Nuremberg, 28th April 2017 – Extended Security, Extended Performance, Extended Productivity: ownCloud is launching the new major release 10.0.0 “ownCloud X”. Apart from more than 200 improvements it will contain three essential innovations: File Integrity checking, a more flexible collaboration with individual groups and guest accounts as well as a completely overhauled sharing dialog. In addition the new ownCloud marketplace enables the simple installation of further apps such as Contacts, Collabora Online or TOTP (Time Based One Time Password).
With “ownCloud X” ownCloud is introducing a new generation of its enterprise file sync and share solution to the market. The software is now available for download and offers crucial improvements for community and enterprise users. This update delivers three key innovations: File Integrity by improving the communication between the server and desktop clients, new group features with “Custom Groups” as well as more flexible sharing options.
“The improvements in ownCloud were the result of many discussions with our customers where security, performance and productivity have proven to be the key development focus. With ownCloud X we were able to make considerable progress in all three areas,” explains Holger Dyroff, COO of ownCloud and responsible for product development.
File Integrity Checking to prevent errors and data leakage
The new feature for automated checking of the integrity of files clearly provides added value for users. By calculating checksums during the communication between the server and desktop client, transmission errors (such as bit errors) can be identified which leads to a significantly higher security of the sync process.
Additional options for creating groups
Another new feature enables the creation of Custom Groups. Until now the creation of groups was restricted to administrators. With the new Custom Group feature every user can add new users to a group and manage their permissions. This feature is also available for LDAP users without the need for an administrator to define further groups within the Active Directory.
Full flexibility when creating public links
A further development focus of ownCloud X were more flexible sharing options to increase productivity. Users are now able to create an unlimited number of public links. This enables selective file sharing where different passwords and expiry dates can be assigned to each link – previously this was only possible for one link per file or folder. If a user wants to share a file or a folder with different people or organisations and assign different access rights, it is no longer necessary to manually deactivate the link and create a new one (e.g. when share settings have changed). Instead, the user defines access permissions and expiry dates with different links. In the web frontend, desktop client and mobile apps these public links can be sent directly to email addresses.
New Guest User feature allowing all users to invite guests
The new ownCloud app “Guests” now allows all users to create guest user accounts. The email address acts as user ID and the guest can take full advantage of the desktop client without, however, owning any files or being able to share files with other users or guests within the system. This feature was developed in several customer projects to support easy collaboration with suppliers, partners and external staff and is now generally available.
ownCloud apps available in the new marketplace
The ownCloud apps “Guest User” and “Custom Groups” are now available for administrators in the new marketplace at marketplace.owncloud.com which also includes the already familiar extensions “Contacts” and “Calendar” as well as “TOTP” for 2-factor authentication. Developers can now use the publisher feature to make their own ownCloud apps available for all users. The LDAP Integration app for connecting Active Directory and LDAP directory services can also be downloaded from the marketplace as soon as it is available. The new marketplace allows a much more flexible extension and development of further ownCloud features. This means current ownCloud releases can be limited to the core allowing additional features to be improved independently. In future new features as well as updates can be distributed faster among the users. In future the marketplace, together with the marketplace app in the ownCloud server, will ensure the compatibility of all ownCloud apps when upgrading to the latest version and will automatically download new versions.
“The new generation of ownCloud is a major step forward and benefits all users. We are fully committed to make the more than 12 million ownCloud users happy and to inspire millions more for using ownCloud X. The integrated marketplace will strengthen the active developer community,” says Tobias Gerlinger, CEO of ownCloud.
Additional improvements increase flexibility and performance
Apart from these major innovations ownCloud X offers many more new capabilities for easier file sharing. Ownership of individual folders or files can be transferred from one user to another, which is particularly useful when employees leave the company. Furthermore, user accounts can now be disabled (even temporarily) in the user interface by without being deleted completely.
The performance has also been improved significantly: LDAP and Active Directory integration efficiency was increased considerably by establishing a central user management table. In addition the number of database queries was dramatically reduced which will have a positive impact on the performance.
The settings design has been reworked to facilitate navigation. Users will now find all relevant settings and apps in a central place which improves consistency and increases productivity.
ownCloud X is now available for download at https://owncloud.org/install/.
Additional features announced for version 10.0.1.
The release of version 10.0.1 will also be the official launch of ownCloud X for enterprise customers and comes with a new and important file drop feature. This will enable users to upload files without logging in to the actual cloud. The uploaded files can then only be accessed by the file owner. A typical scenario for these kind of upload-only folders is the procurement process where quick and easy submission of quotes can be realized. This capability is a development of the public link feature which was initially introduced in the enterprise version and will now be integrated into the community version as well. A further feature called “Impersonation” will allow the administrator to temporarily log in as another person, e.g. to check security or share settings.