Nextcloud

This article is a draft

This is not a complete article: This is a draft, a work in progress that is intended to be published into an article, which may or may not be ready for inclusion in the main wiki. It should not necessarily be considered factual or authoritative.

Introduction

We now provide nextCloud, a Dropbox-like cloud storage service, for all Compute Canada users. You can use your Compute Canada username and password to login to the nextCloud server. A complete nextCloud user manual is available from docs.nextcloud.com. Another manual is available as PDF document under your account once you connect. All data transfers between local devices and Compute Canada's nextCloud are encrypted.

The nextCloud service is aimed at users with relatively small datasets (up to a few hundred GB). For anything larger the Globus service is much to be preferred.

Migrating from ownCloud to nextCloud

Since the legacy WestGrid owncloud service will be decommissioned (in the near future) it will be necessary for ownCloud users to move their data to nextCloud, a service offered by Compute Canada.

• (Instructions to go here)

Compute Canada nextCloud service description

• Server URL: https://nextcloud.computecanada.ca
• Server Location: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC
• Default Quota: 100 GB per user.
• Backup Policy: Daily backup without offsite copy.
• Access Methods: Web interface, nextCloud Desktop Sync Clients, nextCloud Mobile Apps, and any WebDAV clients
• Documentation: PDF and online.

Using nextCloud web interface

To use the web interface, login to Compute Canada nextCloud from a web browser using your Compute Canada username and password. You can upload and download files between your desktop and nextCloud, edit files, and share files with other Compute Canada users. For more information, please refer to the nextCloud user manual.

Using UNIX Command Line Tools

You can also use any available WebDAV command line clients, like curl and cadaver, to copy files between your host and nextCloud. Command line tools are useful when you copy data between a remote host you login to and nextCloud.

cURL is usually installed on Mac OSX and Linux systems and can be used to upload and download files using an URL.

Upload a file using curl:

[name@server ~]$ curl -k -u <username> -T <filename> https://nextcloud.computecanada.ca/remote.php/webdav/

Download a file using curl

[name@server ~]$ curl -k -u <username> https://nextcloud.computecanada.ca/remote.php/webdav/<filename> -o <filename>

Sharing Files using nextCloud

To make it easier for sharing among Compute Canada users, we made a change in the nextCloud installation so that both a user's username and their full name are displayed in the web browser. The format is "Firstname Lastname (username)".

Globus is a file transfer service