was developed with the help of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), and is a complete rewrite in Go. CERN uses ownCloud with its EOS filesystem to handle ((As of 2021)) "12 petabytes of data in 1.4 billion files".[16]

In its third version, ownCloud Infinite Scale brings GDPR data export, compliance with accessibility standards of the WCAG, a file firewall that allows admins to block content from uploading, and an Antivirus API to the ICAP standard. Version 4, released in August 2023, improved the built-in full text search and introduced new tagging and filtering functions.

ownCloud Infinite Scale addresses large scale-deployments, many of them in the education or scientific domains. It is being used by millions of concurrent users in the Bavarian school cloud,[17] with a planned total of 4.7 million users. ownCloud Infinite Scale is also the backend of the SCIEBO[18] platform, where thousands of students and professors of universities in North-Rhine-Westfalia share files and collaborate on documents. The European Science Cloud[19]is also using ownCloud Infinite Scale for file sharing, syncing and collaboration.

Security Issues With PHP Versions and Updates

In November 2023, the company disclosed the existence of a vulnerability of severity rating 10 in an optional PHP extension of ownCloud server 10, which could expose passwords and cryptographic keys through a request sent to a static URL. Although the vulnerability had been fixed since early September, security researchers observed that it had come under "mass exploitation".[20] Users of ownCloud software older than 10.13.1 had already been advised to update to newer versions. Versions newer than 10.13.1 were not affected, neither was the new product ownCloud Infinite Scale, since it does not use PHP. ownCloud 10 is being maintained with the use of a specially hardened and supported PHP version 7.4,[21][22] since it is no longer supported by PHP developers.[23] The newer ownCloud Infinite Scale is built on Google Go and Vue.js and does not use PHP.[24]

Releases of ownCloud Infinite Scale

Version[25] Date New Features
Infinite Scale 4.0.0 August 28, 2023 Cloud Importer, Drag and Drop to breadcrumbs; Tags, Filter and Highlighting in Full text Search; Improved Link sharing; Copy and Paste for Upload from Keyboard
Infinite Scale 3.0.0 June 12, 2023 File Firewall, Antivirus (ICAP), Accessibility (WCAP), Tags, Full text Search, Spaces Templates, Custom User Roles
Infinite Scale 2.0.0 November 30, 2022 Complete overhaul of the backend, rewritten in Go and Vue.js, in cooperation with CERN. Spaces for file sharing.

Releases of ownCloud 10

10.13.4 December 13, 2023 A Bugfix to Check 2FA on controllers which are accessible publicly and authenticated, a new feature to prompt the admins of licensed instances to run the IoC-Scanner. The prompt appears in the admin menu and after an upgrade on the CLI.
10.13.3 November 17, 2023 Fix potential issue with the PreviewCleanup job in postgresql. Reverting Pull request 41059 because of performance problems for large installations. Users can only delete their own external storage configurations, and comments in config.apps.sample.php describing the configuration variables related to kerberos and windows_network_drive are now updated and in sync with published online documentation.
10.13.2 October 10, 2023 Several bugfixes (e.g. Delete all files from object store when user is deleted), fixed view on users page for subadmins, updated PHP dependencies (phpseclib, symfony, ...), , remove "Fill E-Tags" repair-step (a legacy step that took very long to run during an upgrade of a large system and didn't repair anything anymore), upgraded Microsoft Office Online app to version 1.8.1., Media Viewer now plays also HEIC and HEIF-files.
10.13.1 September 06, 2023 Improvements to "Open in Web"; Avoid Loading 3rd-party Resources; Fix: disallow pre-signed url access if the signing key is not initialized; dismiss invalid settings of the redirection endpoint URI as seen in the OAuth2 protocol, according to RFC#7636; updated apps for Graph API, Guests, OAuth2;
10.13.0 August 24, 2023 Kerberos authentication; enforceable 2-Factor-Authentication via Time-based One-Time Passwords (TOTP); iOS (version 12.0.3+) or Desktop client (version 4.0+) now allow to directly open a file in the Office Suite on the ownCloud server; update Symfony 4.4 -> 4-5;
10.12.1 April 18, 2023 Fix Permission Bits when Enforcing Passwords on Public Links, Prevent 507 Insufficient Storage on 32-Bit Systems, Fix quota for 32-Bit Systems, Add RewriteBase to .htaccess, Updated text editor and metrics apps.
10.12.0 March 12, 2023 Dropped support for PHP 7.3, changed workflow for persistent major versions (added checkbox to select versions to keep), added support for login policies, extended trashbin, mounts, shares and checksum functions.
10.11.0 September 20, 2022 Many bugfixes, edit permission for public links on single files, sharing with multiple users at once, inviting new guests to Custom Groups.
10.10.0 May 14, 2022 Many bugfixes, improved management of migrations, session handling and storage.
10.9.1 January 13, 2022 Prevent encrypted files from being corrupted when overwriting them, Marketplace not working after upgrade from 10.8 to 10.9, Fixes for the newly introduced feature to store the author of versions
10.9 December 23, 2021 Initial sync faster, more detailed file locking, version control and public sharing
10.8 July 21, 2021 New ownCloud Web browser frontend, new login UI, better caching for external storages like Windows Network Drives
10.7 March 26, 2021 Preparations for upcoming workstream integrations, UI improvements, improved encryption efficiency
10.6 December 16, 2020
10.5 August 3, 2020 Official support for PHP 7.4, manual file locking in the web interface, improved background process for metadata of federated shares
10.4 March 5, 2020 Expiration dates for user and group shares, supports MariaDB up to 10.4, PostgreSQL up to 10, share indicator on webUI
10.3 October 15, 2019 New Media Viewer, improved OAuth2 session handling, improved User/group sharing UI
10.2 May 16, 2019 Advanced Sharing Permissions, SecureView, Improved Public Links, Storage Encryption with HSMs
10.1 February 7, 2019 Microsoft Office Online Integration, File Locking, Semantic Versioning, OpenCloudMesh 1.0 compliance
10.0 April 27, 2017 File integrity checks, guest accounts, custom groups, multiple link sharing, new app marketplace

Operating Systems, Licences and Clients

Desktop clients for ownCloud are available for Windows, macOS, FreeBSD and Linux, as well as mobile clients for iOS and Android devices. Source code to ownCloud is fully available on Github, except for some enterprise extensions (e.g. the third-party Virtual File System). Files and other data (such as calendars, contacts or bookmarks) can also be accessed, managed, and uploaded using a web browser. Updates are pushed to all computers and mobile devices connected to an account. Encryption of files may be enforced by the server administrator.[26]

Features

ownCloud files are stored in conventional directory structures and can be accessed via WebDAV if necessary. User files are encrypted both at rest and during transit. ownCloud can synchronize with local clients running Windows, macOS and various Linux distributions. ownCloud users can manage calendars (CalDAV), contacts (CardDAV), scheduled tasks and streaming media (Ampache) from within the platform. Online document editing is supported via Collabora Online, OnlyOffice, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Office Online.

ownCloud permits user and group administration, via OpenID or LDAP) Content can be shared by granular read/write permissions between users or groups. Alternatively, ownCloud users can create public URLs for sharing files. Furthermore, users can interact with the browser-based ODF-format word processor,[27] bookmarking service, URL shortening suite, gallery, RSS feed reader and document viewer tools from within ownCloud. ownCloud can be augmented with "one-click" applications and connection to Dropbox, Google Drive and Amazon S3.

Enterprise customers have access to apps with additional functionality, which are intended for organizations with more than 500 users. An Enterprise subscription includes support services. Commercial features include end-to-end encryption, ransomware and antivirus protection, branding, document classification, and single sign-on via OpenID.

Implementation

All versions up to ownCloud 10 are built using PHP and the LAMP stack. The current "ownCloud Infinite Scale" is written in Google's Go programming language, with an architecture of microservices and cloud-native technologies, and can be downloaded, e.g. as a Docker container, manageable through Kubernetes, as a single binary or daily updated images from continuous deployment.[28][29]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Maintenance and Release Schedule". https://owncloud.com/changelog/server/. 
  2. ↑ "Announcement: ownCloud 10 and PHP Versions" (in en). 2022-12-02. https://central.owncloud.org/t/announcement-owncloud-10-and-php-versions/40251. 
  3. ↑ online, heise (2021-01-19). "ownCloud Infinite Scale: Go statt PHP, Microservices statt LAMP" (in de). https://www.heise.de/news/ownCloud-Infinite-Scale-Go-statt-PHP-Microservices-statt-LAMP-5029244.html. 
  4. ↑ (in en) Camp KDE 2010 - Keynote - Frank Karlitschek - KDE and the Cloud Part 2, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APsDO3QO_Z4, retrieved 2024-01-24 
  5. ↑ "commiting ownCloud 1.0 beta 1 · owncloud/core@16f3bd4" (in en). https://github.com/owncloud/core/commit/16f3bd4e2334491152510598f861a1f6c1ecdae2. 
  6. ↑ "Camp KDE 2010 Continues with More Talks" (in en). 2010-01-21. https://dot.kde.org/2010/01/21/camp-kde-2010-continues-more-talks. 
  7. ↑ "Owncloud vs. Nextcloud: Wie ein Projekt-Fork zwei Firmen und ihre Produkte prägt" (in de-DE). https://www.linux-magazin.de/ausgaben/2018/07/einfuehrung-7/. 
  8. ↑ "big changes: I am leaving ownCloud, Inc. today". https://karlitschek.de/2016/04/big-changes-i-am-leaving-owncloud-inc-today/. 
  9. ↑ online, heise (2019-07-24). "Owncloud vs. Nextcloud: Was ist besser?" (in de). https://www.heise.de/tipps-tricks/Owncloud-vs-Nextcloud-Was-ist-besser-4478358.html. 
  10. ↑ Redaktion (2016-07-14). "Millionen-Finanzierung: ownCloud ist wieder da" (in de-DE). https://www.silicon.de/41630905/millionen-finanzierung-owncloud-ist-wieder-da. 
  11. ↑ "ownCloud becomes part of Kiteworks - ownCloud" (in en-US). 2023-11-21. https://owncloud.com/news/owncloud-becomes-part-of-kiteworks/. 
  12. ↑ "The Commission announces winners of the EOSC Procurement | Shaping Europe’s digital future" (in en). 2023-11-24. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-announces-winners-eosc-procurement. 
  13. ↑ "Sciebo Reaches 100,000 User Mark! - ownCloud" (in en-US). 2017-11-28. https://owncloud.com/news/sciebo-reaches-100000-user-mark/. 
  14. ↑ "DAP (Datenaustauschplattformen) im IT-DLZ des Freistaats Bayern - Landesamt für Digitalisierung, Breitband und Vermessung - IT-DLZ". https://www.dap.bayern.de/. 
  15. ↑ "How to Build an Open Source School Cloud for 5 Million Users" (in en). https://fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-2415-how-to-build-an-open-source-school-cloud-for-5-million-users/. 
  16. ↑ "ownCloud Infinite Scale geht am CERN live". OSB Alliance Bundesverband für Digitale Souveränität. 6 September 2021. https://osb-alliance.de/news/owncloud-infinite-scale-geht-am-cern-live. 
  17. ↑ "Bayern Cloud Schule (BYCS)" (in de). https://www.bycs.de/index.html. 
  18. ↑ "Error: no |title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://hochschulcloud.nrw/en/index.html. 
  19. ↑ "EOSC Portal". https://eosc-portal.eu/. 
  20. ↑ Goodin, Dan (November 28, 2023). "ownCloud vulnerability with maximum 10 severity score comes under "mass" exploitation". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/security/2023/11/owncloud-vulnerability-with-a-maximum-10-severity-rating-comes-under-mass-exploitation/. 
  21. ↑ "Announcement: ownCloud 10 and PHP Versions". 2 December 2022. https://central.owncloud.org/t/announcement-owncloud-10-and-php-versions/40251. 
  22. ↑ "System Requirements :: ownCloud Documentation". https://doc.owncloud.com/server/10.13/admin_manual/installation/system_requirements.html. 
  23. ↑ "PHP: Supported Versions". https://www.php.net/supported-versions.php. 
  24. ↑ "Prerequisites :: ownCloud Documentation". https://doc.owncloud.com/ocis/next/prerequisites/prerequisites.html. 
  25. ↑ "Download Server Packages". ownCloud.com. 5 January 2022. https://owncloud.com/download-server/. 
  26. ↑ Scott Gilbertson (2014-09-08). "OwnCloud: Fiddly but secure host-from-home sync 'n' share". The Register. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/08/owncloud_review/. 
  27. ↑ Neil Bothwick (2014-02-27). "OwnCloud: Work together online". APC. http://apcmag.com/owncloud-work-together-online.htm/. 
  28. ↑ "Prerequisites :: ownCloud Documentation". https://doc.owncloud.com/ocis/next/prerequisites/prerequisites.html. 
  29. ↑ "Continuous Deployment" (in en). 2020-10-12. https://owncloud.dev/ocis/deployment/continuous_deployment/. 

External links



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