OwnCloud
|
Work In Progress |
|---|---|
| This article is currently undergoing major expansion or restructuring. You are welcome to assist by editing it as well. If this article has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. |
ownCloud is a flexible, open source file sync, and share solution that can be accessed from a mobile device, a workstation, or a web client. Also provides the benefits of cloud computing and control of owner data on a private server.
Contents
Other features include:
- file storage
- photo galleries
- contacts management
- calendar management
- task management
- access external file systems (i.e. Dropbox)
- file versioning
- file encryption
- Open Document Format (ODF) viewer
- Portable Document Format (PDF) file viewer
- ownCloud 3rd party applications ( ownCloud Apps )
- LDAP/Active Directory support
For additional information regarding ownCloud features see, ( more ownCloud Features ).
Things You Need to Know
- ownCloud maintains its own account security system and does not utilize the Amahi host server's user account system.
- ownCloud maintains its own data storage directory area and is not the same as the shared directories (via Samba) created from the Amahi dashboard.
- There is no automatic update facility for ownCloud, it must be done manually. In future releases of ownCloud there are plans to provide an update function.
- "Third party application" plug-ins are available as "one-click installs" and can greatly enhance ownCloud functionality. These applications are considered "as-is", operation for some may be "quirky". Most operate just fine. However, support for the 3rd party applications is the responsibility of each contributing author, unless they are absorbed in to the "core" ownCloud binaries.
Amahi ownCloud Installation
- The "ownCloud Community" default installation on a typical LAMP server places the data directory with the application binaries. The Amahi installation places the data directory at "/var/hda/files/owncloud/data/".
- The Community default installation limits file upload sizes to "512 MB per file". This can be somewhat annoying for uploads of large media files. The Amahi installation limits upload sizes to "4.7 GB per file". Please note that this is subject to change by Amahi staff should server performance issues occur.
- The Amahi installation package is a "one-click install" and takes care of; downloading and installing required software dependencies, setting up the ownCloud database, ownCloud "administration" user.
- Initial login credentials for the administration user:
- User name: admin
- Password: admin
- User name: admin
- Note: Remember to change the administration user password shortly after installation
- Accessing ownCloud from a...
- Server Console: http://owncloud
- Workstation: https://owncloud.server_name
Third Party Application Plug-ins
Here are some third party applications that can help enhance an ownCloud functionality:
| App Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Apps Remover | Allows you to remove applications if the application was previously installed and currently disabled. |
| ATNotes | Always Take Notes note taking. |
| Bookmarks | Bookmark manager. |
| File Move | Move dialog for the “Files” interface. |
| Imprint | Simply means to add a legal notice. |
| Internal Bookmarks | Set up bookmarks on individual directories. Bookmarks appear as menu entries. |
| Dependencies Information | Display OwnCloud's dependencies information (i.e. missings modules). |
| Simple File Filter | Adds an input field to the ownCloud filemanager that lets you quickly search for files and folders and select all matching ones. |
| Storage Charts | Display storage charts for a user. |
| Themes Manager | Allows you to upload a theme, and switch between installed themes. |
The above application plug-ins were tested on the Amahi ownCloud installation.
Tips
Disk Storage
At some point after the installation of when logged in to ownCloud via the "administation" or a “user” ID navigate to Settings => Personal area there will be "similar" message displayed at the top of the page. This will either puzzle or confuse a user.
But wait a minute. The the computer for this has nearly 1 Terabyte of disk storage! What is going on here?
ownCloud is installed in the /var directory tree. In some cases a default install of the host O/S (i.e. Fedora) was performed possibly with out any advanced disk partition planning. For example, if a “desktop default” partitioning scheme was followed, the /home directory would be large, and the /var directory smaller and most likely was installed in the / (root) disk partition with other "system directories". ownCloud reports on the storage statistics of the partition the "data directory" it exists, usually the /var directory tree.
To solve the problem? Put /var in to it's own disk partition, put the ownCloud data directory in a separate disk partition, or allocate more space to the / (root) disk partition. Or the real painful part? Re-install the host O/S with a partition plan (I know, OUCH!).
more coming shortly ...
