ownCloud

User Management

If you are the user who first logged in to your ownCloud install or if you are in the admin group, you have more powers than other users. You will have more options available to you including the ability to do user management.

This section covers the tasks of creating and configuring user accounts and resetting the passwords of other users.

Creating user accounts

ownCloud is a file sharing service which means that while it is possible for only a single person to use it, there will normally be more people using an instance. Each person needs their own account and this will be created and managed by any user in the admin group.

Once an administrator is logged in, they can click on the triangle to the right of their username, in the top right hand corner.

In the case below the user's name is admin. This account was the first one to be created during installation. The first user is in the admin group by default. It is possible to add more administrators simply by adding more users to the admin group. 


After clicking the triangle a menu unfolds with options to enter the following sections: Personal, Users, Apps, Admin, Help and Log out.

Click on the Users item to get an overview of which accounts are already installed.

Groups are normally used for sharing files between users. One of the first things to do after a new installation is to create groups based on how you imagine people will be grouped on your server.

Only an admin group exists in the beginning.

Why not add two or three groups, for example friends, family or colleagues? Or if this a work related installation outreach, planning, monitoring, etc.

To do this go to the Groups field and wait for the menu to open. Hover over the + add group field, enter a name for the group and hit enter.

Now one can start adding users and adding them to specific groups. To create other administrators add them to the admin group.

Simply enter the new user's name, a password, check a group and press Create.

If you have problems with your page not refreshing, press Ctrl-R to refresh the page and make sure your new entry is visible.

Storage and upload settings

By default Default Storage is set to Unlimited. This may increase the chance of a server accidentally filling up. To have more control over the growth of data on the server, set a limit for how much data each group can upload.

A related setting can be found in the Admin menu. Here you set how much a user can upload at a time. You may need to raise this from the default 512MB, say if you share home movies with family members.

Another setting to consider is that users can only share with other users in their group or with anyone. This setting is located in the Sharing section in the Admin menu. The default is set to Allow users to share with anyone.


To summarize, the steps involved in creating a new user are entering a name and password, and delegating the user to a group. The new user can now log in to ownCloud and start uploading and downloading files.

Changing passwords and groups

In the Users window, any user in the admin group can change their own password and that of other users.

Click in the Password field for the relevant user and enter a new password. Admins can also change the Groups users are in.