Use Server-Side Encryption — ownCloud Administrators Manual 6.0 documentation

# ownCloud Administrators Manual

# Use Server-Side Encryption

ownCloud ships a encryption app, which allows to encrypt all files stored in your ownCloud. Encryption and decryption always happens server-side. This enables the user to continue to use all the other apps to view and edit his data.

The app uses the user’s log-in password as encryption-password. This means that by default the user will lose access to his files if he loses his log-in password.

It might be a good idea to make regular backups of all encryption keys. The encryption keys are stored in following folders:

- data/owncloud_private_key (recovery key, if enabled and public share key)
- data/public-keys (public keys from all users)
- data/<user>/files_encryption (users’ private keys and all other keys necessary to decrypt the users’ files)

## Enable File Recovery Feature

The admin can offer the user some kind of protection against password loss. Therefore you have to enable the recovery key in the admin settings and provide a strong recovery key password. The admin settings also enables you to change the recovery key password if you wish. But you should make sure to never lose this password, because that’s the only way to recover users’ files.

Once the recovery key was enabled every user can choose in his personal settings to enable this feature or not.

## Recover User Files

If the recovery feature was enabled the admin will see a additional input field at the top of the user management settings. After entering the recovery-key password the admin can change the user’s log-in password which will automatically recover the user’s file.

If you use a user back-end which doesn’t allow you to change the log-in password directly within ownCloud, e.g. the LDAP back-end, than you can follow the same procedure to recover a user’s files. The only difference is that you need to change the log-in password additionally at your back-end. In this case make sure to use both times the same password.

## LDAP and other external user back-ends

if you configure a external user back-end you will be able to change the user’s log-in password at the back-end. Since the encryption password must be the same as the user’s log-in password this will result in a non-functional encryption system. If the recovery feature was enabled, the administrator will be able to recover the user’s files directly over the recovery feature. See the description above. Otherwise the user will be informed that his log-in password and his encryption password no longer matches after his next log-in. In this case the user will be able to adjust his encryption password in the personal settings by providing both, his old and his new log-in password.