Sharing policies #

owncloud.online keeps its sharing rules under Settings → Admin → Sharing. The switches there write app config values, so you can set almost every option with occ config:app:set as well, for example during initial setup, in scripts, or for reproducible configurations. The only exception on this page is the list of trusted federation servers: it lives in its own database table, not in the app config.

Run the occ commands on this page from the installation directory, for example after cd /var/www/owncloud.online.

Where the settings are #

Menu path: Settings → Admin → Sharing.

The page is built from several panels. Which ones appear depends on the enabled apps:

Almost all keys of the main section belong to the core app, not to files_sharing. The keys for federated shares, for the recipient blacklist, and for the groups allowed to create public links belong to files_sharing. Pay attention to the app name when you set values with occ.

The yes/no switches in the main Sharing section store the strings yes and no, not 1 and 0 (settings/js/admin.js). The panels of the guests and federation apps work differently, see their sections below.

Turning sharing on or off #

The top switch, Allow apps to use the Share API, is the main switch. If it is set to no, the web interface hides all other sharing options, and the server refuses access to public links (apps/files_sharing/lib/Middleware/SharingCheckMiddleware.php).

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_enabled --value no

The dependent values are kept but are no longer evaluated. When you set the main switch back to yes, the previously stored configuration applies again right away.

Public links #

Allow users to share via link decides whether link shares can be created at all. If the value is no, the server refuses to create them (lib/private/Share20/Manager.php, linkCreateChecks) and blocks access to existing links.

With shareapi_allow_public_upload set to no, only read-only links are possible: the server rejects any link share that includes the create, change, or delete permission. The language key takes either a language code or the special value owner. In that case the language of the share owner is used (label Owner language).

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_allow_links --value yes
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_allow_public_upload --value no

Enforcing passwords for links #

Passwords are not enforced across the board but per link role. The server compares the permissions of the share with fixed combinations (lib/private/Share20/Manager.php, passwordMustBeEnforced):

The check runs when a link share is created and when it is changed. To protect all public links, set all four keys. Each one only covers its own role:

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_enforce_links_password_read_only --value yes
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_enforce_links_password_read_write --value yes
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_enforce_links_password_read_write_delete --value yes
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_enforce_links_password_write_only --value yes

The four switches only enforce that a password is set at all. How strong it has to be is up to the password policy, see below.

Expiration dates #

There are four independent sets of expiration settings: for links, for user shares, for group shares, and for federated shares. Each set has three keys: turn on, number of days, enforce.

All keys belong to the core app. The switches default to no, the day values to 7.

The order matters: the enforce switch is only evaluated if the matching default expiration is turned on. The code spells this out as an AND condition (shareApiLinkDefaultExpireDateEnforced and the matching methods for user, group, and federated shares in lib/private/Share20/Manager.php).

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_default_expire_date --value yes
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_expire_after_n_days --value 14
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_enforce_expire_date --value yes

Expired shares do not disappear right away. A background job that runs once a day removes them (apps/files_sharing/lib/ExpireSharesJob.php). Without a working cron they stay, see Background jobs (cron).

Resharing #

Allow resharing controls whether recipients of a share may pass it on.

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_allow_resharing --value no

Independently of this, link shares can never carry the share permission: the server explicitly rejects a link share with that permission.

Sharing with groups and limiting recipients #

The three lists work differently:

• shareapi_exclude_groups_list takes away the members' right to create shares. They can still receive shares.
• blacklisted_receiver_groups removes groups from the list of recipients. Members can still create shares themselves and receive personal shares.
• public_share_sharers_groups_allowlist limits who may create public links at all. If the list is empty but the switch is on, nobody is excluded (apps/files_sharing/lib/SharingAllowlist.php).

All three group lists are stored as JSON arrays:

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_exclude_groups --value yes
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_exclude_groups_list --value '["external","interns"]'
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set files_sharing blacklisted_receiver_groups --value '["archive"]'

For shareapi_exclude_groups_list, the server also accepts an old comma-separated format. It converts it to JSON on first read and writes the result back (lib/private/Share20/Manager.php, sharingDisabledForUser). Do not rely on this.

Recipient autocompletion #

If enumeration is set to no, the search no longer returns a list of matches. Only an exact username, display name, or email address returns a result (apps/files_sharing/lib/Controller/ShareesController.php). This is the most effective measure against harvesting the user list through the share dialog.

user_additional_info_field takes exactly three values: empty (label None), id (User ID), and email (Email address). The extra field helps when several users have the same display name.

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_allow_share_dialog_user_enumeration --value no
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core user_additional_info_field --value email

Users can also remove themselves from autocompletion under Settings → Personal → Sharing ("Allow finding you via autocomplete in share dialog. …"). This is a user setting of the files_sharing app, not an app config value, and it is only visible while global enumeration is on (apps/files_sharing/lib/Panels/Personal/PersonalPanel.php):

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ user:setting maxine files_sharing allow_share_dialog_user_enumeration --value no

Default permissions and automatic acceptance #

shareapi_default_permissions is a bitmask of the constants in lib/public/Constants.php:

The web interface always adds the read permission, whatever you select. The value is only used if no permissions are passed when a user or group share is created. Link shares do not use it (apps/files_sharing/lib/Controller/Share20OcsController.php).

# read + change + create + delete, but no resharing (1+2+4+8)
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_default_permissions --value 15

Automatic acceptance can be turned off globally and also overridden per user. The user setting is only evaluated while the global setting is on:

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set core shareapi_auto_accept_share --value no
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ user:setting maxine files_sharing auto_accept_share --value no

shareapi_allow_mail_notification covers notifications to internal recipients and is independent of shareapi_allow_public_notification, which applies to public links. Both need working email delivery, see Sending email.

Federated sharing #

The Federated Cloud Sharing section comes from the federatedfilesharing app, but most of its keys belong to the files_sharing app.

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set files_sharing outgoing_server2server_share_enabled --value no
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set files_sharing incoming_server2server_share_enabled --value no

The federation app maintains the list of trusted servers itself, in the Trusted Servers section. It has its own key, which stores 0 and 1 instead (apps/federation/lib/TrustedServers.php):

A separate command removes orphaned storages left behind by deleted federated shares:

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ sharing:cleanup-remote-storages

Password policy #

The password_policy app hooks into the core's password check. When a link password is set, the core fires the OCP\Share::validatePassword event (lib/private/Share20/Manager.php, verifyPassword). The app checks the password and rejects it with a message if needed.

The two mechanisms have separate jobs:

• The shareapi_enforce_links_password_* switches decide whether a password is required.
• The policy decides what the password has to look like.

Without the password_policy app there is no strength check. The core does not have one.

The Password and public link expiration policies panel is not under Sharing but under Settings → Admin → Security. As the heading Minimum password requirements for user accounts and public links says, the minimum requirements apply to account passwords and link passwords alike. All keys belong to the password_policy app and follow the pattern <name>_checked and <name>_value. When a box is checked, the web interface stores on; an unchecked box is stored as an empty value. When you set values with occ, use only on: the expiration rules compare strictly against on (lib/HooksHandler.php), while the password check treats any non-empty value as on (lib/Engine.php, yes). To turn a rule off, delete the key.

The app also adds its own expiration rules for public links that depend on the password:

If one of these rules is on, the app requires an expiration date for link shares and rejects any date beyond the configured number of days (lib/HooksHandler.php, updateLinkExpiry). This is a second, independent mechanism next to shareapi_enforce_expire_date. The stricter of the two rules wins.

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set password_policy spv_min_chars_checked --value on
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set password_policy spv_min_chars_value --value 12

Guests #

If the guests app is enabled, the Sharing section also shows the Guests panel. Guests are separate accounts that are marked with the isGuest user setting and collected in a virtual group. Users invite them by email address in the share dialog.

The whitelist switch stores the strings true and false, not yes and no.

The domain blocklist is a comma-separated list. It is checked when a guest is created. The comparison uses the full domain after the @ and ignores upper and lower case (lib/Controller/UsersController.php, isDomainBlocked).

sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:set guests blockdomains --value 'example.com,example.net'

Keep two interactions with the sharing rules in mind:

• The whitelist decides which apps a guest sees at all. It only applies to accounts that are explicitly marked as guests (lib/AppInfo/Application.php). If files_trashbin or files_versions is missing from the list, guests have neither Deleted files nor versions.
• The restriction Restrict users to only share with users in their groups is deliberately skipped for guests: the server allows sharing with a guest even if there is no common group (lib/private/Share20/Manager.php, userCreateChecks).

Checking values #

# read a single value
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:get core shareapi_enabled

# all sharing keys of the core at a glance
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:list core

# reset a value to the built-in default
sudo -u www-data php8.4 occ config:app:delete core shareapi_enforce_expire_date

Prefer config:app:delete over setting what looks like the default value. After deleting, the default from the code applies again, even if it changes in a later version.

Troubleshooting #

See also #

• Security and setup warnings
• Background jobs (cron)
• Files and sharing
• Apps: Password Policy, Guests, Custom Groups