I currently have Nextcloud running, and it’s stable, performant…no issues whatsoever. But it’s also a LOT more than what I need, and stores files in an “unusable” state if I want to look at them outside of Nextcloud. The real kicker is that the linux client wants to download the entire cloud drive, which simply doesn’t work for me.

For most cases, I think a samba share is all I need, but I do have times when I don’t have internet access, so the ability to save specific files locally to sync back when I’m home would be great. Nextcloud and OneDrive have a “always keep on this device” option which has been perfect in the past.

I use Syncthing for some specific cases, but it adds extra steps I don’t want to deal with all the time.

Specifically, I’m looking for something with these requirements:

  • provide a virtual drive for Linux and Windows
  • can keep specific files/folders from that drive offline
  • point the server to a folder (or folders), and that’s what it shares

And “would be nice, but not required”

  • web interface to view/download files
  • user-level access
  • web and virtual drive can be accessed via reverse proxy

I’ve tried poking around, and can’t find anything that seems to fit. I’m surprised there isn’t a webdav client or samba config option that would do what I want, but I may also be in a mental rut and missing a key term.

  • Björn@swg-empire.deEnglish
    11·
    4 months ago

    You can access all Nextcloud files over WebDAV. That is natively supported by many file browsers, including explorer.exe on Windows.

    And you can choose in the Linux client what folders to sync.

    What the Linux client (in contrast to the Windows client) does not support is having virtual files in a folder and only downloading files on demand.

    Apart from that, have you looked at Opencloud?

    • naate@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      3·
      4 months ago

      What the Linux client (in contrast to the Windows client) does not support is having virtual files in a folder and only downloading files on demand.

      This is specifically what I want.

      And…somehow I missed opencloud in all of my searching? I think I may have mentally combined it with OwnCloud/OCIS. It looks promising. Diving into the docs, now.

      • Björn@swg-empire.deEnglish
        2·
        4 months ago

        Opencloud is a fork of the new Owncloud, I think. Similar to how Nextcloud was forked from the old Owncloud.

    • Dave@lemmy.nzEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      On Windows, Nextcloud seems to tap into some Windows function to provide files on demand. Is there any Linux cloud file service that can do it?

  • just_another_person@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    4 months ago

    Pretty sure you should have the ability to choose what to sync, either from the server, or the client. Seems kind of dumb for it to automatically assume you have the space on the client device to sync EVERYTHING.

    • naate@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      1·
      4 months ago

      I thought the same thing, but I’ve spent a good chunk of time looking at every button in the linux client, and it’s just options of “sync: y/n”, with an initial choice of “do not sync if folder size is 500MB+”. And the files/folders not synced do not show up locally. The windows client lets you see everything, but only download when you open or pick “save locally”. But not on Linux.

  • melroy@kbin.melroy.org
    4·
    4 months ago

    It’s actually funny and sad at the same time. Nextcloud used to be just simple and only focused around file hosting…

  • cymor@midwest.socialEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    You can select which files you sync. I have a couple of folders that sync everywhere, and some are only synced on one machine.

  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    2·
    4 months ago

    I use Syncthing and Resilio Sync for this stuff.

    Both of them sync according to rules you define.

    I sync my mobile devices to home this way, and access the folders on the server via SMB shares (which are unrelated to ST or Resilio).

    No web interface required, as you just use whatever network sharing you want at home.

    What “extra steps” are you running into with SyncThing? Its really flexible (especially Syncthing-Fork for Android). Maybe it or Resilio can be configured to do what you need.

    For example, I use the Selective Sync feature in Resilio so that I can access any file at home whenever I want without using a VPN.

  • Decronym@lemmy.decronym.xyzBEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

    Fewer Letters More Letters
    SFTP Secure File Transfer Protocol for encrypted file transfer, over SSH
    SMB Server Message Block protocol for file and printer sharing; Windows-native
    SSH Secure Shell for remote terminal access

    [Thread #69 for this comm, first seen 7th Feb 2026, 09:20] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

    • naate@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      Seafile apparently obfuscates the files, which is not great. If it dies, or they pull some weird shutdown shenanigans, what happens to my files? Nexcloud, at least, is readable and organized, if (in my opinion) weird.

  • OccasionallyFeralya@lemmy.mlEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    There’s opencloud which seems to be exactly what you’re looking for – a files-only lightweight alternative for nextcloud. When I was looking for the post on hacker news I also ran across karadav which seems like it might be a nice hybrid between the DAVs suggested by other users and your existing nextcloud install.

  • Fantabread@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    If all you really need is SMB, then try Tailscale so you can access your computers as if you were local, from anywhere.

  • stratself@lemdro.idEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    Why are files unusable outside of Nextcloud? Consider using the External Storage plugin.

    Imo there are two types of file servers: smart clouds with offline and smart selective on-demand sync on brand-specific clients, groupware support, conflict resolution, and enterprisy plugins (Nextcloud, Opencloud, Seafile, etc); and dumb clouds with protocol-based file transfers and filesystem-tree/userperms instant compliance (copyparty, sftpgo, etc)

    Of the first one, only Opencloud has a native-looking filesystem (PosixFS) and does it without dependency on a db. It supports smart sync for Windows (via the same API OneDrive uses). Linux smart sync is sadly nonexistent due to lack of protocols, and whatever other software do (e.g. using an .owncloud placeholder file) is highly experimental.

    Of the second type, you’d get all the standardizations and speed but no bidirectional sync nor offlineness - again this is honestly an advanced undertaking requiring academic understanding of distributed systems and whatnot. On Linux you may try emulating some aspects of it via a half-smart client like rclone with VFS, but the UX to store files offline is still not there.

    Knowing these constraints I’d tier my storage into 2 parts: the daily files like notes and recent photos stored in one of the smart sync solution, ready for download and later offline use; and anything unnecessary (Jellyfin media, archives, ) to be in a dumb SMB share/SFTP mount.

  • zorflieg@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    4 months ago

    It’s not free but it’s awesome and cheap. Setup a WebDAV share and join it using “Mountainduck.io”. It connects to everything like SMB but I find WebDAV’s multichannel is more performant in the long run. Checks notes Win/Mac only sorry.