Internal access to a file drop

ℹ️ Support
,
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  • Nextcloud Server version Nextcloud Hub 7 (28.0.4)
  • Operating system and version Ubuntu 22.04.4 LTS
  • Web server and version Apache/2.4.58 (Unix)
  • Reverse proxy and version none
  • PHP version PHP 8.3.4
  • Installation method AlO
  • Are you using CloudfIare, mod_security, or similar? No

Apologies if this is posted elsewhere, I looked but couldn’t find this discussed.

Is there a way for a logged in user to access a file drop folder from the obfuscated URL that is sent to non-users?

For example, how can I find the associated internal link for https://files.paulororke.net/s/mmBKQktyj8yqY98 without already knowing where that folder was made?

If I get an email reply from someone saying they uploaded something to that folder I have to know where to look for it. That can be a problem if I have sent many links and can’t determine from the email thread which folder it refers to.

Does that make sense?

2

I guess either it is not clear what I am asking, or there is some very obvious answer that everyone expects me to already know?

Am I the only one who uses NextCloud to share files outside an organization that has a need to see where that obfuscated link leads to?

3

I’m not sure, but maybe it’s just not possible.

Or let’s say the only way I found to at least get the name of the shared folder is to open the corresponding share link:

2025-02-18_13-36
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4

You can use the internal link (sharing) option. Also why not use the pubic link if exits.

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I can’t speak for @paulororke, but I’d say because then you “only” get the same limited view with the same permissions as the external user.

Ideally, Nextcloud would behave like Google Drive, meaning that when an authenticated user who owns the folder in question clicks on the corresponding public share link, they would be redirected internally to that folder instead of seeing the same “restricted” share view that an external, unauthenticated user would see.

1 Like
6

That is a great description of the need, yes. Thanks for that.

We are using NextCloud to help with client support.

Support Team member A sends a link to someone outside the organization asking for files.

The files arrive while Team member A is not available, so support team member B has to search for the folder that was shared based on the obfuscated link.

We really do not want team member C spending his time doing the searching.

An internal link is only helpful if we can find it. Typically this is what is done after Team member B does a search and then passes on the internal link to the dev team, team member C.

Adding the internal link to the email that goes outside the organization is not something we want to do, and there is no guarantee that it would find it’s way back to us after the file upload is complete.

The public link is a file drop - users cannot access the files in there. This is deliberate and one of the security features that makes this implementation of NextCloud useful. Nobody with only that public link can even see the files let alone access them

Yes, we want to have the functionality described by @bb77, namely that if a team member with rights to the folder clicks the obfuscated link, they get to see the folder with their rights, not the rights of an external party.

I am an administrator, not a developer, but clearly I have access to developers. Would this be a functionality that could be added as an “App”?

Depending on the complexity involved (our devs are already over worked and under a huge load) it may be something we could look at doing, but to be honest, it seems to me like core functionality and I am surprised to see it not supported.

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Unfortunately, I have not yet fully understood your problem. But maybe you can take a look at the Group folders app. You can use it to restrict permissions. Hopefully file drop is possible read old closed issue.

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Thanks for that @devnull74

I have seen that, but unless I am missing something fundamental, it does not address the issue. To be honest I do not see how that App does more than creating a folder and setting access controls, something that I can already do via “support” and “development” groups.

I am not sure how to explain the case more clearly without being overly verbose. This is the need in a nutshell:

Should I understand from the exchange that:

  1. The functionality does not currently exist
  2. It is not something that sees any real demand

Because again, it seems to me like a core functionality of a file sharing system that aims to do what Google Drive does but with the highly desirable option to self host and retain control and privacy over our data.

Am I missing something?

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@paulororke
Now i have test the Group folders. It really does not work. You need the right read to read the group folder but then you can also read all files. Same if you share a folder to an internal user or group. Sorry.

2 Likes
10

For me personally, it would be more of a “nice to have” than an absolute “must have”, but I don’t use Nextcloud professionally.

Maybe you could get around this by setting up some sort of system/naming scheme, e.g. putting the file drops or shared folders under “customer/project_name/uploads” or “customer/project_name/public”, which should make it easy enough to find the correct folder when customer XYZ tells you they’ve uploaded something.

However, I can see that a Google Drive-like behaviour would certainly be desirable. You might want to take a look at GitHub to see if there is already a feature request, and if not, open one.

2 Likes
11

Hmmmn,

with 13 projects and 326 repositories for the nextcloud at github I am not sure where to make that request.

Any suggestions?

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I think here.

And yes. Internal File drop would be nice. But maybe you can use also external File Drop and not communicate the url to external users. File Drop is also not a high risk. The persons can not see uploaded files.

In new Nextcloud now is also collect.

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What is “collect”?

14

A file drop. The uplader first input a username and all files will be uploaded to a subdir with this username. Very cool.

Test it: Nextcloud Demo - wolkesicher.de

15

Thanks for this,

sorry - was on another project - I am back to this again.

Do you mean collectives ? I cannot find anything called just collect.

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No. Collect is part of Nextcloud Files.