HowTo: Fix out-dated OwnCloud directory cache

When copying user accounts and files from one dedicated OwnCloud instance to another, I faced the problem of an out-dated directory cache. Some files could not be deleted and new files could not be created on the web interface. And the wordpress and apache logs strangely did not gave any indication of a problem. While not being a huge problem, but instead easily fixable, it still gave me some minutes to investigate.

To reinitiate the OwnCloud directory cache for the user USER, there are some simple steps needed:

• Look into the directory of the concerned USER. Ensure that all files and directory are given the correct ownership for the web server to access, e.g. www-data:www-data.

ls –lA /USERFILES/USER/files/some-directory/

• If the ownership is not correctly set, it should be fixed by the command

chown –R www-data:www-data /USERFILES/USER

• Once the ownership is assured, run the OwnCloud command console to rescan the files of the USER.

chmod +x /var/www/owncloud/occ
sudo -u www-data /var/www/owncloud/occ files:scan USER
chmod -x /var/www/owncloud/occ

The process of rescanning might take some time, depending on the number of files on the USER profile. The occ should only be executable when needed, otherwise it could be abused by a rouge webserver. That’s why its executable flag should be removed once you are finnished.