Sciebo Documentation

• 1: Getting started
• 1.1: Create sciebo-Account
• 1.2: Webinterface
• 1.2.1: Deleting & Restoring Files & Folders
• 1.2.2: Editing Files (Simultaneously)
• 1.2.3: Further Functionality
• 1.2.4: Organising Files and Folders
• 1.2.5: Server List
• 1.2.6: Sharing and recieving files and folders
• 1.3: Client
• 1.3.1: Installation and configuration of the client
• 1.3.2: Client Settings
• 1.3.3: Share files and folders
• 1.3.4: Synchronisation Settings
• 1.3.5: Client-Status-Icons
• 1.4: Android App
• 1.4.1: Android App install anc configure
• 1.4.2: Delete and recover files & folders
• 1.4.3: Create, rename, and move
• 1.4.4: Share files & folders
• 1.4.5: Upload and download
• 1.5: Create and manage project boxes
• 1.6: Groups
• 1.7: Guests
• 2: FAQs
• 3: Current Outages
• 4: Download
• 5: Good to know
• 5.1: How Sciebo Works
• 5.2: Accessibility
• 5.3: Client Logs
• 5.4: Expiration and Deletion Dates
• 5.5: Permissions
• 5.6: Who owns the data?
• 6: Sharing
• 6.1: Link Generator
• 6.2: Project Boxes
• 6.3: Transfer of ownership
• 7: Apps
• 7.1: Connecting the *Cloud - FileLink with Thunderbird
• 7.2: Fill file drop with scripts
• 7.3: Joplin
• 7.4: Obsidian
• 7.5: Office Integrations
• 7.6: Overleaf
• 7.7: Project management with deck
• 8: Security Settings
• 9: Dangerous Mistakes
• 10: Account
• 11: Nextcloud Migration
• 12: Information for the Support Team
• 12.1: AAI
• 13: Required information by support request
• 14: The hidden pages
• 14.1: Cryptnc

Welcome to the advanced Sciebo-Documentation!

Here you can find Explanations for basic functionality and also some tips and tricks for more advanced users.

These pages are under construction. You can find the original, no longer maintained page here.

HELP! Everything looks different now!

Now, all instances have been migrated to Nextcloud. Please find more information here: Nextcloud-Migration

1 - Getting started

1.1 - Create sciebo-Account

To register an account, please follow these instructions:

1. Click on the homepage of sciebo on “Registration”.

2. On the next page you will find a dropdown menu. Select your institution from there and click on “Select”.

3. You will be redirected to the Shibboleth login page of your institution. Please enter your username and password that you use for your academic services there. Check the option “Die zu übermittelnden Informationen anzeigen, damit ich die Weitergabe gegebenenfalls ablehnen kann” so that you can review the forwarded information again, and click on “Login”.

4. If all information is correct, confirm the registration by clicking on “Yes, I accept”. (If the information does not match, please contact your local IT support at your institution.)

5. Next, you will be taken to the registration page, where you are asked to set a password for your sciebo account. Within 15 minutes after setting the password, your sciebo account should be active and you should be able to log in to the Sciebo server of your institution.

1.2 - Webinterface

With the web interface, you can access your data anywhere via web browser. No matter whether you want to upload, download, edit, delete or share data or whether you want to work on a file with several people at the same time - in the web interface, you can use all the advantages of sciebo.

1.2.1 - Deleting & Restoring Files & Folders

Deleting Files & Folders

Deleted files/folders remain in your trash bin for at least 30 days before they are permanently deleted. You can view the trash bin under “Deleted files” in the left menu.

Delete Individual Files/Folders

1. Click on the three dots next to the file/folder and select “Delete file/folder”.
2. The file or folder is moved to the trash.

Delete Several Files/Folders

1. Select the files/folders you want to delete by checking the boxes on the file/folder icon.
2. Click on the three dots that appear in the top menu bar and select “Delete”.
3. The files/folders are moved to the trash.

Removing Files & Folders Shared with You

If you no longer need a file/folder that has been shared with you, you can delete the share. The file/folder is removed from your sciebo account, but remains with the owner.

1. Click on the three dots next to the file/folder and select “Leave this share”.
2. The file/folder is removed from your sciebo account. It is not moved to the deleted files to get it again; the person would need to reshare it with you.

Restoring Files & Folders

Restore Individual Files/Folders

1. Open the trash bin by clicking “Deleted Files” in the left menu.
2. Click on the “Restore” icon next to the file/folder you want to restore.
3. The file/folder will be restored to the location where it was last saved.

Restore Several Files/Folders

1. Open the trash bin by clicking “Deleted Files” in the left menu.
2. Select the files/folders you want to restore by checking the boxes on the file/folder icon.
3. Click on the “Restore” icon that appears in the top menu bar.
4. The files/folders will be restored to the location where they were last saved.

1.2.2 - Editing Files (Simultaneously)

Editing Files

1. Click on the file name to open the editor. Depending on the type of document (text, presentation or spreadsheet) you will be taken directly to the appropriate editor.
2. Edit the file. General information on how to use the editor can be found under “File > Help”. Changes are automatically saved temporarily.
3. To return to the file overview, click on the folder symbol in the upper menu bar of the editor. The file will be saved again.

Editing Files Simultaneously

In the web interface, you can edit files together with other sciebo users of your institution. The prerequisite is that the file is shared with all of them and that the appropriate editing rights have been assigned. Simultaneous editing offers simultaneous access to text, presentation and spreadsheet documents, a review function (visual marking of edited elements), a comment function, and a chat function.

The number of users currently editing the document is displayed at the top right of the control bar. Click on the user symbol to find out the names of the persons editing the document.

1.2.3 - Further Functionality

In the header of the webinterface of Sciebo you can find different. Here you can find informormation on each of these apps.

Files

Here you can manage your files. Further information you can find here:

• Organising Files and Folders
• Editing Files (Simultaneously)
• Sharing Files and Folders

Photos

Here you can upload anf manage your photos.

Activity

Here you can see the activity of your Sciebo-Account. The list of file changes is generated automatically.

Contacts

Here you can create and manage personal contancts.

Calendar

Add envents to this calandar. You can import calander data. If you are already using a digital calendar, it can usually export its calendar data. The file that is created in this way can be imported into the calendar app.

Notes

In the Notes app you can format and organise your thoughts with Markdown, a popular and simple rich text format.

Deck

Deck is a visual project management tool. For further information click here

Announcments

Here you can find important announcements from the sciebo-team.

Polls

Create and share polls.

Forms

Create and share forms. Here you can create very intrecate forms and share them even with people that are not Sciebo-users!

Help

Here you get to this page.

Tasks

Manage your todos in this application!

Overleaf

Sciebo hosts its own overleaf instance. For more information click here

1.2.4 - Organising Files and Folders

Creating, Renaming & Moving Files & Folders

Creating Files & Folders

1. Click on the “+ New” symbol in the upper menu bar.
2. Select “New folder” or the type of file you want to create.
3. Name the file or folder.
4. Press the Enter key. A new file or folder is created. (New files are opened directly in edit mode.)

Renaming Files & Folders

1. Click on the three dots next to the file and select “Rename”.
2. Enter a new name and press the Enter key.

Moving Files & Folders

Move Individual Files/Folders

1. Click on the three dots next to the file or folder you want to move and select “Move of Copy”.
2. In the opened window, select the folder to which the file should be moved and click on it.
3. Click on the “Move to …” button that appears at the bottom of the window. The file/folder is now inserted.

Move Several Files/Folders

1. Select the files/folders you want to move by checking the boxes on the corresponding icons.
2. Click on the “Move of copy” icon that appears in the top menu bar.
3. In the opened window, select the folder to which the file should be moved and click on it.
4. Click on the “Move to …” button that appears at the bottom of the window. The files/folders are now inserted.

Up- & Downloading Files & Folders

Uploading Files

1. Select “Upload files” under “+ New”.
2. Select one or more files and click “Open”. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the file(s) from your PC into the browser window.
3. The loading bar shows the upload progress.

Uploading Folders

1. Select “Upload folders” under “+ New”.
2. Select one or more folders and click “Open”. Alternatively, you can drag and drop the folder(s) from your PC into the browser window.
3. The loading bar shows the upload progress.

Downloading Files & Folders

Download Individual Files/Folders

1. Click on the three dots next to the file/folder and select “Download”.
2. Decide where the file/folder will be saved on your computer.
3. When saving folders, a zip file is created which you must unzip before opening.

Download Several Files/Folders

1. Select the files/folders you want to download by checking the boxes on the folder/file icon.
2. Click on the “Download” icon that appears in the top menu bar.
3. The download will be a zip file.

1.2.5 - Server List

List of Universities

Using the URLs from this list, you will gain access to the Sciebo web interface of your respective university.
Please use only your Sciebo-ID for login.

Note: These URLs also apply if you are asked for the server URL in the original Nextcloud client.

1.2.6 - Sharing and recieving files and folders

Sharing Files & Folders with Other Users

Sharing with Other Users

1. Click the head icon next to the item you want to share. You can share both, individual files and folders.
2. The share menu opens on the right.

3. In the text box, enter the name of the person with whom you wish to share your data, following the principle “last name, first name”. Select the person from the list that appears.

4. Decide what rights the person will have regarding the file or folder you shared. The write permissions include “create”, “edit” and “delete”. We recommend that you disable the sharing permission (“can share”). You can change the rights at any time.

5. You can delete the share by clicking on […] icon next to the person’s name and choose option “delete share”.

Sharing Files & Folders via Link

Sharing via Link

1. Click the head icon next to the item you want to share. You can share both individual files and folders.
2. The share menu opens on the right.
3. Click on the “+” symbol near “Public Links” this would create a public link.

4. Decide which permissions people who access the file or folder via the link will have. Click on […] on symbol, choose the “Customize link” option, update the relevant permissions and approve by clicking “update share link”.

Optional: Set a password to protect your data from unauthorised access.

Optional: Set an expiry date to protect your data from unauthorised access.

Adding Files & Folders Shared by Link

If other users share data with you via link, you can add the shared files/folders to your own sciebo account.

1. Open the link and, if necessary, enter the password with which the link is protected.
2. Click on […]-Symbol.
3. Enter your sciebo-ID with the server address (e.g. user1@instance.de@instance.sciebo.de) in the “Hinfpgen zu Ihrer Nextcloud” input field and click on the arrow to the right of the field.

4. You will be forwarded to the sciebo login page. Log in with your sciebo identification.
5. The link is now displayed as “Remote Sharing” in a pop-up window. You may need to re-enter the password that protects the link. Then confirm the receipt by clicking on “Accept”.
6. The files/folders will now be added to your account.

Receive Files & Folders via Link (file drop)

If you need to receive large files from external sources, you can create a “file drop” for this purpose.

1. Create a new folder.
2. Click on the header icon next to the directory where the files are to be uploaded.
3. The share menu opens on the right.
4. Click on the “+” symbol near “Public Links” this would create a public link.

5. Click on […] and choose the “Customize link” option, in the opened window choose the “File request/Upload only” option, update the relevant permissions and approve by clicking “update share link”.

Optional: Set a password to protect the folder from unauthorised uploads.

Optional: Set an expiry date to protect the folder from unauthorised access.

1.3 - Client

The desktop client is a program that allows you to store your data from the cloud locally on your computer or laptop. The client runs in the background and automatically synchronises your data so that you always have the latest version of a file available on all devices.

1.3.1 - Installation and configuration of the client

Installation

Windows

1. Download sciebo for your PC.
2. After a successful download, open the installation file.
3. Confirm that you want to run the file by clicking on “OK”. The setup wizard appears.
4. Click on “Next” to make the installation settings.
5. If you do not want to install sciebo at the suggested location, select the folder for the installation now. Otherwise, click directly on “Next”.
6. Click on “Install.” You may have to confirm that the software may be installed on your PC. Sciebo will then be installed.
7. Click on “Finish” to close the setup wizard.
8. Finally, you will be asked whether you want to restart your PC immediately or later so that sciebo works properly. Select the desired option. After restarting, you can set up your folder synchronisation (see below).

MacOS

1. Download sciebo for your PC.
2. After a successful download, open the installation file. The setup wizard appears.
3. Click on “Continue” to make the installation settings.
4. Now select where or for which users of the PC you want to install the software and click on “Continue”.
5. Click on “Install”. You may have to confirm that the software may be installed on your PC. Sciebo will then be installed.
6. Click on “Close” to close the setup wizard.

Linux

1. Download sciebo for your PC.
2. After successful download give AppImage permission to run by opening the terminal and entering chmod u+x Sciebo-Linux64-VERSION.
3. Start the client by typing ./Sciebo-Linux64-VERSION in the terminal. Configure the client. During the configuration, the Client will be added into autoload and by next restart would start automatically.

Configuration

1. Open the client. The connection wizard appears.
2. Select your sciebo institution from the list.

3. A browser will open and you will be asked to log in and allow the client to access your data.

4. By default, your entire sciebo directory is synchronised. For folders larger than 500 MB, you must manually confirm synchronisation for the first time. However, you can also change the limit or deactivate this function. (If you do not want to synchronise your entire sciebo directory, you can decide which subfolders are synchronised under “Select elements to be synchronised”).

5. Select a destination folder on your PC. (This folder will be synchronised with your sciebo directory, i.e. the data you selected from sciebo will be saved here, and files and folders newly created in this folder will be uploaded to sciebo).
6. Click on “Connect…”

1.3.2 - Client Settings

User Account

Under the tab with your sciebo ID, you will get an overview of

1. the storage space is available to you in sciebo and the share you already use,
2. all folder synchronisations (if you synchronise your entire sciebo folder with a single destination folder, you will only see a single folder synchronisation),
3. for each folder synchronisation, all folders and subfolders that are synchronised on your PC. You can make synchronisation settings here.

Settings

Under the “General” tab, the version of the sciebo client you are using is displayed. You can also specify.

1. whether the sciebo client should be started when you switch on your PC,
2. whether you want to receive desktop notifications,
3. whether the synchronisation of large folders has to be confirmed and if so, from which size limit,
4. whether synchronisation of external storage needs to be confirmed,
5. whether sciebo client should check if there are updates available.

1.3.3 - Share files and folders

Sharing with Other Users

1. Open your local sciebo folder.
2. Open the context menu for the file or folder you want to share. Select “sciebo” and then “Share options”.

3. A new window opens. In the field “Search for users or groups”, enter the name of the desired user according to the scheme “last name, first name”.

4. Select the person from the list.
5. Determine which rights the person receives by clicking on […] near person/group name and setting or removing the corresponding ticks.

6. Close the menu.

You can check at any time with which persons and groups a file or folder has been shared by calling up the share menu again. There you will find a corresponding list where you can manage editing rights and delete shares.

Sharing by Link

1. Open your local sciebo folder.
2. Open the context menu for the file or folder you want to share. Select “sciebo” and then “Share options”.

3. The share menu opens in a new window. Click the plus sign near “Share Link”.

4. Decide which rights people who access the file or folder via the link will have by clicking on […] near “Share Link” and setting or removing the corresponding ticks. The following options are available:

• View only
• Allow upload and editing
• File drop (Upload only)
• Hide download

5. Optional: Set a password to protect your data from unauthorised access.
6. Optional: Set an expiration date to protect your data from unauthorised access.
7. Optional: Give the link a different name. By default, the new link is called “Public Link”.
8. The options are saved automatically. As you are done, close the menu.
9. Click on the copy sign next to the new link to copy it to the clipboard and send it by e-mail, for example.
10. Close the menu.

You can check at any time whether a file or folder has been shared by link by calling up the share menu again. There you will find a corresponding list where you can manage and delete associated links.

1.3.4 - Synchronisation Settings

The sciebo desktop client allows you to synchronise your sciebo directory (to various local folders) on your computer. You determine which data is synchronised and which is not. This is especially useful if you use your sciebo account on different computers or for different purposes. For example, employees can synchronise only data for teaching on their laptop and all data on their desktop PC.

Setting Up Further Folder Synchronisations

If you want to synchronise different subfolders with different destination folders, you can set this up in the client.

1. Open the client. The tab with your user ID is displayed. (If you have already created an initial folder synchronisation when setting up the client, it will be displayed here).
2. Click on “Add folder synchronisation”.
3. Select the destination folder and click “Next”.
4. Select the sciebo folder you want to synchronise and click on “Next”.
5. Click on “Add synchronisation”.
6. The new folder synchronisation is now displayed in the overview and the synchronisation process starts.

Stop Synchronisation of Individual Subfolders

In the client you have the option to exclude individual subfolders that you have synchronised so far from synchronisation and thus remove them from your PC. As these folders remain in sciebo, you can select and synchronise these folders again at any time.

1. Open the client. The tab with your user ID is displayed.
2. Click on the small arrow next to the folder synchronisation to show the subfolders.
3. Untick the subfolders that you no longer want to synchronise.
4. Click on “Apply”.

Synchronising Large Folders

Subfolders that exceed a size of 500 MB are not automatically synchronised. In the client, these folders are highlighted with a red font colour. If you want to synchronise them, you must manually confirm the synchronisation once. (You can adjust the size limit or deactivate this setting in the client settings.)

1. Open the client. The tab with your user ID is displayed.
2. Click on the small arrow next to the folder synchronisation to show the subfolders.
3. Tick the box of the folder concerned.
4. Click on “Apply manual changes”.

Pausing Synchronisation

You can pause folder synchronisation in the client, e.g. if you do not want your Internet connection to be burdened by the synchronisation of data temporarily.

1. Open the client. The tab with your user ID is displayed.
2. Click on the three dots next to the folder synchronisation you want to pause. (If you synchronise your entire sciebo directory with a single destination folder, only one folder synchronisation will be visible).
3. Click on “Pause synchronisation”.
4. To continue synchronisation at a later time, you must repeat the same steps, but click on “Continue synchronisation” in the last step.

Removing Synchronisation

In the client, you can remove existing folder synchronisations, e.g. if you no longer need a folder synchronisation or want to restructure the synchronisation.

1. Open the client. The tab with your user ID is displayed.
2. Click on the three dots next to the folder synchronisation you want to remove. (If you synchronise your entire sciebo directory with a single destination folder, only one folder synchronisation will be visible).
3. Click on “Remove folder synchronisation”.
4. A new window opens in which you must click again on “Remove folder synchronisation”. The folder synchronisation is then deleted.

1.3.5 - Client-Status-Icons

The desktop client uses icons in various locations to indicate the current status. This can be very helpful when troubleshooting. Therefore, if an icon appears that suggests a problem, you should select the “Open Sciebo Desktop” option from the context menu in the taskbar to see if any corresponding error messages are displayed.

The Meaning of the Most Important Icons

Location	Icon	Meaning
settings		everyting is fine
settings		sync in progress
settings		sync paused
settings		error occured
system tray		everything is fine
system tray		sync in progress
system tray		sync paused
system tray		initialisation or error
system tray		error occured

Tip: In Windows, the icon is often hidden from the taskbar. You can adjust this setting under Personalization => Taskbar => Other taskbar icons.

1.4 - Android App

The mobile app is ideal for viewing and sharing files on the go. You can upload, delete, and move files (e.g., photos). However, since mobile devices usually have limited storage space, your data is not automatically downloaded. A file is only saved on your device when you manually access it.

1.4.1 - Android App install anc configure

Setup

1. Download the sciebo app from the Play Store or from our download page and open it.
2. Select the server name of your institution. You will be redirected to the login page. Click on “Login”.
3. Then enter your sciebo username (sciebo-ID@your-institution.de) and your password.
4. Click on “Authorize” to grant the sciebo app access to your sciebo account.

1.4.2 - Delete and recover files & folders

Deleting Files & Folders Locally

1. Tap the three dots next to the file or folder to open the context menu.
2. Select the “Delete” option.
3. Click the “Locally only” button to delete the file or folder from your phone. The file or folder will now only be deleted locally and will not be removed from the sciebo server.

Deleting Files & Folders

1. Tap the three dots next to the file or folder to open the context menu.
2. Select the “Delete” option.
3. Click the “Delete” button to delete the file or folder from your sciebo account. The file or folder will now be moved to the trash.

Restoring Files & Folders

Restoring individual files/folders

1. Click on the three lines at the top left.
2. Select the “Deleted files” option from the menu.

3. Click the “Restore” icon next to the file or folder you want to restore.

4. The file or folder will be restored to the location where it was last saved.

1.4.3 - Create, rename, and move

Creating Files & Folders

1. Select the folder in which you want to create the new folder.
2. Tap the “+” button at the bottom right. It opens the context menu.
3. Tap the menu “New folder” entry.
4. Name the folder.
5. Tap on “Create”. A new folder is created.

Renaming Files & Folders

1. Tap on tree dots next to the file or folder you want to rename. It opens the context menu.

2. Select “Rename”.
3. Enter a new name.
4. Tap “Rename”.

Moving Files & Folders

1. Tap on tree dots next to the file or folder you want to move. It opens the context menu.
2. Select “Move or copy”. This takes you to the top folder level.
3. Select the folder to which you want to move the file or folder.

4. Tap “Move” in the bottom menu bar to move the file or folder.

1.4.4 - Share files & folders

Sharing with Other Users

1. Tap the three dots next to the file or folder to open the context menu.
2. Tap the “Send/Share” menu entry.

3. Tap the “Share” button.
4. Enter the name of the desired user in the format “Last Name, First Name” into the “Add user or teams” field.

5. Set the person’s editing rights. Adjust the rights as needed. Click “Next”.

6. Close the sharing menu by tapping the arrow in the upper menu bar.

You can see which people and groups a file or folder has been shared with at any time by calling up the sharing menu again. There you will find a corresponding list in which you can also manage editing rights and delete shares.

Sharing via Link

1. Tap the three dots next to the file or folder to open the context menu.
2. Tap the “Send/Share” menu entry.

3. Tap the “Share” button.
4. Tap the “Create link” button. A link will be created.

5. Adjust the editing rights by tapping the three-dot icon next to the link and selecting “Settings”.

6. Optional: Change the name of the link.
7. Optional: Set a password to protect your data from unauthorized access.
8. Optional: Set an expiration date to protect your data from unauthorized access.
9. Tap “Share and copy link”.
10. Close the sharing menu by tapping the arrow in the upper menu bar.

1.4.5 - Upload and download

Uploading Files

1. Select the folder where you want to upload the file(s).
2. Tap the “+” button at the bottom right. Two new buttons appear.
3. Tap the button with the “Upload” symbol.
4. Select “Files”. (You may now have to confirm that sciebo is allowed to access your photos/videos. The option “Allow access to all photos” is particularly uncomplicated. However, you can also restrict access to certain photos/videos via “Select photos…”).
5. Select the desired file(s) and tap on “Select”. The files will now be uploaded to the sciebo server.

Downloading Files & Folders

1. Tap the file or folder you want to download with your finger for a moment to select it.
2. Tap the “download” symbol in the upper menu bar. The file or folder is now saved locally on your device. Downloaded items are marked in the app with a small green circle with a white “download” symbol.

Note: If you want to delete downloaded data locally, select the file or folder again and tap on the three dots in the upper menu bar. Select “Delete” and then “Local only”. The file remains in sciebo, but no longer takes up space on your device.

1.5 - Create and manage project boxes

In this brief HOW-TO, we will take you through the steps of applying for a Project Box and setting it up so that you can actually work with the files stored in the Project Box using your private Sciebo account.

Apply for the project box

To request a project box, you must first submit the project box application in mysciebo. You will find the relevant field unter the heading Project boxes.

The form for the project box must be completed there; in the ‘Department/Workgroup’ field, please provide as precise a description as possible of the actual working group. Also enter the e-mail address of a person who can be contacted if you are unavailable in the “E-mail of Department/Workgroup” field. As the project box is not personalised, this makes it easier to reassign the data when you leave the university and the project box becomes orphaned.

Set up a password

Once this request has been accepted, you can access the project box management menu in mysciebo by clicking on ‘Manage project boxes’:

Here you need to set a password for the project box.

Log in to the project box and set up shares

Now you can log in to your own Sciebo instance with this project box. For me, this is https://uni-muenster.sciebo.de. Please note the .pbox@institute at the end of the project box name, for example .pbox@uni-muenster.de for the University of Münster.

You can now set up a folder structure in the project box; it usually suffices to just have a folder, which you share with your personal Sciebo account:

You can set the permissions by clicking on the cogwheel next to the share. By default, everything is allowed; this makes sense for your personal account, as it enables you to share this project box folder with other project partners without having to log into the project box again.

1.6 - Groups

If you often share data with the same group of people, you can create a group for this in the web interface. You no longer have to share data with each person individually, but can simply select the group you have created. All members of the group automatically get access to the data. You can set the editing rights as usual when sharing. Note, however, that groups can only consist of members of your own participant institution.

Creating Groups

1. Log in to the sciebo web interface.
2. Click on your name in the upper menu bar and then on “Settings”.
3. Select “Custom Groups”.
4. Enter a new group name in the text field and click on “Create group”.
5. The member menu opens on the right.
6. In the text field, enter the name of a person you want to add to the group, following the principle “last name, first name”. Select the person from the list that appears. He or she is now added to the group. Repeat the process for all other persons.

Managing Groups

To manage your groups, you must log in to the web interface. Click on your name in the top menu bar, then on “Settings” and select “Custom groups”.

Renaming a Group

1. Move the mouse over the desired group. Click on the pencil symbol that appears next to its name.
2. Change the name and confirm the change by pressing “Enter”.

Removing a Group

1. Move the mouse over the desired group. Click on the bin symbol that appears.
2. Click on “Yes” in the pop-up window to confirm the deletion.

Managing Group Members

To manage the members of one of your groups, you must log in to the web interface. Click on your name in the top menu bar, then on “Settings” and select “Custom groups”.

Adding Group Members

1. Click on the group to which you want to add members. The members menu opens on the right.
2. In the text field, enter the name of a person you want to add to the group, following the principle “last name, first name”. Select the person from the list that appears. He or she is now added to the group. Please be aware that currently only users from the same instance can be added to a group.

Changing Group Roles

Group members can be either “group owner” or “member”. Group owners have all editing options for the group (including deleting, renaming, adding/removing members). There can be more than one owner. Members, on the other hand, cannot make any changes to the group. By default, only the person who created the group is the group owner. If you want to change the roles, proceed as follows:

1. Click on the group whose member roles you want to change. The members menu opens on the right.
2. In the list of group members you can see which member has which role.
3. Move the mouse over the desired person. Click on the pencil symbol to change the role. (If you want to give up your role as group owner, you must confirm this, as you can no longer make any changes once you have given up the role).

Removing Group Members

1. Click on the group from which you want to remove members. The members menu opens on the right.
2. Move the mouse over the desired person. Click on the bin icon that now appears.
3. Click on “Yes” in the pop-up window to confirm the deletion.

Sharing with a Group

In principle, you can share with a group in the same way as with individual users. Follow the appropriate instructions depending on the platform (web interface, client or app) via which you want to share. You only need to note the following differences:

• Instead of the person’s name, enter the group name when sharing.
• You can only set editing rights for the group as a whole and not for individual group members.

1.7 - Guests

Projects often involve people who normally cannot use sciebo because they are not members of a participating institution. However, it is precisely here that a simple exchange of data is important. For this reason, there are guest IDs for these cases, which you as an employee can create yourself for your project partners.

General Information

The guest’s e-mail address used for the invitation serves as the guest identifier. The sciebo web interface can be accessed by guests via gast.sciebo.de. Desktop client and apps can be used by guests for synchronisation. Guest IDs are valid for 12 months, renewal is possible. To do this, the guest must contact their sponsor, who can carry out the renewal via my.sciebo. After expiry, the guest ID is blocked and deleted after a further 3 months.

Guests can only use sciebo in a limited way, i.e. they do not have their own storage volume and cannot actively share data. To collaborate with guests, sciebo users must first share files and/or folders with them and give them the desired editing rights. Guests cannot create files or folders in their home directory, but only in folders shared with them. In this way, guests use the storage volume of the sciebo users who share with them.

Inviting Guests

Please note that it is not allowed to create guest IDs for members of the participant institutions.

1. Log in to my.sciebo with your central user ID (not sciebo ID).
2. Select the menu item “Invite guests”.

3. Enter the name and e-mail address of the guest in the form. The e-mail address serves as the guest ID.

4. Click on “Send invitation”. An invitation will now be sent by e-mail to the guest and a copy to yourself - as the guest’s so-called sponsor.

Note: If the guest has already been invited by someone else, you will automatically become the new sponsor. In this case, the previous sponsor will also be notified.

Account Activation as a Guest

In order to use your guest account, you must first set your password:

1. Click on the link in the invitation email.

2. Enter your sciebo ID. Your ID corresponds to your e-mail address via which you received the invitation.
3. Enter the one-time password.
4. Set a new password (at least 8 characters).
5. Confirm the terms of use.
6. Click on “Set password”.
7. Log in to the sciebo web interface at gast.sciebo.de to activate your account.

Managing Guests

1. Log in to my.sciebo with your central user ID (not with your sciebo ID).
2. Select the menu item “Manage guests”. You will now see an overview of all guests you have invited.

3. You can perform the following actions here:
   • Renew invitation (In case the guest did not accept the invitation in time).
   • Renew guest ID (Renewal for another 12 months.)
   • Reset password (In case the guest has forgotten his password. The guest can set a new password afterwards. He will automatically receive the necessary information by e-mail).
   • Delete guest ID

Sharing with Guests

The prerequisite for sharing is that the guest has accepted your invitation and activated his or her account. The guest will only appear in the address book of the sharing dialogue the day after activation.

1. (In the web interface, in the client or in the app) open the sharing dialogue for the file or folder you want to share.
2. In the text box, enter the name of the guest following the principle “Last name, First name” or the guest ID. Select the guest from the list that appears. Pay attention to the addition “auf gast.sciebo.de”, because only with this note is the selection correct. (If the guest has deactivated the address book feature, enter Guest-E-Mail-Address@gast.sciebo.de directly).
3. Decide what rights the guest will have regarding the file or folder you shared. The write permissions include “create”, “edit” and “delete”. We recommend that you disable the sharing permission (“can share”). You can change the rights at any time.

You can find more information on the topic of sharing files and folders with sciebo here.

2 - FAQs

Questions about accounts

Access to data

Questions about sharing data

Questions about the clients

Questions about Overleaf

Questions about the web interface

Questions about Guests

Questions about Apps (Calendar & others)

Miscellaneous questions

3 - Current Outages

Current outages

Please refer to our German outage document.

In case of outages we usually lack the time to update two languages.

4 - Download

The desktop client is a program that allows you to store your data from the cloud locally on your computer or laptop. The client runs in the background and automatically synchronises your data so that you always have the latest version of a file available on all devices.

The app for mobile devices is ideal for viewing and sharing files on the go. You can upload, delete and move files (such as photos). However, because mobile devices usually have limited storage space, your files are not automatically downloaded. A file is not saved on your device until you manually access it.

Please note: We have completed the transition from ownCloud to Nextcloud in Q4/2025. Some users are still using the Sciebo-ownCloud-Client on their desktop. This will no longer be developed. Therefore, it is now time to switch to the Nextcloud version. Please remember to back up your data, as there have been data losses during the client transition in recent times that we cannot reproduce and explain.

Further information on the migration to Nextcloud can be found here.

Sciebo Nextcloud Clients

We only support the Nextcloud version of the client, as all universities have already switched to Nextcloud. If you should unexpectedly still need an ownCloud variant (e.g., for uninstalling the old client under Windows), please see here. However, we offer no guarantee of completeness and cannot provide any further support in this area.

Desktop

Before installing the new client, the old client needs to be uninstalled.

• Windows 10+ 64-Bit
• Mac OS X (w/o VFS)
• Mac OS X (with VFS)
• Linux AppImage (w/o VFS)

Information about VFS can be found in the FAQ section.

Notes for Windows Users:
Some users are seeing numerous, partially dysfunctional Sciebo entries in the left navigation pane of Windows Explorer. We suspect a bug in the old client software. This means entries in the left Explorer sidebar aren’t removed when the client is uninstalled. If users remove their local Sciebo account from the client before uninstalling the old client, this problem shouldn’t occur.
For users who are now experiencing the problem, a colleague has provided us with a patch program for the Windows Registry: ScieboDriveManager.

The tool should be considered a developer tool, and we advise caution when using it.

Notes for Linux Users:
Unfortunately, Nextcloud itself only provides the Linux client as an AppImage. We suspect that the large number of different distributions makes packaging the respective packages too cumbersome. However, many distributions now also have a Nextcloud client available that is provided by the distribution creator.

These clients are usually not quite as up-to-date as the versions from the manufacturer. But handling is easier for most users. Desktop users should then install the nextcloud-desktop package. If you want to use overlay icons, you must also install the package compatible with your file manager (e.g., MATE => caja-nextcloud), as this does not happen automatically.

Mobile Clients

iOS

Under iOS, the unbranded Nextcloud Client must be used.

Android

Under Android, the app is currently available under the name sciebo-next in the Google Play Store.

Client Checksums

With the SHA256 checksums, you can ensure that the download was successful.

5 - Good to know

5.1 - How Sciebo Works

DRAFT!

This document is still under development… subject to change without notice…

How does Sciebo actually work? Where is the data located?

On this page, we’ll explain how Sciebo works to give you some background knowledge. Understanding how the system works will help you avoid potential errors, as user errors can lead to data loss.

Where is the data located?

Physically speaking, the data is mirrored at two locations at the University of Münster. This storage system is a dedicated server infrastructure with hundreds of individual hard drives on which the data is stored. A special algorithm distributes the data blocks across different hard drives, so that the failure of individual drives can be compensated for by the system, preventing data loss. In case of failure, defective drives are replaced promptly. Another advantage of this data distribution is the very high data throughput, even though these are still conventional magnetic hard drives. When a file is written, the write operation is distributed and parallelized across multiple hard drives. Instead of the usual approximately 120 MB/s, we can store data at a total of several gigabytes per second. With very low latency, this data is then also saved to the storage system at the second location.
Because this storage system, like the Sciebo servers themselves, is located on university premises, we can prevent foreign governments and their organizations from unauthorized access to our users’ data. This data sovereignty is of paramount importance to us!
From a logical perspective, the data initially resides in the individual user accounts. This means that, according to the current concept, each user has their own data directory. The structure is hierarchical. The owner of the data is the user in whose respective folder that data is stored. Specifically, this means that if this user shares a folder with you and you save data there, that data will also end up in the folder that was shared with you. Sciebo (and therefore also ownCloud/Nextcloud) does not store who stored this data there. Consequently, this also means that any data recovery requires the (written) consent of the person who shared that folder with you. Provided this sharing is still active, data recovery to the exact same location is quite straightforward. However, if the sharing has expired because the person sharing it no longer uses Sciebo, we cannot avoid certain formalities.
Otherwise, we open the door to potential misuse. On the one hand, we are not allowed to do this, but on the other hand, the trust of our users in these principles is very important to us.
If you now wish to access the data, there are several ways. You can access the data easily and directly via the web interface. The various client apps are designed to simplify access to this data. Unlike the mobile clients, the desktop clients are also able to save a local copy of your data.
This is particularly useful if internet access fails for any reason. However, the VFS option must be deactivated for this to work. If VFS is active, the client behaves similarly to the mobile version. Data is only temporarily downloaded when the respective file is accessed. Local, permanent storage of the file must be explicitly selected by the user.

Comparison with Network Drives

Therefore, Sciebo is not comparable to network drives. With a network drive, there is only one central data set on the server, which all users access. Therefore, only one person can write to a file at a time. A file lock is passed through to all other users, so they can only read it.
In contrast, when accessing a network drive with client software, the data is copied to the client temporarily or permanently (depending on the settings). Thus, each user has their own copy of the file, and everyone can open this file locally (including write access), since file locks cannot currently be passed through. This can be particularly problematic when editing Office documents. The last person to write the file wins. If multiple write operations occur virtually simultaneously, file conflicts arise that must be resolved manually.

And now what?

The file locks created by Office products are essentially nothing more than lock files, which could theoretically be synchronized down to the local system. We experimented with this a few years ago, but unfortunately, it proved to be very unreliable. The problem is latency. That is, when the first user opens the file, the lock file is created. This would then have to be synchronized up to the server and then distributed to all other clients. This process is unreliable. Some users may have a slow client system or a slow internet connection. Therefore, the distribution of a lock file can take a few seconds, but it can also take considerably longer. A feature that is so unreliable isn’t a feature at all; it gives users a false sense of security.
Therefore, the only viable alternative at present is to move collaborative document editing to the web.
We host a suitable office suite for this purpose. The data is accessed centrally there, thus avoiding conflicts as much as possible.

Why not Samba?

In theory, the data could also be made available as a Samba share. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work smoothly with Sciebo and the other related cloud systems. The main reason for this is the metadata database that manages the data in Sciebo. When data is edited via a client or the web interface, these changes (file path, owner, timestamp, checksum, etc.) are stored in a database. A Samba server cannot communicate with this database. This means that Sciebo wouldn’t be notified of changes, and the checksums and other entries for the respective file would be corrupted. Background jobs that could track such changes and update the database in a timely manner require an extremely high number of resources. The system would be severely slowed down and would also become very unreliable.

But there’s WebDAV, right?!

Yes, that’s true. It’s a protocol that Sciebo supports in principle. However, it’s not trivial to use. The probability of data loss is relatively high if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing. We therefore advise our users against using this interface, and we don’t offer official support for it.
Those who know exactly what they’re doing can access Sciebo via WebDAV using tools like rclone. But we don’t like this, as it can tie up a lot of system resources. That’s simply unfair to all other users. If, for example, we see that such access is putting too much strain on the servers, we are forced to deactivate the account of the user in question.

5.2 - Accessibility

Migrating to Nextcloud has made it possible to make sciebo a little more accessible, as Nextcloud Office allows documents to be read aloud. We have activated this option on the server side. However, for it to work properly, it must also be enabled on the client side. To do this, follow these instructions:

1. Open sciebo in a web browser.
2. Open a document that you want to have read aloud.
3. Navigate to the Help tab by pressing the key combination “ALT+Y” in the open document. Alternatively, press the ‘ALT’ key and navigate by pressing the tab key until you hear “Tab Control Help Tab selected”.
4. Then press the down arrow key. You should hear “Tool Bar four toggle buttons not pressed.”
5. Press the TAB key until you hear “Screen Reading Button not pressed” and activate it by pressing the space bar. After this action, the content of the document should become accessible to your pre-installed screen reader.

5.3 - Client Logs

Client Logs

When the client throws errors, it is often helpful to send logs to support, which may provide more insight into what exactly went wrong.

Debug logging is enabled by default, with an expiration time of 24 hours. To create a debug archive, go to the client settings and click ‘Create debug archive…’.

You will be asked to select the location where the desktop client will export the logs and database as a zip file. Enter an archive name to activate the Save button.

5.4 - Expiration and Deletion Dates

5.5 - Permissions

We have not yet translated this page. For the german page, click here

5.6 - Who owns the data?

Generally we differentiate between two types of accounts:

• personal accounts
• project boxes

Personal Accounts

The situation for personal accounts is obvious: The data is owned by the person that owns the account.

When a person shares a file with you from their personal account, you will have access to this file temporarily, but you do not own it. If the person stops sharing their file with you or their account is deleted, access to the data is lost.

In this case we cannot recover your access to the file.

Project Boxes

In project boxes the institution or the registered project owns the data. If the person who created the project box stops working for the project or institution, their collegues can talk to the support and take over the project box.

Handling of business documents

Regulation of the handling of business documents is governend by the participating institutes. There can be made no distinction between the personal space in sciebo and private storage devices. For files which are not allowed to be saved on private devices, but should be accessible in sciebo, project boxes can be used. A good description and attribution to the working group in the project box appliction can here help ease the support of certain issues in the future, e.g. when people leave the institute.

6 - Sharing

6.1 - Link Generator

When you share a folder or a folder is shared with you, that contains a lot of subfolders, it is often annoying to navigate through the entire structure or to explain to others how to get to a specific file. You can create a link that leads to a specific folder that has been shared. This only works if the folder that you shared is located in your root directory! The link has the following form:

https://<institution of the person that you are sharing with>.sciebo.de/?dir=/<Path>/<to>/<the>/<directory>/

You can use the following tool to generate a link to a shared directory.

Share Link:

1. In your browser, navigate to the directory that you want to share a link to.
2. Copy the link from the address line of your browser into the field “File-URL”.
3. Click “Apply”.
4. Share the link to this page. The inputs you have provided will be persistent.

Follow Link:

You have received a link to this page.

1. In the dropdown menu “Your Institution” select your institution.
2. You can now follow the link in the field “Link to the File”.

6.2 - Project Boxes

Project boxes are special sciebo accounts for work groups that work with very large amounts of data (30 GB to 2 TB). They are particularly suitable for long-term projects with changing project management. Project boxes are not bound to individual persons, i.e. the role of the owner is transferable. Project boxes are managed in the owner’s my.sciebo section.

Click here for “HOW TO: Create and Manage Project Boxes”

Availability and Application Procedure

The institutions listed below provide project boxes. Unless otherwise noted, all employees with a sciebo account can apply for one.

Application via my.sciebo

• Deutsche Hochschule der Polizei
• Fernuni Hagen
• FH Dortmund
• FH Münster
• Folgwang-Uni Essen
• hbz NRW
• HS Bielefeld
• HS Bochum (professors only)
• HS für Gesundheit
• HS für Tanz und Musik Köln
• HS Hamm-Lippstadt
• HS Rhein-Waal
• Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
• Kunstakademie Münster
• Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• RWTH Aachen
• TH Köln
• TH Georg Agricola Bochum
• TU Dortmund
• Uni Bonn
• Uni Düsseldorf
• Uni Köln
• Uni Münster
• Uni Paderborn
• Uni Siegen
• Uni Wuppertal

Application to the IT Centre

• FZ Jülich: e-mail to IT representative/administrators
• RWTH Aachen: e-mail to IT orderers
• Uni Bielefeld: e-mail to service desk

Special Form

• FH Aachen
• Uni Duisburg-Essen

Application

The application should contain the following information:

• Applicant
• Project box name/identifier: 4 to 32 characters; e.g. Project-XY with the identifier project-xy.pbox@Your-Institution.de"
• Department/Organisational Unit
• Project description: In addition to a project title and a short abstract, information on the responsible organisational unit, project duration, project participants or funding may be useful. The text must not exceed 150 words.
• Storage volume: 30, 500, 1,000 or 2,000 GB

For all applications, the support of the institution decides on an approval. Once the application has been approved, you will be notified by e-mail.

Activation

In order to use the project box, you must first set the password:

1. Log in to my.sciebo with your central user ID (not sciebo ID).
2. Select the menu item “change project box password”.
3. Select the desired project box from the drop-down list.
4. Enter the new password.
5. Log in to the sciebo web interface of your institution with the project box ID to activate the project box.

Usage

Direct access to the project box is only necessary for assigning access rights to the central project folder (using shares) and managing the associated editing rights:

1. Log in to the sciebo web interface of your institution with the login data of the project box.
2. Create a central project folder to be used for the project data.
3. Share this folder with your own personal sciebo ID and the other project participants.
4. You and the project participants can now access the shared project box folder via your/their own sciebo account(s) and create and edit folders and documents there.

Extension and Transfer

• Extension: The duration of a project box is 2 years. An extension is possible via my.sciebo.
• Transfer: The transfer of a project box is initiated via my.sciebo. (*Note: In order to enable the transfer to another person, no personal or copyright-protected data may be stored by the participants).

6.3 - Transfer of ownership

In Nextcloud, there is a new feature that allows you to transfer files and folders to other Sciebo users of the same institution. This can be useful, for example, if you want to transfer data from your personal account to a project box.
This function can be found under the menu entry Settings/Share/Files. There, the data to be transferred can be selected. In the next step, the ID of the account to which these data are to be transferred is selected. If this is confirmed, the person who has access to this account will receive a notification (Web interface: bell symbol) asking them to approve or reject the transfer. After accepting the transfer of ownership, a background process is started for the transfer. According to Nextcloud, this can take up to an hour. The data are physically transferred from one account to that of the recipient, and the new owner thus has full control. After the transfer, the data will end up in a separate folder Transfer... and can be moved to the appropriate location if necessary.
Eventual shares will be transferred as well.

7 - Apps

7.1 - Connecting the *Cloud - FileLink with Thunderbird

If you use the Thunderbird email programme with the *cloud - FileLink extension, you can upload large email attachments to Sciebo and then just send the download link.

Installation of the Thunderbird

Follow the download link to download the suitable file for your operating system, then run the file and follow the instructions for installation.

Installation of the *cloud- FileLink

1. Go to Thunderbird -> Settings -> Composition -> Attachments -> Find more providers...
2. A new tab would open, enter "*cloud “ in the search field.
3. Click on “+ Add to Thunderbird. In the popup window click again on “add” and close the tab.
4. Click on the newly appeared field *Add *cloud in the Attachments section
5. Fill the form:
   • Server URL: the URL of your institution’s Sciebo instance (e.g. https://sciebo.uni-muenster.de)
   • Username: your Sciebo account
   • App token or password: Your Sciebo password
6. Click on Save

Usage

When composing an e-mail, click on the drop-down menu next to " 📎Anhängen” and select Filelink -> *cloud. Select the file you want to attach and click ‘Open’. The selected file will now be uploaded to your Sciebo account and the recipient of your e-mail can download the file using the link.

7.2 - Fill file drop with scripts

Sometimes data is generated automatically somewhere and you want to move it to a specific Sciebo folder. Preferably in an automated way.

In this case, you can share the folder via a link and create a share with write permission (and password).

The link will look something like this: https://uni-muenster.sciebo.de/s/XphYPtnTxc2MDm0 and the password could be secter. The part after the /s/ is the username that you would use to interact with the webdav interface https://uni-muenster.sciebo.de/public.php/webdav/ and the password is the corresponding password.

You can now send a request to the Sciebo webdav interface for example with Curl and upload a file data.csv via:

curl -u "XphYPtnTxc2MDm0:geheim" -T "daten.csv" https://uni-muenster.sciebo.de/public.php/webdav/daten.csv

Note that the webdav interface does not have an update verb (as far as we know), i.e. if you want to overwrite a file, you must first delete the file using the following command: curl -u "XphYPtnTxc2MDm0:geheim" -X DELETE https://uni-muenster.sciebo.de/public.php/webdav/daten.csv

7.3 - Joplin

The Joplin app allows you to create notes on your smartphone or desktop/notebook and synchronise them via sciebo. You can download the apps at https://joplinapp.org/.

To synchronize the Joplin using Sciebo go to Tools -> Options -> Synchronisation

• Synchronisation target: WebDAV
• WebURL: https://your-institute.sciebo.de/remote.php/dav/files/your-sciebo-ID/Joplin where is to be replaced by the abbreviation used by your institution, to access Sciebo via a web interface. For example for University of Münster it would be uni-muenster.
• WebDAV username: your Sciebo id, for example for University of Münster it would be username@uni-muenster.de
• WebDAV password: your Sciebo password

During synchronisation, a new folder Joplin will be created in your Sciebo folder. Your Joplin notes will be stored in this folder.

7.4 - Obsidian

In this guide, we explain how to set up the note-taking app Obsidian. Many apps can be set up similarly.

Unfortunately, we cannot support the use of such apps with further assistance.

Attention: Obsidian is not FOSS

Obsidian is not free open source and is therefore subject to the usual security risks and conflicts of interest that come with proprietary software.

The manufacturer itself lists open-source alternatives, and we also have a guide for Joplin.

Setup

The Vault Name

By default, the Vault name will later also be the folder name in Sciebo. This can lead to conflicts. For example, if the Vault name is set to “Notes”, the Obsidian notes will be saved in the directory that is also used by the Nextcloud notes app. Therefore, these notes are also available to the editor in the web interface under the notes app.

This behavior can be changed in the settings, but this function is still marked as experimental.

Install Community Plugin “Remotely Save”

First, community plugins need to be activated, and then the plugin “Remotely Save.”

Find sciebo WebDAV Link

By clicking on “File Settings” at the bottom left of the sciebo web interface, a popup opens. There, you can copy the WebDAV address. Generally, it has the format https://instanzname.sciebo.de/remote.php/dav/files/kennung, where kennung is your sciebo identifier, with the @ replaced by %40.

Configure Obsidian

Finally, you need to configure Obsidian. Here, the WebDAV link from above must be entered under “Server Address.” The username and password are your regular sciebo identifier (here again with @) and your regular sciebo password.

7.5 - Office Integrations

Shutdown of OnlyOffice at the end of February 2026

At the end of February 2026, our licences for OnlyOffice will expire. There are no plans for renewal, but we will then have technical support for Collabora.

Barring any technical reasons to the contrary, we will continue to offer OnlyOffice until the last day and may postpone larger updates for this reason.

Office Integrations

In sciebo we currently offer two Office integrations:

• Collabora for .ods, .odt, .odp, .odg
• OnlyOffice for .xlsx, .docx, .pptx

For OnlyOffice we have only a limited number of licenses, so especially during peak times (around 11 am) it may happen that not all users can use OnlyOffice. In this case you have to wait a bit.

Since the upgrade to Nextcloud 30 the default document editor is Collabora. This is set by the Nextcloud manufacturer. The product is not yet fully mature. In particular, with MS‑Office formats problems can occur. You can then switch to OnlyOffice via the three‑dot menu (Open with OnlyOffice), provided licenses are still available.

Screenreader with Collabora

To use a screenreader with Collabora, you have to enable it in the web interface. In the collabora interface, under the tab “help”, you have to activate the button “Voice Over”. In non-English locales this might be translated too literally, e.g. in German “Stimme Über”.

Known Issues and Limitations

OnlyOffice with Federated Shares disrupted

Currently there is a disruption to the use of OnlyOffice with federated shares. The manufacturer has now identified and resolved the cause. We are expected to receive an update shortly, which we will then distribute promptly.

Federated shares in Nextcloud Office sometimes work, sometimes do not

The issue is that a file received via federated share cannot be opened with Collabora/Nextcloud Office. This does not happen with every federated share. A share that works will continue to work, while a share that does not work cannot be repaired without further ado.

We have identified a bug here and informed the manufacturer. Strictly speaking, we do not yet have support for this, and it is just before Christmas, but we hope that Nextcloud can improve this promptly.

As a workaround, files can be shared via a password-protected link or by email in the meantime.

Collaborative work is only possible with Collabora or OnlyOffice!

Colabora (Nextcloud Office) and OnlyOffice run on two different systems from different vendors. These two systems will not be able to communicate with each other in the foreseeable future, as the vendors have not provided for this functionality. This means that, when collaborating, team members must agree beforehand whether a document should be edited collaboratively with one editor or the other. Otherwise, data loss is unavoidable. Last one to write, wins.

Mobile Clients only open OnlyOffice

This is a bug. In particular for people who rely on screenreaders, until we disable OnlyOffice end of February 2026, we recommend either using a desktop or laptop to open files, or if you have a different application for office files, download the files to your mobile device and then use said application.

7.6 - Overleaf

Sciebo offers an integration of the collaborative LaTeX tool overleaf. This integration is based on the open source variant and its feature set is roughly between the free and basic tier of the commercial overleaf service.

We run our own overleaf instance, which can be used by all sciebo users.

The integration currently requires considerable development effort on our side and is provided as is.

In particular, we recommend to make regular backups of overleaf projects via the download function of overleaf projects, as we have only limited ability to restore singular projects.

Errorhandling

Alongside the logs there is a button on the lower right Other logs and files, which often allows you to download a output.stdout. This file can be opened in any text editor and often contains additional information.

At the moment we have no working error message if folder names do not match our restrictions (A-Za-z0-9 _-). In case of doubt use only very simple folder names.

Sharing

In order to be able to share with a person, it first has to log into our overleaf instance via sciebo and create a new project.¹

Creating new shares

Open the project you want to share. Then there appears a Share-Button on the upper edge of the editor window.

A sharing dialog is then openend. Here you need to enter the sciebo-id of the other person. This is the id you get shown after logging into sciebo in the upper right corner. If you do not know the sciebo ID of the other person, please ask them. Often it is not their e-mail.

After entering the address, push the green share button.

Afterwards tell the other person that you shared something with the, because our overleaf does not send out E-mails (even though it tells you it does).

Sharing with users in other sciebo instances

Note that for sharing with persons from other universities, you do not need to use the federated id, but just their local username, which is everything federated ID before the second “@”. This feature can be used for guests at https://gast.sciebo.de also.

Receiving a share

If you receive a share, there is a notification in the project overview about this.

This invitation can be accepted via “Join project” or be dismissed by a click onto the cross.

Import and export of projects

Currently, it is sadly impossible to directly interact with the sciebo storage, but it is possible to use .zip archives both for importing and exporting projects.

To import a project, you click on “New Project” and use the upload option:

To export/download a project, you click on the small cloud symbol in the project overview:

Known problems and non-features

• Overleaf does not send out e-mails; you have to inform share receivers by yourself
• we run Overleaf in Version 3 and are evaluation forks for our update path to Version 5. Until then we can not tell how the future feature set will look like
• sharing only works after a person logged into overleaf via sciebo at least once
• you cannot directly import from sciebo or export to sciebo
• WIP we allow for compiles beyond one minute, but the webinterface has a bug telling you after 60 seconds that it does not work. Subsequent clicks on the compile button then should return a message that a compilation is already running. If that is the case and only your initial compile takes longer than 60 seconds, you usually can still get a full compile sequent on subsequent compiles.
• WIP folder and filenames are heavily restricted; sadly if the folder name does not match the rules, no error message is being thrown. If a name is not allowed as a filename, it is also forbidden as a foldername

We are still working on the issues marked with WIP. If you experience a beahvior which differs from what we described here, please let us know.

7.7 - Project management with deck

Deck is a project management tool that follows the Kanban principle. Thanks to the user-friendly interface, projects can be organized easily and efficiently. The following instructions will show you the first steps in using Deck.

Create boards

1. Click on “Add board” in the Deck app.
2. then enter the name of the board in the input field
3. optionally, you can select a color scheme to visually distinguish the boards from each other
4. confirm the creation by pressing “enter” or by clicking on “Save board.”

Add columns and cards.

A column is a list of cards or tasks. You create these as follows:

1. enter the name of the list - e.g. “In Progress” or “To-do”—in the “List name” line.
2. click on “Add list” to create the list
3. to create cards for a specific column, click on the “Add card” button for the respective list.
4. assign a name to the card and press the enter key.

Share boards

1. click on […] next to the board name and open the “Board details.”
2. click on “Share” in the top bar
3. enter the account names or groups you want to share the board with.
4. click on the “enter” button to add the relevant users or teams to Nextcloud.

Notice: Currently, sharing boards with users of other universities or with guests is not possible.

8 - Security Settings

In the web interface, you can make additional settings to protect access to your sciebo account.

2-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication is a feature that increases security when accessing the sciebo web interface. When logging in, you must enter a 6-digit number in addition to the sciebo password, which you receive anew for each login via a 2-factor app.

1. Before you can activate 2-factor authentication in sciebo, you need to download a 2-factor app for your mobile device (e.g. FreeOTP, Google Authenticator).
2. Then log in to the sciebo web interface.
3. Click on your name in the top menu bar, then on “Settings” and then on “Security”.
4. Check the box to activate 2-factor authentication.
5. A QR code will be displayed. Scan the code with your 2-factor app. (Alternatively, you can enter the displayed numerical code manually).
6. Now enter the latest sequence of digits from the 2-factor app in the field provided and click on “Check”.
7. If “Verified” is displayed, the function is activated. (If you enter the code too slowly or confirm too late, you must repeat this step with the next sequence of digits).

Notes:

• If you want to use different mobile devices for 2-factor authentication, scan the QR code directly with all devices as it will not be displayed later for security reasons.
• If you want to delete the 2-factor app from your mobile device, you must first deactivate 2-factor authentication in sciebo. Otherwise, you will no longer have access to the sciebo web interface.
• When 2FA is switched on, external apps that were connected to the cloud via WebDAV lose their access to the cloud. You will need to reconnect them by using App Password.

App Passwords

App passwords are 16-digit security codes that allow a device to access your sciebo account. They are valid only once and are entered instead of the sciebo password when logging in. The use of app passwords is only useful in exceptional cases, for example, if the sciebo password would be stored in plain text on your end device.*

1. Log in to the sciebo web interface.
2. Click on your name in the top menu bar, then on “Settings” and then on “Security” and then the “Devices & sessions” section.
3. Enter a name in the “App name” field and click on “Create new app passcode”.
4. The app password is now displayed once. Use it to log in to sciebo in the desired app or on the desired device.
5. Click on “Done” to complete the process.

9 - Dangerous Mistakes

Combining the sciebo-Client with Sync-Services

You cannot use the sciebo-client and another cloud-client, such as Google Drive, dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive for the same folder.

Especially folders synchronized to Microsoft OneDrive may be a little hard to recognize.

Combining a Sciebo-Client with another Sciebo-Client

You should not use the same folder with two different sciebo-clients. This may happen if for example a partition of your hard drive is used by two different operating systems.

Using the Sciebo-Client with a Network-Drive

The Sciebo client cannot be used with a Network-Drive. Errors in network traffic can quickly lead to the loss of data, and Errors in Network traffic occur more often than many people think.

Using WebDav to use sciebo as a Network-Drive

It would be nice if this worked well. But data is transferred only at specific times, that are hard to control (or even see) by the user, and so it may happen that sciebo does not receive the data at all or only empty files.

Actions in the Web Interface that affect Many Files/Folders Simultaneously

If you delete or move a folder containing many objects (a combination of files and folders) via the web interface, this can lead to problems. The result may be an undefined state. In this case, data can no longer be accessed. The reason for this is that each object also has a database entry. Therefore, when a folder is deleted or moved, the action is first performed in the storage system. Then, the database entries for each object must be updated. A background process is started for these actions, but for resource reasons, it must complete within a finite time. If this job runs out of time, the database will unfortunately not be up to date. The data is then usually not visible in the web interface, but access to it no longer works. A client will also notice that something is wrong.
Should this happen, please contact support. A file scan can then be used to synchronize the database entries with the actual data in the storage system.

Editing Files on Multiple Clients Simultaneously

Please avoid editing files on different PCs simultaneously. This is a common mistake, especially with Office documents. A Word or Excel file is opened and edited locally on different systems. Each system opens its local copy of the file. File locks, like those found on network drives, cannot be reliably propagated to other systems. This means the document can be opened on any system with write access. As a result, while the last person to edit the file wins, the data of those who made changes before them is lost. This is inherent to how the cloud works, and we cannot change it.

10 - Account

In my.sciebo you can access information about your user account, change your password, extend the term of your account and delete your account. As a university employee, you can also increase your storage volume from 30 to 500 GB.

Access Account Information

1. Open my.sciebo. (You must authenticate with your institution to do this.)

2. Click on “Account Information”. There you can view the following information:

   • ID
   • User name
   • E-mail address
   • Storage volume
   • Expiration date

Changing Your Password

1. Open my.sciebo. (You must authenticate with your institution to do this.)
2. Click on “Change Password”.
3. Enter your new password. It can contain upper and lower case letters, numbers and the following special characters: . : ; = ! # ( ) + , - _ /
4. Confirm the password change.

Renewing Your Account

Your account is valid for 12 months from the date of renewal. As long as you are a member of your institution, you can renew your account at any time.

1. Open my.sciebo. (You must authenticate with your institution to do this.)
2. Click on “Renew account”.
3. Confirm the renewal.

Deleting Your Account

If you delete your account, your data stored in sciebo will be irrevocably removed from the sciebo servers. Locally stored data (i.e. data synchronised via the desktop client) will remain on your PC.

Please note that shares will also be deleted. This means that data you have shared with other users will no longer be available to them. If necessary, inform these users in good time so that they can make their own copies. You can view a list of all folders and files you have shared in the web interface.

1. Open my.sciebo. (You must authenticate with your institution to do this.)
2. Click on “Delete account”.
3. Tick the box “Confirm deletion”.
4. Click on “Delete”.
5. Your account will be deleted within the next 24 hours.

Increasing Your Storage Volume (Employees Only)

As an employee, you have the option of increasing your storage volume to 500 GB on your own.

1. Open my.sciebo. (You must authenticate with your institution to do this.)
2. Click on “Increase volume”.
3. Confirm the volume increase.

11 - Nextcloud Migration

Sciebo was gradually transitioned from ownCloud to Nextcloud. The basic functions remain unchanged; only a few functions are added.

This document briefly outlines the resulting changes.

Generally, we will take care of your concerns as usual via our contact form in case of a request.

Changes

• Apps are now at the top of the page and no longer at the top left in the menu
• Groups are now called Teams and can be found in the Contact app
• Microsoft Office formats are no longer opened in Onlyoffice, but in Collabora. Collabora is set as the standard for all Office formats. This is unfortunately beyond our control and is a requirement by the manufacturer Nextcloud. If problems (e.g. formatting) occur with MS documents, you can open and edit MS documents via the 3-dot menu with OnlyOffice for the time being. Please ensure that when collaborating on documents, all editing persons use the same editor, otherwise conflicts or data losses are to be expected. The reason for this is that the OnlyOffice server and Collabora are independent server services that cannot communicate directly with each other.
• there are a few new apps: Calendar, Contacts, Deck (Kanban Board), Forms (Surveys) and Polls (Votes)
• by default, the eye-friendly Dark mode is activated; via the menu at the top right, Light Mode, High Contrast and Dyslexia modes can also be set
• Login only with Sciebo ID: Due to a bug, it was previously possible to log in with the email address. Please use only your Sciebo ID for login. In case of doubt, you can find out what this is in mySciebo.
• Incoming shares can be automatically sorted into a separate folder. This can be selected under Settings/Share.
• Incoming external shares (Federated Shares) currently have to be accepted via the web interface (bell icon). A next update to a newer Nextcloud version is expected to provide a remedy.

Update to the Nextcloud Client

We recommend that all users uninstall the old client and install the new Nextcloud-based client. See: Nextcloud-Clients or for English instructions: Nextcloud clients. The unbranded Nextcloud client works just as well with Sciebo and can also be used for other Nextclouds. A branded mobile client is currently not available, which is why we ask you to use the unbranded Nextcloud client from the stores.

Known characteristics:

• The Nextcloud client does not synchronize files under Windows for compatibility reasons that contain characters reserved by Windows in their names ("?", “*”, “<”, “>”, “|”, “/”, “\” and “:”).

Migration Guide

1. Make sure that any synchronization running in the previously used sciebo-ownCloud client is completed first.

2. Open the previously installed sciebo-ownCloud client and click on “User Account”. Now select the option “Remove”. Confirm the removal. No data is lost.

3. Now exit the sciebo-ownCloud client.

4. Uninstall the sciebo client previously used from your system.

5. IMPORTANT: Consider the sciebo folder previously used on your hard drive as backup and rename it, for example to backup_sciebo.

6. Download the sciebo-Nextcloud-Client for your operating system on the following page: https://hochschulcloud.nrw/de/download/index.html We recommend using a client without VFS.

7. Perform the client installation. If a system restart is required, perform it.

8. Set up the new client by first selecting your instance. You will be asked for authorization with your sciebo ID via a browser window.

9. Set up the synchronization according to your wishes. DO NOT select the previously used sciebo folder on your hard drive. Go back to step 5 of this guide if you have selected this and received an error message.

10. Complete the setup assistant and leave the PC on until the synchronization is complete. Do not disconnect the device from the Internet during this time.

For advanced users

Tip 1:

(This measure only works if you do not use the VFS option.)

You can synchronize the data set from the old sync folder using ROBOCOPY or rsync -av (depending on the operating system) into the new folder. These command-line tools prevent newer data on the server from being overwritten by any older data from the client.

Tip 2:

(This is something for experts who know what they are doing. Always make a backup before doing this!)

Summary:

If you copy the config file aside before step 2 in the migration guide above, you can copy the old configuration file into the new config directory after installing the new client and then rename it according to the naming scheme of the new client. In the new config directory, there should already be a cfg file that tells you exactly which file the client is looking for. The initial file can then be renamed and the adopted cfg file will then be named exactly the same. Steps 5, 9, and 10 from the above instructions can then be omitted, as applying the old configuration file ensures that access is provided to the previous sync directory.

Step by Step:

1. Make sure that any ongoing synchronization in the previously used sciebo-ownCloud-client has been completed.

2. Find the configuration directory and copy the configuration file aside. On Linux, this is usually ~/.config/sciebo/sciebo.cfg On Windows, this is usually %HOMEPATH%\AppData\Roaming\sciebo\sciebo.cfg On macOS, this should be the path ~/Library/Preferences... The folders are usually hidden.

3. Open the previously installed sciebo-ownCloud-client and click on “User account”. Now select the option “Remove”. Confirm the removal. No data is lost. This step ensures that the icons in the Explorer sidebar under Windows, if that is the platform you are using, are removed.

4. Now exit the sciebo-ownCloud-client.

5. Uninstall the sciebo-client previously used from your system.

6. Download the sciebo-Nextcloud-client for your operating system from the following page: https://hochschulcloud.nrw/de/download/index.html We recommend using a client without VFS, unless you used the ownCloud-client with the activated VFS option in the old installation.

7. Run the client installation. If a system restart is required, perform it.

8. Start the new client and abort the installation. This ensures that a new configuration directory is created.

9. Copy the backed-up configuration file into the new configuration directory.

10. Start the new sync client. The settings from the old client installation should have been adopted.

12 - Information for the Support Team

12.1 - AAI

We have not yet translated this page. Click here for the german documentation.

13 - Required information by support request

No software is completely free of errors. Sometimes, things may break elsewhere as well. Please understand that disruptions—this includes scheduled maintenance—may occur. We strive to provide the service as reliably as possible.

If you want to contact us because something isn’t working as expected, we appreciate it if you can provide us with detailed information in your very first message. Summarizing this in a general way is not trivial.

Please always check our help pages first. They are not yet complete, but we are working on it. :-) If the problem is not listed in our documentation, please use this template to submit the issue, fill relevant fields.

1. Sciebo/Nextcloud User ID (required)

2. Institution / Organization

3. Where have you encountered with the problem.

• Nextcloud Webinterface
• Nextcloud Desktop Client
• Nextcloud Mobile App
• Other: [please specify]

4. Detailed Problem Description

5. Steps to Reproduce

6. Frequency

• Always reproducible
• Sporadic
• Occurred only once

7. Time of occurrence (date/time)

8. Affected multiple users?

• Yes, multiple
• No, only single user
• Unknown

9. Technical Details (Client/Environment)

• Client version: [e.g., Desktop 4.0.0]
• Operating system: [e.g., Windows 11, MacOS]
• ** Browser that was used: **

10. Error Messages, Logs & Status Messages

• Errors in the webinterface (with screenshots):
• Client logs

If a ticket has been created and you reply to it, please make sure to keep the subject unchanged. In particular, the ticket information, also known as the ticket hook, must be preserved so that the ticket system can correctly assign the information. Otherwise, we often lack the necessary context, which means we may have to ask follow-up questions or search the system. Such things result in additional time expenditure and we cannot support you as quickly and competently as we would like.

14 - The hidden pages

Here you see all documentation pages which are not shown due to being confusing/WIP/whatever

Add toc_hide: true to the preamble of all pages in this section.

14.1 - Cryptnc

End-to-end encryption enables sensitive data to be transferred via the cloud without an administrator or third party being able to view the contents of the files on the server. Encryption and decryption is carried out by a client on the end device (computer, cell phone, tablet). The advantage of Nextcloud end-to-end encryption (E2EE) is that one can also share the encrypted folders without having to share the own key.

Prerequisite: an E2EE app must be activated on the server, original Nextcloud client version 3+.

Client configuration

Server address: https://cryptnc.uni-muenster.de

Credentials: standard university login and password.

Check that the option “This account supports end-to-end encryption” is displayed in your client. Click on “Set-up encryption” to generate the encryption mnemonic.

Please save this phrase as you will need it to decrypt the files on other endpoints or to recover the files if the device is lost.

If you have already enabled encryption on the client, you can look up the mnemonic phrase by clicking ‘Show mnemonic’.

Creating the ecrypted folder

Notice: Keep a second copy of the files on your computer outside the nextcloud folder, this should also be where you edit the files. Use the encrypted folders to transfer files between different computers.

Try not to edit files inside the encrypted folder, as they may be irreversibly encrypted. There are methods to decrypt the files using the script provided by Nextcloud, but this method has not been tested yet, so we would rather advise you to do everything possible to avoid this risk.

Create the new folder. The folder must be empty to enable encryption. This is to prevent data loss. Any files placed in this folder will automatically be encrypted. The contents of this folder won’t be displayed in the web interface. On the server side, only the top level of files would be displayed in encrypted form. This way the admin won’t be able to see the data type. So, for example, if you put another folder in the encrypted folder, it would only be shown as a file, without any details about the files in it.

Sharing the ecrypted folder via Desktop Client

Activate the Nextcloud client and navigate to the Nextcloud folder on your computer.
Right-click on the folder you want to share. If the Nextcloud client is active, you should see Nextcloud in the menu. Clicking on Nextcloud > Share options will open a window where you can add or remove shares for the chosen file or folder.