Owncloud User Manual: Release 8.1
Owncloud User Manual: Release 8.1
Owncloud User Manual: Release 8.1
Release 8.1
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8 Setting Your Preferences 69
8.1 Usage and available quota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
8.2 Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
8.3 Full Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.4 Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.5 Profile picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.6 Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
8.7 Notifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
8.8 Save New Documents Location . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
8.9 Version . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
9 External Storage 75
9.1 Configuring External Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
9.2 Connecting to SharePoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
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CHAPTER
ONE
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TWO
Now you can see which ownCloud groups you belong to on your Personal page in the Web interface.
2.2 Desktop Sync Client Shares From File Manager, Selective Sync
The Desktop Sync Client now allows you to share files directly from your file manager, and has a new graphical
selective sync file chooser. See the ownCloud Desktop Client Manual for more information.
2.3 Favorites
Users can now assign a favorite icon to files and folders. Look for improvements in this feature in future ownCloud
editions to make finding and managing files even easier.
Federated Cloud Sharing, introduced in ownCloud 7 as Server-to-Server sharing, allows you to mount file shares from
remote ownCloud servers, and create a “cloud of ownClouds”. In ownCloud 8 the process for creating a new sharing
link is easier and more streamlined.
The search interface has been streamlined and simplified, with more features including enhanced result set reporting
and additional search parameters.
The ownCloud Web interface has been improved to make it easier for all users to access, edit, sync and share their
files.
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When ownCloud delivers universal file access to end users, files from many different document sources are aggregated
into a single interface and served to end users. In some cases, passing all of the files aggregated in this interface
through a single server, ownCloud, slows down data access. ownCloud now supports direct downloads of files from
select storage back-ends, reducing the load on the ownCloud server without sacrificing control over the files that are
stored in the various back end systems.
THREE
You can connect to your ownCloud server using any Web browser; just point it to your ownCloud server and enter
your username and password. Supported Web browsers are:
• Firefox 14+
• Chrome 18+
• Safari 5+
• IE9+ (except Compatibility Mode)
Note: Some apps like files_external or encryption are disabling the remember checkbox (shown above)
on purpose if they are enabled by your administrator.
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By default, the ownCloud Web interface opens to your Files page. Once you have accessed the ownCloud Server main
web interface you can add files, remove files, and make changes based on the access privileges set by you (if you are
administering the server) or by your server administrator.
Note: You can also drag and drop files from your file manager into the ownCloud Files Application View to upload
them to ownCloud. Currently, the only Web browsers that support drag-and-drop folders are Chrome and Chromium.
• Upload button: Located next to the New button in the Navigation Bar, the Upload button opens a file picker
for uploading files from your system to the ownCloud server.
• Search field: The Search field is in the upper right hand corner of your Web interface, for searching for files.
• Personal Settings menu: Click on your ownCloud username, located to the right of the Search field, to open
your Personal Settings dropdown menu. Your Personal page provides the following settings and features:
– Links to download desktop and mobile apps
FOUR
You can access your ownCloud files with the ownCloud web interface and create, preview, edit, delete, share, and
re-share files. Your ownCloud administrator has the option to disable these features, so if any of them are missing on
your system ask your server administrator.
ownCloud can display thumbnail previews for image files, MP3 covers, and text files, if this enabled by your server
administrator. Hover your cursor over a file or folder to expose the controls for the following operations:
Favorites Click the star to the left of the file icon to mark it as a favorite.
Pencil icon Rename a file or folder. This does not alter the filename on the original document.
Download Download the file to your computer.
Versions Displays older versions, if there are any, and you can revert to an older file version.
Edit The Edit button appears on files that are editable inside ownCloud, in the Documents app. Supported file formats
are .odt, .doc, and .docx.
Share Share the file or folder with a group or other users, and create public shares with hyperlinks.
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Trash Delete the selected file or folder, or unshare a shared file or folder.
You can display uncompressed text files, OpenDocument files, videos, and image files in the ownCloud embedded
viewers by clicking on the file name. There may be other file types you can preview if your ownCloud administrator
has enabled them. If ownCloud cannot display a file, it starts a download process and downloads the file to your
computer.
Video streaming by the native ownCloud video player depends on your Web browser and the video format. If your
ownCloud administrator has enabled video streaming, and it doesn’t work in your Web browser, it may be a browser
issue. See https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Supported_media_formats#Browser_compatibility
for supported multimedia formats in Web browsers.
Navigating through folders in ownCloud is as simple as clicking on a folder to open it and using the back button on
your browser to move to a previous level. ownCloud also provides a navigation bar at the top of the Files field for
quick navigation.
The navigation bar functions as a “breadcrumb” locator. It displays your current directory and enables you to migrate
back to one of the upper directories or, using the home icon, to navigate back into your root folder.
Any folder that has been shared is marked with the Shared overlay icon. Public link shares are marked with a chain
link. Un-shared folders are blank.
If your ownCloud server is the Enterprise edition, you may also have access to Sharepoint and Windows Network
Drive file shares. These also have special overlay icons, and a red plugin means you have to enter a login to get access
to the share.
ownCloud enables you to create new files or folders directly in an ownCloud folder by clicking on the New button in
the Files app.
The New button provides the following two options from which to choose:
Text file Creates a simple text file and adds the file to your current folder.
Folder Creates a new folder in the current folder.
Up arrow The upward-point arrow is for uploading files from your computer into ownCloud.
You can also upload files by dragging and dropping them from your file manager.
You can select one or more files or folders by clicking on the small thumbnails or icons that represent them. When
you select a file or folder, a small checkbox is populated with a check to indicate that it is selected. To select all files
in the current directory, you can click on the checkbox located at the top of the Files app field, above the first file or
folder on the list.
If you select multiple files, you can delete all of the selected files or download them as a ZIP file by using the Delete
or Download buttons at the top right side of the Files app field.
Note: If the Download button is not visible, the administrator has disabled this feature. Contact your administrator
for further guidance.
ownCloud enables you to view files in the File Application View using filter options located in the Apps Information
Field. This feature enables you to quickly and easily view and manage files based on their share status.
You can click on any of the filter options to view the files as follows:
All files The default view; displays all files that you have access to.
Favorites Files or folders marked with the yellow star.
Shared with you Displays all files shared with you by another user or group.
Shared with others Displays all files that you have shared with other users or groups.
Shared by link Displays all files that are shared by you via public link.
External Storage Files that you have access to on external storage devices and services such as Dropbox, Google,
and Amazon S3.
Using the ownCloud web interface, you can move files and folders by dragging and dropping them into any directory.
When enabled by your administrator, you can share files or folders on ownCloud with a local user, group, or any
person online with a public link. Shared files and folders are labeled with the triangular share icon, and the status
Shared in the file or folder row.
To create a local share with other users or groups on your ownCloud server:
1. Hover your cursor over an item on the Files page
2. Click the Share icon
The Share dialog box opens to show the following options:
Type the name of the user or group that you want to share with. If you want to share with more than one, you have to
create each share separately. Check the permissions you want the user or group to have, and optionally send them an
email notification.
Note: Users must enter their email addresses on their Personal pages for email notifications to work
Your new share appears on user’s Files pages marked with a Share icon, and the name of the file owner.
When you want to revoke a share, simply click the Trashcan icon next to the name of the appropriate user or group in
the Shared dialog.
You have five share permissions:
• Can share; allows the users you share with to re-share.
• Can edit; allows the users you share with to edit your shared files, and to collaborate using the Documents app.
• Create; allows the users you share with to create new files and add them to the share.
• Change; allows uploading a new version of a shared file and replacing it.
• Delete; allows the users you share with to delete shared files.
You can share files outside of your organization with people who are not users on your ownCloud server by creating a
public share link. Open the Share dialog and check Share Link.
This creates a public URL that anyone can use to access the share. You have the options to send an email notification,
protect it with a password, and put an expiration date on it. Your ownCloud administrator has the option to require
passwords and expiration dates.
In older versions of ownCloud, you could set an expiration date on both local and public shares. Now you can set
an expiration date only on public shares, and local shares do not expire when public shares expire. The only way to
“expire” a local share is to click the trash can icon to un-share your files.
Federated Cloud Sharing, introduced in ownCloud 7 as Server-to-Server sharing, allows you to mount file shares from
remote ownCloud servers, and manage them just like a local share. In ownCloud 8 the process for creating a new
sharing link is easier and more streamlined. See Using Federated Cloud Sharing to learn to how to create and connect
to new Federated Cloud shares.
ownCloud fully supports the WebDAV protocol, and you can connect and synchronize with your ownCloud files over
WebDAV. In this chapter you will learn how to connect Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and mobile devices to your
ownCloud server via WebDAV. Before we get into configuring WebDAV, let’s take a quick look at the recommended
way of connecting client devices to your ownCloud servers.
The recommended method for keeping your desktop PC synchronized with your ownCloud server is by using the
ownCloud Desktop Client. You can configure the ownCloud client to save files in any local directory you want, and
you choose which directories on the ownCloud server to sync with. The client displays the current connection status
and logs all activity, so you always know which remote files have been downloaded to your PC, and you can verify
that files created and updated on your local PC are properly synchronized with the server.
The recommended method for syncing your ownCloud server with Android and Apple iOS devices is by using the
ownCloud mobile apps.
To connect to your ownCloud server with the ownCloud mobile apps, use the base URL and folder only:
example.org/owncloud
In addition to the mobile apps provided by ownCloud, you can use other apps to connect to ownCloud from your
mobile device using WebDAV. WebDAV Navigator is a good (proprietary) app for Android devices, iPhones, and
BlackBerry devices. The URL to use on these is:
example.org/owncloud/remote.php/webdav
If you prefer, you may also connect your desktop PC to your ownCloud server by using the WebDAV protocol rather
than using a special client application. Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) is a Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP) extension that makes it easy to create, read, and edit files on Web servers. With WebDAV you can
access your ownCloud shares on Linux, Mac OS X and Windows in the same way as any remote network share, and
stay synchronized.
Note: In the following examples, You must adjust example.org/ to the URL of your ownCloud server installation.
You can access files in Linux operating systems using the following methods.
Use the davs:// protocol to connect the Nautilus file manager to your ownCloud share:
davs://example.org/owncloud/remote.php/webdav
Note: If your server connection is not HTTPS-secured, use dav:// instead of davs://.
To access your ownCloud files using the Dolphin file manager in KDE, use the webdav:// protocol:
webdav://example.org/owncloud/remote.php/webdav
You can create WebDAV mounts from the Linux command line. This is useful if you prefer to access ownCloud the
same way as any other remote filesystem mount. The following example shows how to create a personal mount and
have it mounted automatically every time you log in to your Linux computer.
1. Install the davfs2 WebDAV filesystem driver, which allows you to mount WebDAV shares just like any other
remote filesystem. Use this command to install it on Debian/Ubuntu:
3. Then create an owncloud directory in your home directory for the mountpoint, and .davfs2/ for your
personal configuration file:
mkdir ~/owncloud
mkdir ~/.davfs2
5. Set yourself as the owner and make the permissions read-write owner only:
chown <username>:<username> ~/.davfs2/secrets
chmod 600 ~/.davfs2/secrets
6. Add your ownCloud login credentials to the end of the secrets file, using your ownCloud server URL and
your ownCloud username and password:
example.org/owncloud/remote.php/webdav <username> <password>
8. Then test that it mounts and authenticates by running the following command. If you set it up correctly you
won’t need root permissions:
mount ~/owncloud
Now every time you login to your Linux system your ownCloud share should automatically mount via WebDAV in
your ~/owncloud directory. If you prefer to mount it manually, change auto to noauto in /etc/fstab.
Problem
Solution
If you experience trouble when you create a file in the directory, edit /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf and add:
use_locks 0
Problem
Certificate warnings
Solution
If you use a self-signed certificate, you will get a warning. To change this, you need to configure
davfs2 to recognize your certificate. Copy mycertificate.pem to /etc/davfs2/certs/. Then edit
/etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf and uncomment the line servercert. Now add the path of your certificate as in
this example:
servercert /etc/davfs2/certs/mycertificate.pem
Note: The Mac OS X Finder suffers from a series of implementation problems and should only be used if the
ownCloud server runs on Apache and mod_php, or Nginx 1.3.8+.
For example, the URL used to connect to the ownCloud server from the Mac OS X Finder is:
http://example.org/owncloud/remote.php/webdav
3. Click Connect.
The device connects to the server.
For added details about how to connect to an external server using Mac OS X, check the vendor documentation
It is best to use a suitable WebDAV client from the WebDAV Project page .
If you must use the native Windows implementation, you can map ownCloud to a new drive. Mapping to a drive
enables you to browse files stored on an ownCloud server the way you would files stored in a mapped network drive.
Using this feature requires network connectivity. If you want to store your files offline, use the ownCloud Desktop
Client to sync all files on your ownCloud to one or more directories of your local hard drive.
Note: Prior to mapping your drive, you must permit the use of Basic Authentication in the Windows Registry. The
procedure is documented in KB841215 and differs between Windows XP/Server 2003 and Windows Vista/7. Please
follow the Knowledge Base article before proceeding, and follow the Vista instructions if you run Windows 7.
The following example shows how to map a drive using the command line. To map the drive:
1. Open a command prompt in Windows.
2. Enter the following line in the command prompt to map to the computer Z drive:
net use Z: https://<drive_path>/remote.php/webdav /user:youruser
yourpassword
Note: Though not recommended, you can also mount the ownCloud server using HTTP, leaving the connection
unencrypted. If you plan to use HTTP connections on devices while in a public place, we strongly recommend using
a VPN tunnel to provide the necessary security.
Note: For SSL protected servers, check Reconnect at logon to ensure that the mapping is persistent upon subsequent
reboots. If you want to connect to the ownCloud server as a different user, check Connect using different credentials.
Cyberduck is an open source FTP and SFTP, WebDAV, OpenStack Swift, and Amazon S3 browser designed for file
transfers on Mac OS X and Windows.
To use Cyberduck:
1. Specify a server without any leading protocol information. For example:
example.org
2. Specify the appropriate port. The port you choose depends on whether or not your ownCloud server supports SSL.
Cyberduck requires that you select a different connection type if you plan to use SSL. For example:
80 (for WebDAV)
443 (for WebDAV (HTTPS/SSL))
3. Use the ‘More Options’ drop-down menu to add the rest of your WebDAV URL into the ‘Path’ field. For example:
remote.php/webdav
Now Cyberduck enables file access to the ownCloud server.
in a WebDAV client, use the share token as username and the (optional) share password as password.
Problem
Solution 1
The Windows WebDAV Client might not support Server Name Indication (SNI) on encrypted connections. If you
encounter an error mounting an SSL-encrypted ownCloud instance, contact your provider about assigning a dedicated
IP address for your SSL-based server.
Solution 2
The Windows WebDAV Client might not support TSLv1.1 / TSLv1.2 connections. If you have restricted your server
config to only provide TLSv1.1 and above the connection to your server might fail. Please refer to the WinHTTP
documentation for further information.
Problem
You receive the following error message: Error 0x800700DF: The file size exceeds the limit allowed and cannot
be saved.
Solution
Problem
Solution
Known problems and their solutions are documented in the KB2123563 article.
Problem
Solution
Problem
You cannot download more than 50 MB or upload large Files when the upload takes longer than 30 minutes using Web
Client in Windows 7.
Solution
Since WebDAV is an extension of HTTP cURL can be used to script file operations.
To create a folder with the current date as name:
$ curl -u user:pass -X MKCOL "http://example.org/owncloud/remote.php/webdav/$(date '+%d-%b-%Y')"
To move a file:
$ curl -u user:pass -X MOVE --header 'Destination: http://example.org/owncloud/remote.php/webdav/targ
When you delete a file in ownCloud, it is not immediately deleted permanently. Instead, it is moved into the trash bin.
It is not permanently deleted until you manually delete it, or when the Deleted Files app deletes it to make room for
new files.
Find your deleted files by clicking on the Deleted files button on the Files page of the ownCloud Web interface. You’ll
have options to either restore or permanently delete files.
4.3.1 Quotas
Deleted files are not counted against your storage quota. Only files that originate with users count against their quotas,
not files shared with them that originate from other users. (See Storage Quota to learn more about quotas.)
Deleting files gets a little complicated when they are shared files, as this scenario illustrates:
1. User1 shares a folder “test” with User2 and User3
2. User2 (the recipient) deletes a file/folder “sub” inside of “test”
3. The folder “sub” will be moved to the trashbin of both User1 (owner) and User2 (recipient)
4. But User3 will not have a copy of “sub” in her trash bin
When User1 deletes “sub” then it is moved to User1’s trash bin. It is deleted from User2 and User3, but not placed in
their trash bins.
When you share files, other users may copy, rename, move, and share them with other people, just as they can for any
computer files; ownCloud does not have magic powers to prevent this.
To ensure that users do not run over their storage quotas, the Deleted Files app allocates a maximum of 50% of their
currently available free space to deleted files. If your deleted files exceed this limit, ownCloud deletes the oldest files
(files with the oldest timestamps from when they were deleted) until it meets the memory usage limit again.
ownCloud checks the age of deleted files every time new files are added to the deleted files. By default,
deleted files stay in the trash bin for 180 days. The ownCloud server administrator can adjust this value
in the config.php file by setting the trashbin_retention_obligation value. Files older than the
trashbin_retention_obligation value will be deleted permanently. Additionally, ownCloud calculates
the maximum available space every time a new file is added. If the deleted files exceed the new maximum allowed
space ownCloud will expire old deleted files until the limit is met once again.
For synchronizing files with your desktop computer, we recommend using the ownCloud Sync Client for Windows,
Mac OS X and Linux.
The ownCloud Desktop Sync Client enables you to connect to your private ownCloud Server. You can create folders
in your home directory, and keep the contents of those folders synced with your ownCloud server. Simply copy a file
into the directory and the ownCloud desktop client does the rest. Make a change to the files on one computer, it will
flow across the others using these desktop sync clients. You will always have your latest files with you wherever you
are.
Its usage is documented separately in the ownCloud Desktop Client Manual.
Visit your Personal page in your ownCloud Web interface to find download links for Android and iOS mobile sync
clients. Or, visit the ownCloud download page.
Visit the ownCloud documentation page to read the mobile apps user manuals.
ownCloud includes an Encryption app, and when it is enabled by your ownCloud administrator all of your ownCloud
data files are automatically encrypted. Encryption is server-wide, so when it is enabled you cannot choose to keep
your files unencrypted. You don’t have to do anything special, as it uses your ownCloud login as the password for
your unique private encryption key. Just log in and out and manage and share your files as you normally do, and you
can still change your password whenever you want.
Its main purpose is to encrypt files on remote storage services that are connected to your ownCloud server, such as
Dropbox and Google Drive. This is an easy and seamless way to protect your files on remote storage. You can share
your remote files through ownCloud in the usual way, however you cannot share your encrypted files directly from
Dropbox, Google Drive, or whatever remote service you are using, because the encryption keys are stored on your
ownCloud server, and are never exposed to outside service providers.
If your ownCloud server is not connected to any remote storage services, then it is better to use some other form
of encryption such as file-level or whole disk encryption. Because the keys are kept on your ownCloud server, it is
possible for your ownCloud admin to snoop in your files, and if the server is compromised the intruder may get access
to your files. (Read How ownCloud uses encryption to protect your data to learn more.)
ownCloud encryption is pretty much set it and forget it, but you have a few options you can use.
When your ownCloud admin enables encryption for the first time, you must log out and then log back in to create your
encryption keys and encrypt your files. When encryption has been enabled on your ownCloud server you will see a
yellow banner on your Files page warning you to log out and then log back in.
When you log back in it takes a few minutes to work, depending on how many files you have, and then you are returned
to your default ownCloud page.
Note: You must never lose your ownCloud password, because you will lose access to your files. Though there is
an optional recovery option that your ownCloud administrator may enable; see the Recovery Key Password section
(below) to learn about this.
Only users who have private encryption keys have access to shared encrypted files and folders. Users who have not yet
created their private encryption keys will not have access to encrypted shared files; they will see folders and filenames,
but will not be able to open or download the files. They will see a yellow warning banner that says “Encryption App
is enabled but your keys are not initialized, please log-out and log-in again.”
Share owners may need to re-share files after encryption is enabled; users trying to access the share will see a message
advising them to ask the share owner to re-share the file with them. For individual shares, un-share and re-share the
file. For group shares, share with any individuals who can’t access the share. This updates the encryption, and then
the share owner can remove the individual shares.
If your ownCloud administrator has enabled the recovery key feature, you can choose to use this feature for your
account. If you enable “Password recovery” the administrator can read your data with a special password. This feature
enables the administrator to recover your files in the event you lose your ownCloud password. If the recovery key is
not enabled, then there is no way to restore your files if you lose your login password.
Only the data in your files is encrypted, and not the filenames or folder structures. These files are never encrypted:
This option is only available if your log-in password, but not your encryption password, was changed by your admin-
istrator. This can occur if your ownCloud provider uses a external user back-end (for example, LDAP) and changed
your login password using that back-end configuration. In this case, you can set your encryption password to your new
login password by providing your old and new login password. The Encryption app works only if your login password
and your encryption password are identical.
Federated Cloud Sharing, introduced in ownCloud 7 as Server-to-Server sharing, allows you to mount file shares from
remote ownCloud servers, in effect creating your own cloud of ownClouds. You can create direct share links with
users on other ownCloud servers.
Federated Cloud Sharing is enabled on new or upgraded ownCloud installations by default. (See “Configuring Feder-
ated Cloud Sharing” in the ownCloud Server Administration Manual.) Follow these steps to create a new share:
1. Go to your Files page and click the Share icon on the file or directory you want to share. Enter the user-
name and URL of the remote user in this form: <username>@<oc-server-url>. In this example, that is
layla@remote-server/owncloud. The form automatically echoes the address that you type and labels it as
“remote”.
2. You’ll see a status indicator as ownCloud looks for the remote server.
When your local ownCloud server makes a successful connection with the remote ownCloud server you’ll see a
confirmation.
Your recipient on the other end of the link, on the remote ownCloud server, will see a dialog asking them to confirm
the new share. All they have to do is click the Add remote share button, and it’s done.
Click the Share button anytime to see who you have shared your file with. Remove your linked share anytime by
clicking the trash can icon. This only unlinks the share, and does not delete any files.
What if you do not know the username or URL? Then you can have ownCloud create the link for you and email it to
your recipient.
When your recipient receives your email they will have to take a number of steps to complete the share link. First they
must open the link you sent them in a Web browser, and then click the Add to your ownCloud button.
The Add to your ownCloud button changes to a form field, and your recipient needs to enter the URL of their
ownCloud server in this field and press the return key, or click the arrow.
Next, they will see a dialog asking to confirm. All they have to do is click the Add remote share button and they’re
finished.
Remove your linked share anytime by clicking the trash can icon. This only unlinks the share, and does not delete any
files.
If your ownCloud administrator (Enterprise edition only) has enabled the Files Drop application, you may create your
own special upload directory so that other people can upload files to you without having to log in to the server, and
without being an ownCloud user. They will not be allowed to see the contents of this directory, or to make any changes.
This is an excellent alternative to sending large attachments via email, using an FTP server, or using commercial file-
sharing services.
Go to your Personal page and you will see the Files Drop configuration section.
Click the Choose button to open a dialog to select your upload directory. You may wish to first create a special upload
directory (on your Files page), which in the following example is name upload.
On your Personal page you should now see a URL for your upload directory. Share this URL with anyone you want
to allow uploads to your Files Drop folder. Note that the default maximum upload size in this example is 512MB; this
is configurable, so contact your ownCloud administrator if you need a larger limit.
Using the Files Drop app is simple. You receive a link to the upload folder, click the link, and then you’ll see an
ownCloud page with a Click to upload button.
This opens a file picker, and you select the file or directory you want to upload.
When your upload is completed, you’ll see a confirmation message with the filenames.
When uploading files through the web client, ownCloud is limited by PHP and Apache configurations. By default,
PHP is configured for only 2 megabyte uploads. As this default upload limit is not entirely useful, we recommend that
your ownCloud admin increase the ownCloud variables to sizes appropriate for users.
Modifying certain ownCloud variables requires administrative access. If you require larger upload limits than have
been provided by the default (or already set by your administrator):
• Contact your administrator to request an increase in these variables
• Refer to the section in the Admin Documentation that describes how to manage file upload size limits.
Your ownCloud admin has the option to set a storage quota on users. Look at the top of your Personal page to see
what your quota is, and how much you have used.
ownCloud supports simple version control system for files. Versioning creates backups of files which are accessible
via the Versions link. This link contains the history of the file where you can roll back a file to any previous version.
Changes made at intervals greater than two minutes are saved in data/[user]/versions.
To restore a specific version of a file, hover your cursor over a file and click the Versions link. If any version is
available, you should see a list like the image below:
Clicking on Restore next to any version will revert the file to that version back.
The versioning app expires old versions automatically to make sure that the user doesn’t run out of space. This pattern
is used to delete old versions:
• For the first second we keep one version
• For the first 10 seconds ownCloud keeps one version every 2 seconds
• For the first minute ownCloud keeps one version every 10 seconds
• For the first hour ownCloud keeps one version every minute
• For the first 24 hours ownCloud keeps one version every hour
• For the first 30 days ownCloud keeps one version every day
• After the first 30 days ownCloud keeps one version every week
The versions are adjusted along this pattern every time a new version gets created.
The version app never uses more that 50% of the user’s currently available free space. If the stored versions exceed
this limit, ownCloud deletes the oldest versions until it meets the disk space limit again.
FIVE
The Contacts and Calendar apps are not included in ownCloud 8, and are not supported. You may easily install them
by clicking the Enable button on their respective Apps > Productivity entries.
The Contacts app is not enabled by default in ownCloud 8 and needs to be enabled seperately. It is also not a supported
core app. You may ask your ownCloud server admin to enable it, and if you are your own admin consult the Installation
> Installing and Managing Apps section of the ownCloud Server Administration Manual.
The ownCloud Contacts app is similar to other mobile contact applications, but with more functionality. When you
first access the Contacts app, a default address book becomes available.
In the Apps Information field for the Contacts app, you can choose to create a new contact or a new group. This field
also enables you to filter your contacts based on grouped or ungrouped contacts.
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Importing Contacts
The fastest way to add contacts is through the use of a Variant Call Format (VCF) file.
To import contacts using a VCF file:
1. At the bottom of the Contacts app information field, locate the gear button.
2. Click the gear button. The Contacts app upload field opens.
3. Choose an address book to which you want to import contacts by clicking the checkbox next to the address book.
4. Select one of the options from the Import pulldown menu. These options include the following:
• Automatic format – Any VCF file. ownCloud determines the file format and imports accordingly.
• Gmail CSV – The comma-separated values file from your Gmail account.
• Outlook CSV – The comma-separated values file from your Outlook account.
• Thunderbird CSV – The comma-separated values file from your Thunderbird account.
• Yahoo CSV – The comma-separated values file from your Yahoo account.
• PHPLdapAdmin Idif Export – The export record from your LDAP configuration.
• Gmail VCard – The VCard files from your Gmail account.
• Standard VCard – The VCard files from your Standard account.
• Yahoo VCard – The VCard files from your Yahoo account.
5. Click the upload arrow to the right of the import option that you select.
An Upload File window opens.
6. Navigate to the appropriate file on your system and select it for upload.
Note: You can upload files individually or, by selecting multiple files using the CTRL button and select-
ing them, you can upload multiple files at one time.
7. Once you have selected the appropriate files, click the Open‘ button.
• Phone – The phone number for the contact. This field defaults to the home phone number for the
contact. However, you can specify a different phone designation by clicking the Home designation
to the left of the phone field.
• Address – The address for the contact. This field defaults to the work address for the contact.
However, you can specify a different address designation by clicking the Work designation to the
left of the address field.
• Notes – Any notes you want to add about the contact.
Note: The Email, Phone, and Address fields provide the option of specifying a contact method as
“preferred.”
Changes that you make to any contact information are implemented immediately.
By default, new contacts receive a letter avatar (picture) of “U” (for “User”).
When you specify the name of a contact, the avatar reflects the name by adopting the first letter of the name you
provide. For example, if you were to specify the name of “Frederick,” the avatar would dynamically change to “F” for
that contact. If you provide multiple contacts with the same name, or with names that start with the same first letter,
the avatar uses the same letter but changes color to indicate the difference.
Customizing an Avatar
In addition to dynamically altering the avatar for each contact, the Contacts app enables you to customize the avatar.
You can specify an avatar in one of the two following ways:
• Upload new image – By selecting this option, ownCloud opens a File Upload window. You can choose a new
image by navigating to the image, selecting it, and clicking Open.
• Select image from Files – By selecting this option, ownCloud opens the Files dialog on the ownCloud server.
You can choose an image by navigating to the image in the ownCloud directory, selecting it, and clicking
Choose.
After you have selected an image for your contact, the Contacts app enables you to crop the picture.
Clicking on the settings (gear) button at the bottom of the Apps Information field provides access to the Contact app
settings. This field shows all available address books, certain options for each address book, and enables you to create
new address books.
The Contacts settings enables you to share, export, edit, and delete address books.
Note: Hover your cursor over each icon to see a brief pop-up description.
A field opens requesting you to enter a display name for the new address book.
One of the most important features in any contact application is the ability to keep it in sync. The ownCloud Contacts
app enables you to sync your address books to external devices that use the Android or Apple iOS operating systems.
5.1.6 Troubleshooting
Are you having problems using the app? Have a look at the Troubleshooting and Troubleshooting Contacts & Calendar
guides.
The Calendar app is not enabled by default in ownCloud 8 and needs to be enabled seperately. It is also not a supported
core app. You may ask your ownCloud server admin to enable it, and if you are your own admin consult the Installation
> Installing and Managing Apps section of the ownCloud Server Administration Manual.
The ownCloud Calendar app enables you to create and edit events, synchronize to other calendars you might use, and
create new, personalized calendars.
By default, when you access the Calendar app for the first time, you get a “Personal” calendar that you can use or
modify as you like.
Note: Some Ad-Block plugins hide the “Share” button for calendars. If the “Share” button is missing, try
disabling your Ad-Block plugin or add a whitelist-entry for your OwnCloud instance.
• Calendar Settings – Provides access to the calendar-specific settings. These settings include the calendar time-
zone selection, time format selection, week start day, cache setting, primary CalDAV address, and iOS/OS X
CalDAV address settings.
The ownCloud Calendar app enables you to create new calendars for work or other activities that you want to keep
separated. You can manage each calendar separately.
To create a new calendar:
1. Access the Calendar app.
2. Click the + New Calendar field.
A dialog opens to enable you to create a new calendar.
The Calendar app settings provides global configuration that applies to all calendars that you have created in the
Calendar app.
• Start day – Provides the option of starting the calendar week on Monday, Sunday, or Saturday.
• Primary CalDAV address – Provides the primary CalDAV link URL.
• iOS/OS X CalDAV address – Provides the iOS/OS X CalDAV link URL.
Calendaring Extensions to WebDAV, referred to as CalDAV, enables clients to access scheduling information on remote
servers. As an extension to WebDAV, CalDAV (defined by RFC 4791) uses the iCalendar format to manage calendar
data. CalDAV enables multiple clients to access the same information for use in cooperative planning and information
sharing.
The Calendar app provides both the Primary CalDAV address and the iOS/OSX CalDAV address. Using these ad-
dresses, you can use CalDAV-compatible programs (for example, Kontact, Evolution, or Mozilla Thunderbird with the
Lightning Add-on) using the address provided.
Note: The Lightning Add-on doesn’t support using multiple accounts on a single server as a default. You need to
set calendar.network.multirealm to true in the Config Editor of Mozilla Thunderbird to be able to use
multiple accounts.
The GUI of ownCloud provides you the needed links which can be used in your CalDAV-compatible program. Open
up the Calendar App and use the icon next to the calendar name as shown in the figure below:
Furthermore you can get the Primary CalDAV address as well as the iOS/OS X CalDAV address by using the icon
on the bottom left of the Calendar app as shown in the figure below:
Repeat Options
Rule
Does not n/a
repeat
Daily Interval - Interval at which the event is repeated End - never, by occurrences, by date
Weekly Select weekdays - Weekday(s) on which the event is repeated Interval - Interval at which the
event is repeated End - never, by occurrences, by date
Every Interval - Interval at which the event is repeated End - never, by occurrences, by date
Week-
day
Bi- Interval - Interval at which the event is repeated End - never, by occurrences, by date
Weekly
Monthly Day choice – by monthday or by weekday Events week of month - Weekday selection only;
week of month on which event occurs Select weekdays - Weekday(s) on which the event is
repeated Interval - Interval at which the event is repeated End - never, by occurrences, by date
Yearly Date option - by event’s date, by year days, by week number, by day and month Interval -
Interval at which the event is repeated End - never, by occurrences, by date
Note: If you choose all days (Monday through Friday) in the weekview menu, the repeating option automatically
sets the repeat rule to “every weekday.” If you can divide the interval of the weekview by two, the repeating option
automatically sets the repeat rule to “Bi-Weekly”.
Once an event has been saved, a new tab appears for the event that enables you to share it.
• Share with user or group field – Enables you to specify users or groups with whom you want to share
the event.
• Share visibility pulldown menu – Enables you to specify the level of information that is shared. The possible
levels include:
– Show full event – Displays full event details to those with whom the event is shared.
– Show only busy – Displays only that you are busy during this event; no event details are provided.
– Hide event – Hides the event from the users or groups specified.
To share an event:
1. Specify the users or groups with whom you want to share (or hide) the event.
2. Define the level of visibility that you want the users or groups to have.
3. (Optional) Click the Send Email button to share the event details using an email.
4. Click the Save event button to save your changes.
The Calendar app saves and closes the event window.
The Calendar app enables you to export and import event or entire calendars to or from other calendars.
You can export either a single event or an entire calendar. If you want to export a single event, click on the event, select
“Advanced” and press the “Export Event” button in the bottom left corner. If you want to export an entire calendar,
use the icon next to the calendar name as shown in the figure below:
Importing Events
You can import your calendar as an iCal file using the Files app. The Calendar app enables you to import the calendar
into a new calendar or into an already existing calendar.
To import your calendar, click the calendar file to open the import dialog.
Note: If the progress bar does not work properly, the folder apps/calendar/import_tmp/ might not have
write permission.
The Calendar app enables you to delete any event that you create. To delete a calendar event:
1. Click the event in the Calendar app.
The Edit event dialog box opens.
Additionally the Calendar app is providing two URLs for special functions:
Export calendar as an .ics file
https://ADDRESS/remote.php/caldav/calendars/USERNAME/CALENDARNAME?export
Your contacts’ birthdays
https://ADDRESS/remote.php/caldav/calendars/USERNAME/contact_birthdays
5.3.1 Calendar
9. If your server does not support SSL, a warning will be displayed. Select Continue.
10. If the iPhone is unable to verify the account information perform the following:
• Select OK.
• Select advanced settings.
• If your server does not support SSL, make sure Use SSL is set to OFF.
• Change port to 80.
• Go back to account information and hit Save.
Now should now find your contacts in the address book of your iPhone. If it’s still not working, have a look at the
Troubleshooting and Troubleshooting Contacts & Calendar guides.
To use ownCloud with iCal you will need to use the following URL:
http://ADDRESS/remote.php/caldav/principals/username/
The setup is basically the same as with iOS using the path ADDRESS/remote.php/caldav/principals/username/ to
sync with ownCloud. For OS X 10.7 Lion and 10.8 Mountain Lion everything works fine, but OS X 10.6 (Snow
Leopard) and older needs some fiddling to work. A user contributed the following:
1. Make sure, addressbook is not running. If it is, select the windows and press Command + Q to terminate it.
2. Navigate to /Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/Sources. If you have
all ready some kind of addressbook setup, it is likely you will see some folders named like this BEA92826-
FBF3-4E53-B5C6-ED7C2B454430. Note down what folders there are now and leave the window open.
3. Open addressbook and try to add a new CardDav addressbook. At this point, it does not matter what information
you enter. It will come up with the same error message you mentioned before when you click “Create”. Ignore
it and click “Create” again. A non-functional addressbook will be added.
4. Close addressbook again using Command + Q
5. Go back to the folder window from step 2. You will now see a newly created folder with another long string as
its name.
6. Navigate to the newly created folder and edit the Configuration.plist with your favorite text editor.
7. Search for a section looking like this:
<key>servername</key> <string>http://:0(null)</string> <key>username</key> <string>Whatever_you_
8. Make it look like this. Please note that the :80 after YOUR_DOMAIN is important:
<key>servername</key <string>http://YOUR_DOMAIN:80/owncloud/remote.php/carddav/principals/userna
9. Save the file and open addressbook again. It will not work yet.
10. Open the preferences for your ownCloud CardDAV-Account and enter your password.
11. You may have to restart addressbook once more. After this, it should work.
If it’s still not working, have a look at the Troubleshooting and Troubleshooting Contacts & Calendar guides.
There is also an easy HOWTO in the forum.
From KDE SC 4.8 and forward setting up ownCloud is very easy. Note that the KDE calendar needs to have the
ownCloud Calendar and Contacts apps enabled on the ownCloud server. You need both and not just the Calendar.
From System Settings Personal Information/Akonadi Resources Configuration select DAV Groupware resource.
Enter the host name and installation path. If you do not use SSL remember to de-select “Use secure connection”.
Test the connection. If everything went well you should see a message like the one below.
Click “Finish” and you will be able to change the display name and refresh interval.
Now you should see the Akonadi resource doing the first synchronization.
You can find the Contacts and Calendars in Kontact (or KOrganizer/KAddressbook if you run the programs separately.)
5.6.1 Addressbook
As someone who is new to ownCloud, New to SoGo Connector, and new to Thunderbird Addressbook... here is what
you need in excruciating pithy detail you need to make this work (for all the other lost souls out there):
1. Thunderbird for your OS unless it comes with your OS distribution (Linux)
2. Sogo Connector (latest release)
3. Lightning (a Thunderbird calendar add-on. At the time (Aug 14), syncing your contacts only works with this
add-on installed.)
With an installed Thunderbird mailtool, an installed SoGo Connector, and an installed Lightning add-on:
1. Thunderbird Addressbook is in the Thunderbird “Tools” Menu
2. In the Thunderbird Addressbook application:
• “File > New > Remote Addressbook” (SoGo Connector added this)
• “Name:” is the name you want to give your Addressbook in the Thunderbird addressbook bar area
• “URL:” is found in your ownCloud Contacts area, that little Gear symbol
in the -bottom left- of the Contacts View (same symbol as found in the -top right- in the Calendar view). Then look
for a little impeller symbol
which will display the URL you need for your installation to work.
Once installed, synchronize (right click on your newly made remote address book and select “Synchronize”). You’ll
see your address book populate from ownCloud! Don’t click “read only” above unless you don’t want to modify your
ownCloud server addressbook, like it contains a listing of corporate contacts and is shared with lots of people, and you
don’t want a new user dragging it somewhere unintended.
The rest of the details of dealing with Thunderbird addressbook are left to the reader... First thing I learned is dragging
a contact to a different addressbook is a “move” operation. If you are worried about losing the contact, save it
to a VCF file using ownCloud (Or LDIF using Thunderbird Addressbook) first! Like dragging from “ownCloud
Addressbook” to “Personal Address Book” removes the contact from ownCloud Server (deleting it from all the other
synchronized installations) and puts it in your Local Machine -only- Address Book. So be careful or you’ll have
unintended consequences where you might have intended a “copy” operation.
Contact Pictures are also sync’ed!
5.7 Troubleshooting
BlackBerry OS up to 10.2.2102 does not accept a URL with protocol https:// in front of the server address. It will
always tell you that it cannot login on your server. So instead of writing:
https://address/remote.php/carddav/principals/username
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The Documents application supports editing documents within ownCloud, without the need to launch an external
application. The Documents app supports these features:
• Cooperative edit, with multiple users editing files simultaneously.
• Document creation within ownCloud.
• Document upload.
• Share and edit files in the browser, and then share them inside ownCloud or through a public link.
Supported file formats are .odt, .doc, and .docx.
In the Documents application, you can upload an existing document or create a new one. The New document button
creates a document named “New document.odt”. The extension ODT is an OpenDocument format, which is supported
by most word processors including Microsoft Word, LibreOffice Writer, and OpenOffice Writer.
To edit a document, access the Documents app from your Apps menu at the top left of your ownCloud window.
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To edit a file collaboratively, it must be shared with everyone who needs editing permissions. Multiple users can edit
it at the same time, and changes appear as they are made. The cursor of each user is the same color as the border color
of their user picture.
If a user is not a local user (e.g accessing the file using public link), they will be shown as guest in the user list,
automatically named Guest 1, Guest 2, and so on. Guests can change their nicknames at any time by clicking on their
names or thumbnails in the user list.
You can’t delete a document from inside the Document app, but must go to your Files page and delete it from there.
You’ll find it in your default documents directory, which is configured on your ownCloud Personal page (see Setting
Your Preferences.)
Document sharing has the same options as when sharing other files. While editing a document, you can use the Share
button to enable other users to edit the document. This button will display all available options to share:
By default, you can enter local users or groups to share with. Checking Share link will enable sharing via a public link.
Shares can optionally have an expiration date and password. ownCloud will send the public link to users by email by
typing each email address into the email field. Separate multiple email addresses with a space.
SEVEN
If you want to add a bookmark to the Bookmarks application, you can either use the main interface or the bookmarklet.
In the bookmark application, enter a URL into the top-left area of the content section. After adding an address, click
on the pencil button to edit fields for the given address. The main ownCloud bookmark interface contains 3 fields at
the top where you can enter the website address (or URL), the title of your bookmark, and a set of tags separated from
each other by a space.
In this example, we have added the page http://wikipedia.org with the title “Wikipedia” and some tags describing what
Wikipedia is for an easier search later on.
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7.1.3 Search
If you click on a tag, ownCloud will only display the bookmarks that are described with this tag.
You can also use the search bar of ownCloud in the top right of your screen.
Simply click on the “Bookmarks” menu in the sidebar to come back to the default view.
The creator of this app understands that people won’t want to open the ownCloud boorkmarks page to add a bookmark
every time they see a cool site. This is why they have made this cool “bookmarklet”.
A bookmarklet is small button that you can drag and drop in your bookmarks. The next time you see a cool new site,
click on this special bookmark to add the site to your ownCloud bookmarks.
To find this bookmark, click on the gear button at the bottom of the bookmarks app.
EIGHT
Note: If you are an administrator, you can also manage users and administer the server by using the related links in
the Personal Settings Menu. However, these links do not appear to a normal user.
The options listed in the Personal Settings Page depend on the applications that are enabled by the administrator.
However, some of the default settings for this page include the following:
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Appearing at the top of the page, this information provides the amount of space used and available for the user (in
Megabytes).
8.2 Password
Enables you to change your password. To change your password, you must provide your current password along with
your new password. When creating a new password, ownCloud provides a dynamic password strength indicator for
your assistance.
Note: If you would like the ability to recover your password through e-mail, specify your email address in the Email
field (see below).
Enables you to specify your full name. This name appears at the top of the Personal Settings Menu.
8.4 Email
Enables you to specify an email address for use by the ownCloud server and administrator in sending you notifications.
For information about setting email notifications, see “Notifications” below.
Enables you to specify a new avatar (profile image) that identifies you on the ownCloud server. By default, the profile
picture is the first initial of your username. You can choose to keep the letter designation, upload a new image from an
external source, or select an image from any existing images in your ownCloud folders.
8.6 Language
Enables you to change your Web interface language, if you want to override the browser settings.
8.7 Notifications
Enables you to specify what notifications you receive for activities on your ownCloud instance. You can choose to
receive messages through an email notification or online stream notification. In addition, the Notifications settings
enable you to exclude changes that you make yourself and obtain only changes made by others on your account. You
can obtain email notifications hourly, daily, or weekly.
Since ownCloud 8.1 it is possible to “Limit notifications about creation and changes to your favorite files”. This means
you will no longer receive notifications for all files, but only those which are marked as favorite or are in a folder that
is marked as a favorite, using the new Favorites feature.
Note: This option is only available for the notification stream at the moment, due to the way the email notifications
are generated in ownCloud 8.1.
If your ownCloud server admin has enabled the Documents app, you can specify a location (folder) to which newly
created documents are saved.
8.9 Version
Specifies the ownCloud software version that you are using along with links to the ownCloud community, source code,
and licensing information.
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EXTERNAL STORAGE
The External Storage application allows you to mount external storage services, such as Google Drive, Dropbox,
Amazon S3, SMB/CIFS fileservers, and FTP servers in ownCloud. Your ownCloud server administrator controls
which of these are available to you. Please see Configuring External Storage (GUI) in the ownCloud Administrator’s
manual for configuration howtos and examples.
Native SharePoint support has been added to ownCloud Enterprise Subscription as a secondary storage location for
SharePoint 2007, 2010 and 2013. To the user, these appear as normal ownCloud mounts, with bi-directional updates in
any ownCloud client: desktop, mobile, or Web. There is one difference, and that is ownCloud sharing is intentionally
disabled for SharePoint mountpoints in order to preserve SharePoint access controls, and to ensure that content is
properly accessed as per SharePoint rules.
Your ownCloud admin may optionally allow users to mount their own SharePoint libraries.
When you first log in to ownCloud, the Web interface shows a gray bar behind all SharePoint folders. The gray bar
disappears when the mountpoint is verified by the server. If you see a red error bar, you’ll see either an hourglass that
indicates a connection error, or a key to indicate that authentication is required.
Your ownCloud admin has the option to configure SharePoint credentials so that you are authenticated automatically,
or you may be required to enter your credentials. If you have to enter your credentials, click the red bar and you’ll get
a login window. You should only have to do this once, as ownCloud will store your credentials.
If your SharePoint login ever changes, go to your Personal page to update it in the Sharepoint Personal
Configuration section.
You can manage your SharePoint connections in the Sharepoint Personal Configuration section of your
ownCloud Personal page. You’ll see two sections: the Admin added mount points section lists SharePoint
mounts controlled by your ownCloud admin. If users have permissions to mount their own SharePoint libraries you’ll
also see a Personal mount points section.
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There are two types of authentication available to you. If you have multiple SharePoint libraries that use the same
authentication, enter your credentials in Sharepoint Personal Configuration. Then follow these steps to
add your libraries:
• Enter the name of your local mountpoint in the Local Folder Name column. This can be an existing folder,
or automatically create a new one.
• Enter your SharePoint server URL.
• Click the little refresh icon to the left of the Document Library field. If your credentials and URL are
correct you’ll get a dropdown list of SharePoint libraries to choose from.
• Select the document library you want to mount.
• Select “Use user credentials”.
• Click the Save button, and you’re done
You may elect to use different authentication credentials for some of your SharePoint libraries. For these, you must
first select use custom credentials, and then fill in the mountpoint and SharePoint site URL. Then ownCloud
can authenticate you, and you can click the refresh icon to see your libraries. Then select the library you want to mount
and click the Save button.