Intergrate users_external into server core

[Chrisi-Bavaria]

user_external app is lacking proper support by a maintainer. Users who are relying on this app had minor issues on upgrade NC29->NC30 and now have major issues upgrading NC30->NC31, see nextcloud/user_external#273

Since this is a security related app, I cannot take responsibility creating pull requests, I'm too much of a newbie for such stuff.

Please consider integrating this app into server core to make sure this functionality is safe and secure and will be available and compatible in future releases.

[andrewhotlab]

NC30 is unsupported now, and we also need user_external... it looks awkward that the latest "AI" based stuffs are included in NC but such basic and essential auth app does not receive any attention! :S

[AndyScherzinger]

Hi @andrewhotlab

also refering and referencing nextcloud/user_external#273 (comment)

The app is a community app and we do not consider any of the integrated user backends of user_external to be "core user backends" hence currently neither considering taking over the app nor merging it into core. I understand the app is crucial to you hence seen basic/fundamental but to us is rather an edge case when it comes to user backends.

It is the beauty of OSS and the ecosystem that people can extend it to their needs, like @violoncelloCH did with the app. So there are 2 options I think, one is trying to (again) reach out to the maintainers or fork the app and re-release.

[Chrisi-Bavaria]

Hi @AndyScherzinger
sure it was and is a community app. But if you remove all the not-anylonger-maintained community authentication apps, you're left with some OpenID backends and the local Nextcloud-Users in local database. And if we now all migrate from IMAP-auth to OpenID, which is a major change in most scenarios, the same could happen with the several OpenID/Oauth apps since they are also "only community" driven.
So which future-proof authentication mechanisms Nextcloud is supporting?

[AndyScherzinger]

Hi @Chrisi-Bavaria

To answer the question

So which future-proof authentication mechanisms Nextcloud is supporting?

While not all of them are purely

"only community" driven

but also maintained or co-maintained by the company in addition or as part of the community (when looking at the company being part of the community)

I would say, while that is more of a protocol with a flexibility regarding the user backend

• SAML - https://github.com/nextcloud/user_saml
• OIDC - https://github.com/nextcloud/user_oidc

And regarding user backends I would say

• Nextcloud database
• LDAP - https://github.com/nextcloud/server/tree/master/apps/user_ldap (also rather seen as a protocol since you could also do AD via LDAP)