from JASN_DE@lemmy.world to selfhosted@lemmy.world on 07 Feb 14:16
https://lemmy.world/post/25264733
A little background first: I’m selfhosting our (wife and mine) files for over 12 years now, started with a simple FreeNAS folder, switched to Owncloud and moved on to Nextcloud after the split. We only really need the files part, and while it works fine in general, setting it up took more tinkering than it should’ve.
I’m also not a fan of NC’s direction, moving from file cloud hosting to a “full-stack” enterprise one-for-all solution. While that wouldn’t be an issue in general, it seems that other parts are prioritized without getting the older parts to work correctly first.
Which seems to match with the recent-ish code analysis bsi.bund.de/…/Projekt-CAOS-30_Nextcloud_250205.ht… (in German, although CVE entries have an English description) which found nearly 40 vulnerabilities, amongst them modules like 2FA/MFA.
So I’ve tested through most of the other options, but maybe I missed something obvious.
Requirements:
- selfhostable in a docker environment
- file storage/syncing from a central server, preferably selective sync (so Syncthing is out)
- either structured storage (folders etc) or at least structured export/backup from flat storage for application-indepentent file backup
- desktop client for Windows, mobile client for Android
- Web UI for simple browser access
- virtual file support a definite plus
Things I’ve tried:
Nextcloud
- well-working setup, definitely my “fallback” option
- no fan of the general direction development is going
Syncthing
- While working absolutely fine for sync between different devices (have it in use in a different scenario), the peer-to-peer nature is unsuitable for what I’m looking for
Pydio Cells
- server and web UI work fine, desktop and app sync didn’t really work (might be an error on my part though)
- backup fiddly due to needing cells-fuse tool for structured files, although I haven’t tested structured storage yet
Seafile
- will have to test this again, when I did years earlier the storage situation was a little tricky
Owncloud Infinite Scale
- Similar to Pydio Cells, but haven’t really tested yet due to dev exodus
Opencloud.eu
- several devs from Owncloud moved to Opencloud and forked their “own” OCIS server
- first release scheduled March '25, so no testing yet
- I have hopes this might be a useful alternative, but time will tell
So: did I miss something? Any obvious software solution?
threaded - newest
Maybe Karadav with the Nextcloud clients/apps.
Not sure if that will support selective sync, I don’t see anything saying specifically no on the repo.
It does via the Nextcloud apps. I also use KaraDAV and am quite happy with it.
If you don’t like the somewhat barebones web-ui you can use Filestash instead, the docu explains how to set it up with webdav only and pass through the credentials directly (a bit convoluted at first, but once done it works great).
I don’t know that I can answer your question, sorry, but something you said confuses me.
Why? I think you missed describing a requirement, because there’s no reason SyncThing can’t do “for syncing from a central server.” Do you mean one-way, or one-to-many, or what? What, exactly, doesn’t SyncThing do that you need?
I believe SyncThing is not the right tool in many scenarios, but I don’t understand these bullet points.
For one thing, SyncThing is only peer-to-peer if you set it up that way. You can absolutely define a “master” simply by only connecting the “clients” to the master. It’s an utterly arbitrary distinction, but the clients won’t know about or communicate with each other unless you explicitly pair them with each other. This is how I have our phones set up: each one is paired to the central server, but neither is an introducer nor knows about each other. We have one directory that the server has shared with both phones, and several directories that the server shares only with one or the other phone. I even have the server connected and sharing all of the directories with a second, backup server that neither phone knows about.
Again, I’m not pimping SyncThing; it has weaknesses, the biggest one being any lack of sophisticated merge ability. I wish it had a plugin system where, for each for type, in case of conflicts it would call out to some external merge program; rather than just throwing up it’s hands and going, “well shucks, guess I’ll just spam a bunch of sync conflict files”. And it can be annoyingly slow recognizing changes and syncing; it would be a terrible choice for any sort of pair programming file sharing.
But what problems have you encountered with it, for your case?
Syncthing is wildly inefficient though. I can understand not wanting to use it.
is there a more efficient alternative that isn’t centralized?
Lots, but rsync is wildly better just on its own.
rsync is not really comparable to syncthing, it’s like comparing Excel to C++ or something. I need to be able to get lay people to install and use it, and syncthing has a UI that allows this while even I would have to do some work to get rsync to do everything syncthing is doing for me right now.
Yep that’s how I have Syncthing set up. All global and local discovery disabled, no firewall ports open on the clients, no broadcasting, no relay servers. Just syncing through a central server which maintains versioning and where the backups run. Works like a charm.
You should checkout Seafile again. It’s so easy and way faster than NC.
Are the files still plain old files in your host’s file system with the latest Seafile?
Seafile ‘scrambles’ files and doesn’t make them available to other applications on the host, which I don’t think OP wants.
Seafile is ok. It has a weird docker container setup (multiple processes running in a single container) but works okayish
Check out MinIO. It’s S3 compatible, so generally any tool which works with S3 will work with your instance. You can pair it with other FOSS applications like rclone. It’s a great combo.
I was in the same boat… I just wanted a simple god damn self-hosted cloudStorage without any nitty gritty or all the bloat that comes with most local/self-hosted cloud solution…
Syncthing is good, but not really a cloud storage solution (I love syncthing and I use It to sync all my backups !!).
Give SFTPGo a try :) It also has a WebDAV functionality if you wan’t to use it that way ! It just plain file storage with security features. However, not sure there are any application available, I mostly used it as web application :).
why not just NFS or smb in a tailscale network?
The requirements asked for a web UI. You are right though, except for that, other kind of shared folder solutions might work.
If you really wanted a WebUI could install Cockpit with the File Sharing extension.
ah I missed that part.
I did not know about opencloud.eu, and now I’m intrigued. I was always looking for a simple Google Drive alternative, but Nextcloud was too much. Will definitely keep an eye on it.
If you don’t want to wait, Owncloud Infinite Scale is basically ready right now, and Opencloud is unlikely to be more than a rebranded fork in the beginning anyway. So should be good for testing the principle right now.
I didn’t find anything for syncing yet. But I settled with plain smb shares which works for 99% of my needs and www.filestash.app for a simple webUI which is more convenient when browsing files and photos from the phone.
What about OpenMediaVault?
Yes it focuses to be more of a NAS ‘operating system’ but the file sharing stuff is easy to set up. Any client can connect via nfs, smb or web to access any files.
Seafile is great…with caveats that seem to bother people away from it:
Files are stored as git-like chunks on the server
Features behind a paywall for more than 3 users (Pro vs Comminity versions)
Documentation can be very confusing at times
Item 1 can be mitigated by utilizing tools like Rclone to mount the files on the server, reassembling the chunks, then back up and unmount when done. Item 2 isn’t a deal breaker for me.
It is super fast and reliable in my experience. I specify wanted the selective sync because my stupid MacBook has a tiny SSD, but I still wanted access to files from other device libraries.