With the help of the desktop clients, university members and staff can access their files in the Collaboration Cloud of Jade University in the file explorer.

Download the Nextcloud Desktop Client, install it on your system and set it up as follows:

• In the “Add Nextcloud Account” window:
  • Click the Log in to Nextcloud button.
  • Server address: https://ccs.jade-hs.de/.
  • Click on the Nextcloud button.
  • A browser window will open
    • Connect to your account: click on Login.
    • Account access: click on Grant access.
    • Username: default login (form: ma1150)
    • Password: <your password>
    • Close the browser window
  • Local folder:
    • At the top right, you can change the local folder, but as a rule you should leave the default setting “Nextcloud” as it is.
  • Synchronisation:
    • Use virtual files instead of downloading the content immediately:
      • Initially no data is synchronised with the local folder.
      • Recommended setting,
        • if you work online practically all the time
      • Currently only available on Microsoft Windows
    • Synchronise all data from the server
      • All data will be synchronised with the local folder.
      • Recommended setting,
        • if you also need/want to work offline
        • if the amount of data is rather small
    • Select items to be synchronised
      • Only selected data will be synchronised with the local folder.
      • Recommended setting,
        • if you also need/want to work offline
        • if you need to exchange large amounts of data (e.g. initial when moving data from drive X:\ to Collaboration Cloud)
      • Initially select only the Personal folder as the item to be synchronised and activate other items later.
  • Click Connect

Under Microsoft Windows, you can view the synchronisation status in File Explorer in the Status column:

• Green circle with white tick: Always available on this device
  • The folder / file is available on the client and is automatically synchronised between the server and the client.
• White circle with green border & tick: Available on the device
  • The folder / file exists on the client and is only synchronised between server and client when used
• Cloud: Available when online
  • The folder / file does not exist on the client, but is available as long as there is a network connection between server and client
• Arrows: Synchronise
  • The folder / file is currently being synchronised with the server or client.

The Collaboration Cloud is essentially suitable for storing, viewing and jointly editing documents. The following file types are rather unsuitable:

• Programmes and drivers: these contain system files that cannot be synchronised. These can only be saved as a compressed file in the CCS.

Ignore list: Certain file types are not synchronised to the Collaboration Cloud because they do not make sense there or unnecessarily increase the network load. These files are listed in a so-called ignore list, including:

• desktop.ini Files in which the folder properties are stored under Microsoft Windows.
• .DS_Store files in which the folder properties are stored under Apple macOS
• .~lock Files to lock a file being edited.
• *.lnk Symbolic shortcuts pointing to other files in the file system
• Thumbs.db: Thumbnail Cache (English for thumbnail cache).

These file types prevent full synchronisation and can be safely deleted. To do this, you may have to switch on the display of hidden files.

• Avoid local synchronisation of folders and files if possible, especially if you are working on documents with several people. Use the possibilities offered for collaboration in the Web interface of the Collaboration Cloud:
  • Use the integrated Web Apps
  • Use the Collaboration Cloud integrated ONLYOFFICE, which opens automatically when you click on a document.
• Create regular backups. Synchronising folders and files locally always carries the risk of data loss, e.g. if several people synchronise the same folder and an error occurs with one person.
• Disk encryption: If you synchronise folders and files locally on your end device, it may be necessary - especially with mobile devices - to encrypt the data using hard disk encryption for data protection reasons. In the event of loss of the device, official data can thus be effectively protected from access by unauthorised persons.