Nextcloud

Nexcloud is a software used to share files between users and save them online. It's the right choice of tool if you want to save big files or send them to any user on the internet, share documents with other user, or make backups of work files.

Files stored on Nextcloud can be accessed via the web interface, or by synchronizing them on your computer by configuring the Nexcloud desktop client. The later option is preferred, as it involves less operations to save files online, and you can be ensured the files are synchronized just by saving them on your computer.

Online Access

Nextcloud is available at https://cloud.frog-collective.org.

Nextcloud desktop client configuration

Linux installation

Installation instruction are intended for Debian / Ubuntu running Gnome. If you are not on such a distribution or not using Gnome, or if you don't known what it means, feel free to ask for help on the help channel at [matrix channel incoming one day yolo] or by writing at help@collectivit.org. That said, for Debian / Ubuntu users, here is how you can configure a local folder to be synchronized with Nextcloud :

First, install the nextcloud-desktop package : in a terminal, execute the following command :

sudo apt install nextcloud-dekstop

When the installation is done, launch the client by typing Alt-F2 typing nextcloud in the prompt, then enter. The nextcloud configuration window should open. For the next steps, go to the Client configuration section.

Client Configuration

You must have installed the Nextcloud client, to do so, check the installation instruction above. Once you launched the Nexcloud client :

• Click the Log In button
• In the Server Address field, enter https://cloud.frog-collective.com and click Next
• A browser window should open, asking you to authenticate to Nextcloud and authorize the Nextcloud client. Use your CollectvIT credentials to do so, follow the instructions, once authenticated, go back to the Nextcloud client configuration window.
• In the next window, you can click Choose Different Folder to configure where to store the cloud files.
• When settings suit you, click Connect

Nextcloud should start syncing your files. For now on, any modification you make in the Nextcloud folder will be automatically synchronized with the online storage, and visible by other users if they are allowed to do so.

Advanced Configuration

Folder Sync Connection configuration

The Nextcloud desktop client allows to synchronize different folders to different places on your hard drive. It can be usefull if you store both personal and shared files, and want them to be synchronized in different folders. To configure a folder connection, open the Nextcloud desktop client. Click on the dropdown next to your account name on the top left :

Click the "settings" menu.

The folder connection already configured are shown in this place. If you followed the "Client Configuration" guide, an entry should already be in the list. To configure a new folder connection, click "Add Folder Sync Connection".

Select the folder where you want your files to be synced on your computer and click next.

Select the remote folder to synchronize in the folder previously configured, click next again. If you want to exclude some subfolders from the synchronization, unselect them in the next window :

Click "Add Sync Connection". You can start adding and editing files, they will be saved in the remote configured folder.