The service polybox is online again since the 6th of April at around 15:00.

What is going on?
We are switching software behind the service polybox. The software beind polybox was from ownCloud and we will now switch to Nextcloud. The migration takes place from April 5th, 2025 from 08:00 to Sunday, April 6th 2025 20:00.
With the software switch we will improve the performance, security and stability of our service. This means that by switching to Nextcloud we will be able to offer you the best possible service also in the future!

What will happen with my polybox account?

Nextcloud was born as a fork of ownCloud in 2016. This means that the background of the software is very similar to ownCloud and this makes it possible to migrate everything without issues.
For you this migration is basically like a server update. Everything on the server will stay the same! After the migration, your data and all your shares will be around as usual.
We will also take over all the functionalities of polybox: Guests, Custom Groups and 2FA.

The only thing that you will have to do is sign in on the Sync Client again after the migration or update your Sync Client to the new Nextcloud version (for details see below, an update is recommended).

What should I do with my Sync Clients?

The current polybox Sync Clients from ownCloud will continue to work with Nextcloud. After the migration, the Sync Client will ask you to login again. As soon as the login is done, your Sync Client will work as usual.
As you will connect an ownCloud Sync Client to a Nextcloud server, the following message will be shown: "Connected to https://polybox.ethz.ch. The server version is unsupported! Proceed at your own risk."
The polybox ownCloud Sync Clients work without issue, but to have the best compatibility, performance and user experience we strongly recommend to update your Sync Clients!
It might happen at some point in the future that the polybox ownCloud Sync Clients will not be compatible anymore.

If your device is managed centrally by ICT services, the Sync Client will be updated automatically after the migration.

Windows Sync Client

You can download the latest 3.16.2 polybox Sync Client (Nextcloud) here: https://polybox.ethz.ch/repo/polybox_clients/polybox-Windows-3.16.2-build-29511-x64.msi
The installation of the Sync Client works like an update. The current polybox Sync Client will be overwritten by the new Sync Client and all settings will automatically be taken over.
After the installation (and reboot), the Sync Client will start with all your configuration and synchronization.

macOS Sync Client

You can download the latest 6.0.0 polybox Sync Client (Nextcloud) here: https://polybox.ethz.ch/repo/polybox_clients/polybox-macOS-feature-600-build-29513.pkg
The installation of the Sync Client works like an update. The current polybox Sync Client will be overwritten by the new Sync Client and all settings will automatically be taken over.
After the installation, the Sync Client will start with all your configuration and synchronization.

iOS Sync Client

We were able to update the application on the App Store! From the 5th of April (around lunch) the new application will be published on the App Store, this means that your iPhone will update the application automatically over night!
As this is a completely new application, you will have to set it up again from scratch. Sadly the mobile clients are less flexible and the old ownCloud clients don't work on Nextcloud servers.
If you don't have the application on your phone and want to install it, you can find it on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/ch/app/eth-polybox/id909475675

Android Sync Client

The Android client was signed directly by ownCloud and they didn't give us the certificate file to sign the new application. This means that we had to create a new store entry on the Play Store.
You will have to remove the polybox application from your device, as it is not compatible anymore. We already removed the old store entry from the Play Store.
You can find the new polybox application on the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ch.ethpolybox.android&hl=de_CH

I have found an issue and need help!

We will collect known issues here, so before contacting the Service Desk (servicedesk@id.ethz.ch, please have a look here:

Server

• "Contacts -> There are no contacts yet": We are aware of this and this is actually not an issue. The custom groups (Teams) on Nextcloud are stored in the contacts application. We have over 55'000 accounts on polybox, showing them all here is way too much. Our goal is to find a solution to have custom groups somewhere else or have the contacts part here removed.
• "Settings → Availability": This part of the setting has no usage, you can ignore it for now. We will try to remove this from the settings page in the future.
• Public links over email: Sending public links over email directly on polybox is not possible for now. This doesn't affect the creation of guest users. Nextcloud automatically sends emails for every created share and to save you from a big amount of emails we disabled this feature. Sadly this also disables the possibility to send public links over email directly on polybox. Nextcloud is informed and we are looking to get this fixed. For now you will need to send public links over email yourself.
• Performance: We found some issues with the LDAP connection, where the connection is lost when our cache has to be renewed. We are trying to fix this with our LDAP colleagues and Nextcloud.

Sync Clients

• Windows & macOS version difference: We are aware that the versions are different on Windows and macOS. As our ownCloud Sync Clients were on version 5.3.1 and Nextcloud is on version 3.16.2 this generated issues on macOS and an update wasn't possible. Because of this we got special 6.0.0 Sync Clients from Nextcloud. The functionalities are the same, the only difference between them is just the version number. We will have equal version numbers in the future again.
• General Sync Client: If you get an error "Access prohibited" on your first login, please try again. We saw that this could happen on the first login attempt, but is solved if you try to login again.
• macOS - Sharing: The sharing functionalities on the finder are sadly broken on this version of the Sync Client. We are aware of this issue and will have it fixed for the next version.
• macOS - Notifications: The system notifications sadly seem not to work. We have forwarded this bug to Nextcloud and are currently analyzing why no notifications are shown.
• macOS Access Data from other Apps: Every time the Sync Client starts you will be asked to give it a permission to access data from other apps. This is due to the fact, that the Sync Client uses Finder extensions. MacOS sadly doesn't save this and you will need to set the permission manually on your system: "System Settings" → "Privacy & Security" → "Full Disk Access → "+" (on the bottom left) → "Applications → Select "polybox"
• Windows - Installed Apps: If you go on the settings "Installed apps" (Add or remove programs) you will see polybox twice: Once with the old Version (5.3.1) and once with the current 3.16.2 version. On the search you will only find the new Sync Client (3.16.2), but it seems the old Sync Client (5.3.1) will stay installed. We suggest to uninstall the old Sync Client (5.3.1) manually. In the future the installation of the polybox Sync Client will check for old Sync Clients (ownCloud) and remove them automatically during the installation process.

Here you can find a list of issues we have fixed!

Server

• Federated Shares: Public Links added in your account are working again since the evening of the 7th of April. If you are still experiencing issues, please contact the Service Desk and we will try to find out why.

Sync Clients

• iOS - Login: We have realeased a new Update on the 7th of April at around 10:45. Please update to version 16.6.0.
• Android - URL: When you start the application you will need to enter https://polybox.ethz.ch manually before you can login. We will soon push an update where the URL is automatically inserted.

Different methods of using the service polybox are offered:

Web Client (https://polybox.ethz.ch)

Desktop Sync Clients (Windows, OS X & Linux)

Mobile Sync Clients (Android & iOS)