Do Shared-Links "expire", even without a specific Date set?

[Jean_C]

I have a request from a User who has created and send a Link over a Year ago, claiming the Link was now invalid even though she changed or deleted nothing.

I did update NC in the meantime with two major Versions, so my qquestions are:

1. Do shared Links stay the same or can they change due to NC-Upgrades, f.e. from NC v18 to 20?
2. Is there a general expiry-date for Links, f.e. after 12 Months?

TIA

[RuudschMaHinda]

I have experienced that same issue.

After a few months - most likely after an upgrade - people can’t access old shared links anymore even though they are still around.

Once I have visted that link, they can access it again.

I don’t know yet if it happens after point upgrades or proper version upgrades. But if anybody knows more about this, and how to keep links active that would be great.
The files/folders still are shared by that link. Still are in the “shared” overview as well.

(This instance is set to automatically have links expire after 14 days. So users have to actively uncheck that. They then think that the link should be there in perpetuity or until they delete the share.)

[jtr]

This behavior sounds a bit like what’s described in the blue box here under Enforce expiration date:

https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/configuration_files/file_sharing_configuration.htm

Particularly the last sentence.

There’s a default but then there is an optional enforcement policy. Is it that by chance?

[devnull]

@jtr

https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/stable/admin_manual/configuration_files/file_sharing_configuration.htm

Correct link: File Sharing — Nextcloud latest Administration Manual latest documentation

Yes that may be the fact.

Box “Note” in the link above

Users will not be able to set the expiration date further in the future than the enforced expiration date, although they will be able to set a more recent date. Also note that users will be able to update the expiration date again at a later point. The expiration date is based on the current date and not on the share creation date. The user will be able to extend the expiration date again whenever a previous expiration date is close to be reached.

@RuudschMaHinda
Also you can search “Enforce expiration date” at GitHub - nextcloud/server: ☁️ Nextcloud server, a safe home for all your data and then change to “issues” and sort “newest”. There was e.g. a bug in older Nextcloud versions read here.

[RuudschMaHinda]

In that case I misunderstood those settings.

I assumed all new shares expire after 14 days unless the user sets a different date. Even if they take away the checkmark for a permanent share link.

I put that in so that if they don’t care to check (which happened way too often), shared links expire after 14 days unless explicitly stated not to. I did not check “Enforce expiration date” - since I assumed that’s the one that makes it impossible to share a link for longer than 14 days.

So, the way I am reading the docs here is:
I can not set a standard expiration date of 14 days, but still allow my users to do longer lasting public link shares?
If so, that kinda sucks. I really want links to expire after 14 days unless specifically stated not to by the user.

Hmm…

[bb77]

@RuudschMaHinda

I assumed all new shares expire after 14 days unless the user sets a different date. Even if they take away the checkmark for a permanent share link.

That wouldn’t make any sense on its own. That would only make sense if you could enforce additional rules like minimum and maximum share periods. Otherwise the users would just set it to 31.12.2099, which would technically be the same as removing the checkmark.

@RuudschMaHinda

If so, that kinda sucks. I really want links to expire after 14 days unless specifically stated not to by the user.

This is exactly how it works when you don’t enforce the expiration date. On a new share the predefined expiration date is set by default, however, the user can change it at any time or uncheck the box, which means. “No expiration date”.

And yes, technically you are right. Users don’t have to explicitly confirm that they don’t want an expiration date, they have to un-check a box instead, so what we’re essentially talking about here, is just a formality.

[RuudschMaHinda]

@bb77

This is exactly how it works when you don’t enforce the expiration date. On a new share the predefined expiration date is set by default, however, the user can change it at any time or uncheck the box, which means. “No expiration date”.

In that case, this is not working, and as described in the very first post - links that have actively been unchecked (to technically last forever) still seem to stop working after something happening, or a certain amount of time.
Because I do not enforce the 14 days, since some use case scenarios need longer lasting shares.

I presume, as does the original poster, that after an update, or a whole version upgrade links stop working for some reason - even if they have no expiration date set.

[bb77]

@RuudschMaHinda

links that have actively been unchecked (to technically last forever) still seem to stop working after something happening, or a certain amount of time.

In that case, I would say this is clearly a bug, and should be reported on GitHub.

Btw. I’m not sure what the following note, which @devnull quoted from the admin manual, is supposed to tell us…

@devnull

Users will not be able to set the expiration date further in the future than the enforced expiration date, although they will be able to set a more recent date. Also note that users will be able to update the expiration date again at a later point. The expiration date is based on the current date and not on the share creation date. The user will be able to extend the expiration date again whenever a previous expiration date is close to be reached.

Maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t make any sense to me at all. When the expiration date is enforced in the admin settings, the field for the expiration date and the corresponding check mark are “greyed out”. So what exactly does this note mean? Does it mean it will not be “greyed out” anymore, once the expiration date is close to be reached. How close to the expiration date will this happen? a day? a few hours? Only if there is a full moon…?

[RuudschMaHinda]

Going by the docs the comment is right after they explain the “enforce expiry date” checkmark. Which is why I got confused as well.

Will be busy soon for the rest of today and all of tomorrow, but will open a bug report on github then. Makes sense. Once done, I’ll link it here, so people can follow it in the future.

[CthulhuXP]

Good day!
You can ask for a link to the article of this problem on github, I encountered the same problem after moving from OpenLDAP to AD authorization.