Virtual files for macOS

[claucambra]

Hi all,

I am very happy to announce we are soon releasing stable virtual files support on macOS. From now on the Nextcloud application will come in two flavours on macOS: standard, and virtual files. The standard version is the desktop client we have been releasing for some time now. The virtual files client supports both standard synchronisation and the new File Provider-based virtual files system provided by Apple on macOS.

No extra steps are required to enable virtual files folders in the virtual files client; once you install the client and configure an account (or use existing accounts), you should be able to access your files via entries in the “Locations” section of the Finder sidebar. You do not need to configure sync folders when configuring a new account; this configuration pertains only to standard synchronisation, not virtual files sync.

The virtual files client will replace the standard client when installed on your computer. Please note that the virtual files edition of the desktop client cannot support Finder integration on synchronised folders using standard sync. You are free to switch back to the standard sync client or switch over again to the virtual files client; there will be no data loss when installing one client over the other.

Please note that our current plans are to support both the standard sync client and the virtual files client concurrently. There are no plans at the moment to replace the standard client.

As always, your feedback is very welcome and I will be trying my best to go through your comments and address any bugs that come up.

Worthy of note for those of you who beta-tested the macOS VFS Beta package:

1. The macOS VFS Beta branding is now dropped, so you will need to reconfigure your virtual files accounts
2. There are new settings for virtual files in the client’s settings menu, including options to enable/disable virtual files for specific accounts, storage usage information and management, and the ability to create debug archives!
3. There are now file sharing options for virtual files! Right-click on a virtual file or folder, and click “Share options” to use this feature.
4. Fast sync is now available and enabled by default, making newly-configured accounts more quick to respond after initial configuration. You can disable this and allow the system to make a slow, full sync of the remote contents when it is convenient to do so.

Download 3.13.0 with virtual files support on macOS here:

https://github.com/nextcloud-releases/desktop/releases/download/v3.13.0/Nextcloud-3.13.0-macOS-vfs.pkg

[sopi20]

It looks like the fileprovider does not use dav_user (i.e. GUID) in the dav urls it is using, but is using username instead, which causes "Principal with name not found" errors in case where ldap auth is being used... any way how to fix this ?

[claucambra]

Noted, feel free to open an issue for this and I will tackle it soon

[claucambra]

I've opened an issue to track this: #6662

[sopi20]

Thank you very much.

[marcotrevisan]

Hi all, and congratulations @claucambra and Dev Team for this release!
I've just installed it and did a first run on my two instances (one of which is very populated).

Let me say I couldn't be happier on how fast and good it currently works (fast sync is on).
On a normal usage it really rocks. In a LAN environment it's finally superior to anything else I've tried so far. On a normal cloud instance it's as fast as the competition.
Previews work as expected. File editing works, saving works and does not seem to break stuff (including the locally open file).
The locking features seem to be still missing, but I knew this was still in progress... at the moment a locked file shows up with an additional lock icon, but no lock/unlock on file open/close is active.

Kudos @claucambra for such an achievement. Thanks Nextcloud for making it possible!
This implementation is without any doubt a game changer for MacOS users.

[BJKle]

Thank you so much. It's working on my own server.
But on a second server it is not working.
Does my administrator has to enable something?
In the finder window there is an error: "Nextcloud encountered an unexpected error. Items may be out of date."
But the log files are empty.
Always using the latest version (Server/Desktop)

[BJKle]

I must be stupid. I restarted a couple of times reinstalled the linked 3 times. Restarted,...
It still looks like the old version. (see pictures).
I even added a second account. No change.
Do I have to enable something in a config file?

[claucambra]

No changes to the config file should be necessary, it is possible that this is a bug -- could you send the desktop client's debug archive?

[BJKle]

where can i send it?
there are my usernames und server addresses in it and I don't want to leave here

[claucambra]

You may send it to [email protected]

[BJKle]

I got it to run now, after cleaning up the whole system and looking where extcloud somewhere.
Unfortunately VFS runs into an error:

2024-04-24 19:40:19.291322+0200 0x2357 Error 0x0 1110 0 FileProviderExt: [com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt:enumerator] 1 depth readFileOrFolder of url: https://myurl/remote.php/dav/files/Username did not complete successfully, received error: Principal with name Username not found
2024-04-24 19:40:19.291411+0200 0x2357 Error 0x0 1110 0 FileProviderExt: [com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt:enumerator] Finishing enumeration for user: Username https://myurl with serverUrl: https://myurl/remote.php/dav/files/Username with error Principal with name Username not found

My Admin has setup the users using LDAP. I login with "login name", but the "username" ist something cryptic. Trying to use the cryptic username fails "unknown user".

[strozzascotte]

Thank you very much and congratulations @claucambra!
I'm testing it right now and so far it's flawless.

[chaehni]

Why are there two clients if the new one supports standard and virtual sync mode?

[claucambra]

The standard client supports finder integration for standard sync folders, the virtual files client can't.

[chaehni]

I don't understand the "can't". Other cloud drives like Ondrive support Fimder integration. One can set a file to offline/cloud only directly on the files context menu. Or does Finder integration refer to something else?

[claucambra]

Yes, it refers to something else -- OneDrive does not have a standard sync mechanism like we do, and our Finder integration module for standard sync folders is incompatible with the file provider module

[gradypark86]

Hi all, I uninstalled Release 3.12.3, restarted my mac, and installed Release 3.13.0-fileprovider-rc1 (macOS virtual files). Unfortunately, there is no entry in the “Locations” section of the Finder sidebar. I didn't set any folders in Standard file sync.

I'd like to provide logs to resolve the issue, is log files in /Users/username/Library/Preferences/Nextcloud/logs be helpful? When I click the Create debug archive button under Virtual file sync, the nextcloud client not responding, I have to force quit it in Activity Monitor. If there is anything I can offer, please let me know.

Nextcloud Server version: 28.0.4 - 28.0.4.1
MacOS version: 14.4.1
Log file: 20240423_1053_nextcloud.log

[claucambra]

Hi, sometimes Finder doesn't immediately respond to the creation of new locations. If you can't create a debug archive for the virtual files component, can you create one as normal for the desktop client?

Running log stream --debug --predicate 'process=="FileProviderExt" AND subsystem=="com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt"' in the terminal can also produce useful debug logging

[claucambra]

Okay, the issue, your server address has a port number suffixed with a colon, which NSFileProviderManager does not like. I will create an issue for this

[claucambra]

Tracking at #6661

[gradypark86]

I see, thank you very much @claucambra .

[gradypark86]

Great, I changed the port number to 443 and v3.13.0-fileprovider-rc1 runs normally. There are some small questions.

1. Enable virtual files is off by default and it's actully on. Files can sync normally.
   

2. After downloading a file, the modified time of the file will change to the current time.

3. There's no option such as "Always keep on this device".

[marcotrevisan]

Hi @claucambra, I found a small glitch in the UI (maybe it's already known...): sometimes clicking on the Settings menu item causes a complete freeze of the client's UI, I have to kill it or the dialog will stay open and frozen.
When this happens, the client seems unable to open the settings panel and the UI stays frozen with the the menu items open.

I hope this helps.
Kind regards

[marcotrevisan]

This won't cause issues to the FileProvider operation. I tested it and it fetches data, enumerates folders, ... all seems normal in Finder.

[claucambra]

Hi all, I've been going around opening pull requests for some of the issues faced here. Unfortunately, one new issue relates to autoupdating, which will not work correctly in the virtual files client's release candidate (RC1). Once the final, stable 3.13.0 release comes out you will be prompted to update and unfortunately you will receive a standard, non-virtual files client.

I've issued a fix for this but it cannot be retroactively applied to RC1, so you will have to manually re-download the 3.13.0 virtual files release when it comes out. Thankfully, this will be fixed going forward from 3.13.0.

[hrdwdmrbl]

Question: Is the plan to eventually sunset the "standard" version? The "virtual files" version would seem to be the future and superior version, but it seems like it might still be missing a couple features from the "standard" version.

I know there is also talk about an independent macOS desktop client. If those plans were (hypothetically) to not move forward, would the plan be to sunset the "standard" version eventually?

I know that these plans might still be in discussion, so if the current answer is unknown, that's okay too.

[claucambra]

As of now, no. We still plan to support the standard version.

[claucambra]

We have now released 3.13.0 -- I have updated the download link in the top post :)

[smeingast]

I am having an issue uploading larger with the new fileprovider method. I am using a cloudflare tunnel and nginx proxy manager and for the standard sync procedure, I always managed to fix this by adjusting the nextcloud.cfg. Is this perhaps again an issue with the new client?

[smeingast]

It's strange. I had the new client (3.13.0) now running for several hours and at some point the big files showed up. However, syncing is still far from smooth. For instance, when I add many new files at once, these files take forever to be marked 'uploaded' in the finder, but I can see them already in the web interface of nextcloud.

[chaehni]

yes, same experience. At least they eventually get synced.

[marcotrevisan]

I just tried uploading a big file (~350 MB) from a slow connection and watched the web server log.
It worked, but It's not currently using the chunked upload mode (the log shows a single PUT line at the end of the upload), so you'll have to make sure your PHP and web server have large enough max request sizes and timeouts.

Also, please note that during the upload of a folder containing many files, the server will experience a certain amount of load (CPU load + requests from other clients due to the push notifications). Please check that too and if your server's CPU reaches 100% of all cores during the upload, be prepared for delays.... Make sure your php configuration allows for enough child processes. Server too busy means possible timeouts and FileProviderExt may also suffer from that.

@claucambra it might be worth checking how many push notifications will come out from the upload of a populated folder. Ideally it could be just one at the end of the upload, for the folder itself, but actually it might be one for each file/subfolder uploaded.
Thanks!

[jackbeeby]

I'm having this same issue with video files over 500mb and tiff files. It is giving the cloud with ! indicating "out of storage" but there is enough storage. Is there a fix to this?

[marcotrevisan]

I'm having this same issue with video files over 500mb and tiff files. It is giving the cloud with ! indicating "out of storage" but there is enough storage. Is there a fix to this?

It pretty much seems like you’re hitting some request time or size limits in your NC server… have you checked them? They need to be adjusted in both the php configuration, and in the web server configuration…

[chaehni]

I have an issue where files I try to free are not actually freed. I have now 250GB of storage taken in my folders but in Finder all files show up with a cloud icon. In the menu to delete the local files (it's awkward to access imo), the parent folder of the offending files shows up (but none of the actual files) and when I try to remove it and refresh the view it appears again. It seems I now have no way of deleteing local copies.

[marcotrevisan]

If you fully download a folder using the context menu in Finder, you should then find a "remove downloads" action.
Alternatively, in the "virtual file system" menu in the client settings you'll find the "evict local copies" button, once clicked you'll be presented with a list of all the files/folders and be able to evict the ones you like.

I would say it would be nice to have an "evict all" button too...

[chaehni]

Yes, I found the "evict local copies" button. I'd prefer such an option on partially downloaded folders, too. If I have 10 files downloaded in a folder I now have to decide between removing them individually or downloading potentially gigabytes of data only to then remove everything.

[marcotrevisan]

Yes that would be a very nice feature.
For the sake of completeness, there's also a built-in function in Apple's FileProvider framework, that when the local disk space is running low, it will evict materialized files automatically, I guess based on some sensible logic (like starting from the least recently used...).

[chaehni]

Good to know. I was not aware of that. Thanks for pointing it out.

[marcotrevisan]

I also noticed, using the current version you can uncheck the "use virtual files" flag, which will wipe your current local storage, and then re-enable it. Please be aware it won't ask you confirmation, so do it only if you haven't just added files to it...

[Mantany]

First of all, thank you for this great feature and the work of @claucambra 🎉
I would like to share my experience and solutions so far:

Installation:
My installation (upgrade from the "classic sync" version) did not go very well:
I uninstalled the "classic sync“ version with Appcleaner (removed all configurations, etc.) and installed the new version (3.13.0).
However, the new app only appeared for a few seconds and then closed by itself.

Workarounds:
It turned out that under the user Library => Application Support => FileProvider
there were some FileProviders that were already using my nextcloud server. By deleting the folders and reinstalling the nextcloud application, I was able to get it working.

I also had a problem with the location not showing up immediately in the Finder:
What helped me here is: open Finder, then Finder -> select Preferences in the top menu bar -> deselect iCloud storage, select iCloud storage again

Now its working very well, thought that it might be helpful to somebody having the same problems

[marcotrevisan]

Question: some days ago I added Italian translations in Transifex for the new features (and also some keys that are still untranslated) in the "client" resource.
Are they automatically merged or do they pass through validation? Just curious...
Thanks

[rakekniven]

@marcotrevisan

Are they automatically merged

Yes.

[2xsaiko]

I have a folder with a huge amount of small files in it (it's a Dwarf Fortress save folder, ~8500 files, 95MB in total according to the web UI). Looking at the folder in the Finder/trying to download them all hangs forever, or at least for longer than 20 minutes (looking at the Nextcloud UI, its state is Syncing, and the progress bar is currently at 20%).

I've had this synced with the standard file sync before and that worked fine.

[chaehni]

this also confuses me. The sync bar seems to not be indicative of any progress at all. Mine has been stuck on 30% since I installed the client but all my files seem to be synced.

[marcotrevisan]

Now I get what progress bar you mean. In my case it was so quick to go to 100% that I didn't remember it was there :-)

Perhaps the debug log is worth a look...

[2xsaiko]

Where can I find that? I looked for a log, and found one in Application Support/Nextcloud, but it doesn't seem to be used for the file provider since the latest entry was a few months old.

Can you get it via the "create debug archive" button?

[marcotrevisan]

Yes that's the button for that. I can't say wether or not it will contain the needed info because my client is working properly so far...

[2xsaiko]

Nope, it doesn't say anything. It's just really slow. https://gist.github.com/2xsaiko/882d3e2a1eb140dec2f2d6d9f2c019f1

edit: this is the folder: https://cloud.knifepoint.net/s/FB5CwYaZfXzQwzq
edit 2: to be clear, it did eventually finish reading the folder, this time it took maybe like 10-15 minutes.

[Occhioverde]

Hi all!

Just leaving this comment to ask whether anyone else that's trying out the new Virtual Files implementation is experiencing a strange issue where renaming a newly-created folder results in its entry to be delisted from Finder and not updated in the server itself (i.e. the new name is not visible in the web interface).

I never witnessed this issue on Linux, Windows nor on the classic macOS client, but I encountered it on three computers connected to two different servers with the Virtual Files implementation.

[chaehni]

I have the same thing with new files. Copy them to the Nextcloud folder and then opening them makes them disappear. They are still visible on the web and other apps.

[Occhioverde]

In my case there is no problem when uploading new files from the local storage, but there are some hiccups when moving them around the cloud drive itself. The issue should be the same, though.

At this point I'm starting to think that this is caused by some server misconfiguration. Do you host yours? Is it perhaps installed with the FPM Docker image?

[chaehni]

Could very well be. I'm selfhosting with the official Nextcloud Docker image: https://hub.docker.com/_/nextcloud

[Occhioverde]

Well, then I can rule out an image-related problem. Are you using Nginx as a reverse proxy?

[digitalgerry2]

Initially, I could not get the earlier version to work, I have now got the latest version plus the update installed on my Macbook Pro M2 iOS Sonama 14.6.1

However, I do not see anything I am saying at either end, as if I am or phoned.
Issue 1:
Multiple Folders:

Nextcloud 3 was my pre-virtual files install before I added virtual files. I moved all files to the folder below, but SUMUP is auto-archiving from emails (a rule I created) into the old folder.

When I created the VF I got this folder:
However the files are not correct.

I then deleted NC and started again, and ended up with this folder:

However, I have had to add all the files from the other two folders to have them in one folder.

Issue 2:
Nextcloud 2 is the Virtual folder. I have the setting correct. But have these errors:

The Virtual File sync settings:

In summary, I have an orphaned folder that goes back to the old folder. If I remove that folder, what is the impact?

I can attach the log for you to look at and want to ensure I can ‘delete the original files’ from the machine, and know they are on the VF server.

However, I am confused about one matter. When I create a local file, where am I meant to save it? Do I need to manually upload it into the correct VF (NC2) as in the arrangement, or can I save it locally and then delete it once it has synched?

Apologies if this isn’t clear, but I want to ensure I don’t lose anything.

To add another complication, I now need to use a Windows 10 laptop; how can I create the virtual files there? I need help finding the software. The version I have 3.13.1 doesn’t have VF

[evrim706]

I cant upload files on VFS, I get a cloud icon with an exclamation mark 😔

[trexxeon]

I have the same problem, larger files can not be uploaded.. I get the exclamation mark.. it’s only with vfs I have problems uploading large files.

it tries a couple of times and then the exclamation mark appear

[babul]

I am having the same issue syncing files larger than 500MB, cloud icon with an exclamation mark as @trexxeon says. I am using Nextcloud desktop client 3.14.0 on Sonoma 14.7.

I do have the setting "Ask for confirmation before synchronizing new folders larger than (500) MB" unchecked.

With the Standard File Sync connector the same file does upload.

[digitalgerry2]

Check if it's over 500mb as there is an option not to allow 500mb - in Settings , un-tick and try again

It is over 500mb!
I'm now flummoxed about what is and isn't synchronising. I'm not getting a response to the query above. Am I the only one with this?

[hampton8]

Same issue here - files over 500mb not uploading using VFS, just get the cloud with an exclamation mark. Extremely frustrating. Do you know whether a fix for this is being worked on @claucambra? I use a hosted Nextcloud service via Hetzner and their technical team seem to think the issue lies with the lack of support for chunking in the VFS version of the client...

[claucambra]

I am currently working on chunked uploads

[trexxeon]

Having trouble uploading larger files with the vfs client on macos. (above 5-600mb)

I get the exclamation mark after it have tried to sync it a couple of times:

My php-local.ini looks like this:

upload_max_filesize = 16G
post_max_size = 16G
output_buffering = 0
max_input_time = 3600
max_execution_time = 3500
memory_limit = 2G

In my nginx site-confs/default.conf I have this section near the top:

# set max upload size and increase upload timeout:
    client_max_body_size 0;
    client_body_timeout 6400s;
    fastcgi_buffers 64 4K;

In the nginx error log this appears:

2024/09/14 07:15:59 [error] 380#380: *3935 recv() failed (104: Connection reset by peer) while reading response header from upstream, client: 10.0.10.182, server: _, request: "PUT /remote.php/dav/files/username/file.iso HTTP/2.0", upstream: "fastcgi://127.0.0.1:9000", host: "cloud.domain.com

[trexxeon]

Ok I found out that large files will upload, if I set a crazy amount of swap space. It will allocate multiple gigs more than the file itself and php-fpm will eat swap space until it runs out, and if it does it kills php.

I think VFS must implement chunked uploads for it to be viable to use with large files. Otherwise it will eat up all ram memory and slow down the server significantly.

[mgabor3141]

I've been having some serious problems with my MacOS virtual files installation. A few files even got lost in the middle of all the reinstalling, it is unclear how.

The main problem seems to be that the logs were being spammed with this line:

Could not get file provider domains: The application cannot be used right now. Will try again in 2 secs

Originating from here

Sync would just straight up not work most of the time. The "Fast Sync" checkbox would also not stay unchecked and would revert to being checked whenever the settings was opened.

After some searching I found this thread:
https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/696254

The mentioned workaround was to move the application to a folder outside of the /Applications folder. I did that (moved it to ~/Applications instead) and sure enough, the errors stopped and I could now uncheck fast sync.

Sync is still rather unreliable. I have a folder that constantly shows as empty, even though on Nextcloud web I can see it has contents. Not sure what's happening, will investigate further.

I am on latest 3.14.0

Edit: Now server logs are spamming Login failed: username Relogging fixed this

[mgabor3141]

Update: It seems that if any folder has a space or a non-ascii character in its name it will show as empty.

[mgabor3141]

Downgrading to 3.13.4 allows these folders to be synced once again

[samclothier]

I have the exact same problem on MacOS Ventura with Nextcloud 3.14.x and 3.15.x. The only way I am able to sync folders with spaces in their names is by installing Nextcloud client 3.13.3.

[wrench12435678]

Hey

We have been having this issue since the beta's, it takes ages for the client to notice a change/new file on the server for it to appear. If you make a file/folder OR restart Nextcloud, the folder updates and reflects the content on the server (sometimes it gets completely stuck, and I have to reinstall/wipe data to get it going again). Uploading from the client does not have this issue. When a new file is uploaded to the server, going to the finder to that folder gets this

2024-09-30 14:26:05.941961+0100 0x5884 Info 0x0 1138 0 FileProviderExt: [com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt:enumerator] Set up enumerator for user: CENSORED https://cloud.CENSORED.example with serverUrl: https://cloud.CENSORED.example/remote.php/dav/files/CENSORED/Personal/TEMP

2024-09-30 14:19:50.731097+0100 0x4dab Debug 0x0 1138 0 FileProviderExt: [com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt:enumerator] Enumerator is being invalidated for item with identifier: NSFileProviderRootContainerItemIdentifier

2024-09-30 14:19:52.267145+0100 0x4dab Debug 0x0 1138 0 FileProviderExt: [com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt:enumerator] Enumerator is being invalidated for item with identifier: NSFileProviderRootContainerItemIdentifier

Is this related or just a coincidence?

Again thanks for the work, heavily appreciate what your doing :)

[IPlayZed]

Hi, amazing work, some things I think would help a lot regarding usability:

1. Make syncing to a location entirely optional. Now I have to pick a location and deselect all files to be synced. This would make setup more intuitive.
2. The virtual files are not shown in Finder before closing and relaunching after first launch. This might be confusing for less tech-savvy people, thinking it is not working.
3. Add options (maybe also settable from the context menu) to set how long to keep files.
4. Add VFS features into the mainline MacOS client.

[chaehni]

Agree with all points. I don't understand why the virtual sync client still has two tabs but you have to deactivate one (regular sync) anyway.

Also, the problem with files not appearing in Finder I have everytime I add files via another client. They don't show up on my Mac until I exit and restart Nextcloud.

[IPlayZed]

While generally Windows 10/11 is bad by design, one thing they really did well in the desktop is the support for virtual files by sync clients. OneDrive works really well and Nextcloud too! (I would argue that I had actually the least bugs of all sync clients, including virtual files on Windows with the Nextcloud sync client...)

I am not to talk here because I do not understand how much common is in the sync client between platforms, but I feel like for each platform there is a fundamentally different implementation in every way. I understand that after a certain level you need to have specific backends to do the job, but as an end user and developer (not on this project) I have a hunch that everything is done in a totally different way, resulting in a very fragmented experience...

On Linux, I will just stick to the WebDAV mount, as Nautilus has really good support regarding that.

[pachulo]

Hi! First, thanks for this! I really like the VFS approach.

Second: is there any ETA for the 3.14.2 update being offered in the in-app updater?

[jackbeeby]

You have to adjust the php upload limit. It’s an environment variable i’m pretty sure. It only has a max upload of like 2gb or something even with that enabled.

[rakekniven]

You have to adjust the php upload limit. It’s an environment variable i’m pretty sure. It only has a max upload of like 2gb or something even with that enabled.

That information is not true. There is no limit for file size related to the vfs feature.
For sure there are server side settings. See the docs at https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/latest/admin_manual/configuration_files/big_file_upload_configuration.html#uploading-big-files-512mb

[gbcatrinoiu]

I just installed version 3.14.3 of VFS app and although I have enabled the VFS system all the files get downloaded. is anyone else having the same problem?

[Rayn0r]

I can't get the macOS VFS client to work either.
Under 'Standard files sync,' I unchecked all the boxes. In the 'Virtual file sync' tab, I checked 'Enable virtual files' and 'Enable fast sync.'
However, aside from a few files located in the root of my Nextcloud folder, nothing is synchronizing.
I also created a debug archive, and its contents is as follows:

Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Received configure account information over client communication service
<username> authentication failed due to bad creds, stopping
Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Received configure account information over client communication service
Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Authenticated! Nextcloud account set up in File Provider extension.
User: <username> at server: https://nextcloud.my-domain.test
Successfully started Realm db for NextcloudFileProviderKit
Set up enumerator for user: <username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test
with serverUrl: https://nextcloud.my-domain.test/remote.php/dav/files/<username>
Set up enumerator for user: <username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test
with serverUrl: https://nextcloud.my-domain.test/remote.php/dav/files/<username>
Set up enumerator for user: <username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test
with serverUrl: https://nextcloud.my-domain.test/remote.php/dav/files/<username>
Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Finished reading serverUrl: https://nextcloud.my-domain.test/remote.php/dav/files/<username>
for user: <username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test
Finished recursive change enumeration of working set for user:
<username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test. Enumerating items.
Processed 0 new or updated metadatas.
0 deleted metadatas.
Set up enumerator for user: <username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test
with serverUrl: https://nextcloud.my-domain.test/remote.php/dav/files/<username>
Could not get notifyPush websocket <username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test, polling.
Finished reading serverUrl: https://nextcloud.my-domain.test/remote.php/dav/files/<username>
for user: <username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test
Finished recursive change enumeration of working set for user:
<username> https://nextcloud.my-domain.test. Enumerating items.
Processed 0 new or updated metadatas.
0 deleted metadatas.
Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Sending extension account ID <username>@nextcloud.my-domain.test
Authenticated! Nextcloud account set up in File Provider extension.
User: <username> at server: https://nextcloud.my-domain.test

Is it correct to disable 'Standard files sync'? My understanding is that enabling it would sync all files, which would require more disk space than is available on my machine. Therefore, I believe unchecking it is the right choice. Checking 'Enable virtual files' on the 'Virtual file sync' tab seems to be the option I want.

[BJKle]

I have the same problem. Installed the VFS version. Still not able to use it. All files get downloaded.

[IPlayZed]

This might be a "stupid" question, but you are not looking at the directory selected for standard file sync, right?
There is a different entry left side in Finder (or path if using CLI) which you can use to access these files.

[BJKle]

There is no "directory" or "location" for VFS.
The Desktop-App looks exactly the same, even though I installed the VFS version on a new Macbook.
When I logon the first time. It asked where to store the files und which directories I would like to download (old behaviour). No "toggle" to turn this off and use the VFS.

[chaehni]

There is no "directory" or "location" for VFS.
The Desktop-App looks exactly the same, even though I installed the VFS version on a new Macbook.
When I logon the first time. It asked where to store the files und wich directories I would like to download (old behaviour). No "toggle" to turn this off and use the VFS.

This is indeed really confusing since this is the dedicated VFS version of Nextcloud. Why is the old behavior still in this version?

[Entertaste247]

I’m experiencing the same issue. I installed the VFS (Virtual File System) version, but I’m still unable to use it as expected. All files continue to download automatically.

[jokuha]

It seems the local file-mode on the virtual drive is always 600?

This is a problem, for instance, when storing working copies of git repositories on the shared drive, as hooks cannot be executed...

How can one set file modes to, e.g., 750, on nextcloud VFS?

My use case: I have local/working copies on the next cloud share to sync my work across my different computers. I use git to push/pull upstream to synchronize with the (larger) team once there. (And I do have reasons to not use feature/separate git branches for my own work.)

[gbcatrinoiu]

@claucambra do you by any chance have time to look into this?

[tincanfury]

I'm not normally a MacOS user, but my mom is, and my father just gifted her a new M3 MacBook.
So I'm trying to get it set up to sync with her account on our family Nextcloud server. I hadn't realized MacOS never supported "offline/virtual" file access like Windows does until this new client. Part of setting up this new laptop, and helping her organize her files across her three Apple devices, we've worked to consolidate all the digital photos she's taken over the last 10+yrs into her Nextcloud account. My mom's Photos folder after all this is now larger than her MacBook drive, we obviously can't sync the whole thing.

In Windows this is easy, dumbing down the process, I just set folders I want to be able to see/work with but don't want to live on my drive as "free up space". Great, now I can access those files while they "live" on Nextcloud.

I was hoping to be able to do similar on her MacBook so she could access these photos through MacOS's file browser like I would be able to through Windows File Explorer.

In installing the MacOS Nextcloud client I thought Virtual Files would provide for such a feature, however it is frustratingly unclear how this Virtual Files implementation is supposed to work. At this point the best I can tell is it's either "All or nothing". If Virtual Files is enabled then EVERYTHING is virtual. No files ever really live on the laptop, they only ever get transferred if the user tries to access them.

In Windows, if I have a folder I want to have offline access to the contents I just set it to "make always available locally", and now if I don't have internet access I can still access those files. However, with Virtual Files, as best I can tell, if I have files that I haven't accessed recently, when the computer is not connected to the internet, I will never be able to access those files again until I am able to reconnect?

It also appears Virtual Files is "all or nothing" with multiple sync locations as well, so I can't even say "Use Virtual Files with this sync location but not this other sync location".

Is it possible to gain even a semblance of the granularity and capability Windows allows for with "Virtual Files"?

[claucambra]

Is it possible to gain even a semblance of the granularity and capability Windows allows for with "Virtual Files"?

Yes. You can use both standard sync for some files and then use the VFS environment for those folders that you'd rather keep virtual.

Another choice is to just use the VFS environment and keep the folders you want to be available offline; you can do this via right clicking the relevant folder and selecting "Download now"

[tincanfury]

uhmmm. ok.
how? because nothing in the interface explains how to do any of that.