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ownCloud
Developer(s)ownCloud GmbH, Community
Stable release4.0.0 [±][1]
Repository
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 an open-source software product for 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 like online document editing (Collabora, OnlyOffice, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Online Office) and synchronization of calendars and contacts. Users can access data and documents through a web browser or a variety of client apps.

A German company ownCloud GmbH was established in 2011, to work with enterprise users of the software. In November 2023, it was announced that the company would merge into American company Kiteworks.

History

ownCloud was established as a company in Nürnberg, Germany, focused on enterprise users of its software. The ownCloud project was started in January 2010 and the company was founded in 2011.

In 2016 one of the founders left the company, creating the fork Nextcloud. ownCloud GmbH continued operations, and in July 2016 secured financing from new investors and took over the business of the American company ownCloud Inc.[2][3] In November 2023, it was announced that ownCloud GmbH would merge into American technology company Kiteworks which specializes in secure file sharing, file transfer, and email data communication.[4][5] Later that month, the company disclosed the existence of a vulnerability of severity rating 10 in an optional extension, which could expose passwords and cryptographic keys through a request sent to a static URL. Security researchers then observed the vulnerability come under "mass exploitation".[6]

In November 2023, it was announced that ownCloud GmbH would merge into American technology company Kiteworks which specializes in secure file sharing, file transfer, and email data communication.[7][8] Later that month, the company disclosed the existence of a vulnerability of severity rating 10 in an optional 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 Version 10.13.1, security researchers like those of beeSecurity observed that it had already come under "mass exploitation". Users of ownCloud software older than September 2023 were advised to update to current versions.[9] The new product, ownCloud Infinite Scale, not being written in PHP, was never affected.

Product versions

For the older product ownCloud 10, the vendor is providing and maintaining a specially hardened and supported PHP version 7.4,[10][11] since that version no longer supported by the PHP developers.[12] The newer ownCloud Infinite Scale is built on Google Go and Ruby and does not use PHP.[13]

In 2021, ownCloud published "Infinite Scale", developed with help from the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which 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".[14] 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 fulltext search and introduced new tagging and filtering functions.

ownCloud Infinite Scale is being used by millions of concurrent users in the Bavarian school cloud[15], with a planned total of 4.7 million users. ownCloud Infinite Scale is also the backend of the SCIEBO[16] platform, where thousands of students and professors of universities in North-Rhine-Westfalia share files and collaborate on documents. The European Science Cloud[17]is also using ownCloud Infinite Scale for file share and sync and collaboration.

Releases of ownCloud Infinite Scale

Version[18] Date New Features
Current stable version: Infinite Scale 4.0.0 August 28, 2023 Cloud Importer, Drag and Drop to breadcrums; Tags, Filter and Highlighting in Fulltext Search; Improved Link sharing; Copy and Paste for Upload from Keyboard; Drag and drop to Breadcrum Navigation
Older version, yet still maintained: Infinite Scale 3.0.0 June 12, 2023 File Firewall, Antivirus (ICAP), Accessibility (WCAP), Tags, Fulltext Search, Spaces Templates, Custom User Roles
Older version, yet still maintained: Infinite Scale 2.0.0 November 30, 2022 Complete overhaul of the backend, rewritten in Go and Vue.js, in cooperation with CERN. Introducing Spaces – a new concept for team work with files.

Releases of ownCloud 10

Current stable version: 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.
Older version, yet still maintained: 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;
Older version, yet still maintained: 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;
Older version, yet still maintained: 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.
Older version, yet still maintained: 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.
Older version, yet still maintained: 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.
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.10.0 May 14, 2022 Many bugfixes, improved management of migrations, session handling and storage.
Older version, yet still maintained: 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
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.9 December 23, 2021 Initial sync faster, more detailed file locking, version control and public sharing
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.8 July 21, 2021 New ownCloud Web browser frontend, new login UI, better caching for external storages like Windows Network Drives
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.7 March 26, 2021 Preparations for upcoming workstream integrations, UI improvements, improved encryption efficiency
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.6 December 16, 2020
Older version, yet still maintained: 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
Older version, yet still maintained: 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
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.3 October 15, 2019 New Media Viewer, improved OAuth2 session handling, improved User/group sharing UI
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.2 May 16, 2019 Advanced Sharing Permissions, SecureView, Improved Public Links, Storage Encryption with HSMs
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.1 February 7, 2019 Microsoft Office Online Integration, File Locking, Semantic Versioning, OpenCloudMesh 1.0 compliance
Older version, yet still maintained: 10.0 April 27, 2017 File integrity checks, guest accounts, custom groups, multiple link sharing, new app marketplace

Environments

Desktop clients for ownCloud are available for Windows, macOS, FreeBSD and Linux, as well as mobile clients for iOS and Android devices. 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.[19]

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,[20] 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 as a Docker container, manageable through Kubernetes, as a single binary or daily updated images from continuous deployment.[21][22]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Maintenance and Release Schedule". Retrieved 2021-12-23 – via GitHub.
  2. ^ "ownCloud Secures Financing and Expands its Management Team - ownCloud". 14 July 2016.
  3. ^ "ownCloud sichert Finanzierung und baut Geschäftsführung um" (in German). 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  4. ^ "ownCloud becomes part of Kiteworks". owncloud.com. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. ^ "Kiteworks Makes Bold Moves Joining Forces With Two German Leaders in Its Space". kiteworks.com. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. ^ Goodin, Dan (November 28, 2023). "ownCloud vulnerability with maximum 10 severity score comes under "mass" exploitation". Ars Technica.
  7. ^ "ownCloud becomes part of Kiteworks". owncloud.com. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Kiteworks Makes Bold Moves Joining Forces With Two German Leaders in Its Space". kiteworks.com. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  9. ^ Goodin, Dan (November 28, 2023). "ownCloud vulnerability with maximum 10 severity score comes under "mass" exploitation". Ars Technica.
  10. ^ "Announcement: ownCloud 10 and PHP Versions".
  11. ^ "System Requirements :: ownCloud Documentation". Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  12. ^ "PHP: Supported Versions". Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  13. ^ "Prerequisites :: ownCloud Documentation". Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  14. ^ "ownCloud Infinite Scale geht am CERN live". OSB-Alliance.de. OSB Alliance Bundesverband für Digitale Souveränität. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  15. ^ "Bayern Cloud Schule (BYCS)". ByCS - Bavarian Cloud for Schools (in German). Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  16. ^ hochschulcloud.nrw https://hochschulcloud.nrw/en/index.html. Retrieved 2023-12-20. ((cite web)): Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ^ "EOSC Portal". Portal of the European Science Cloud. Retrieved 2023-12-20.
  18. ^ "Download Server Packages". ownCloud.com. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  19. ^ Scott Gilbertson (2014-09-08). "OwnCloud: Fiddly but secure host-from-home sync 'n' share". The Register. Retrieved 2016-09-20.
  20. ^ Neil Bothwick (2014-02-27). "OwnCloud: Work together online". APC. Archived from the original on 2017-11-23. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  21. ^ "Prerequisites :: ownCloud Documentation". Retrieved 2023-09-05.
  22. ^ "Continuous Deployment". ownCloud. 2020-10-12. Retrieved 2023-09-18.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to OwnCloud.
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