Software Development:
Individual Programming

Symptom

Upon installation and on the system properties page Owncloud claims that /dev/urandom is unavailable. An open_basedir restriction is in effect.

Cause

/dev/urandom is a system-wide random number generator of the host computer that runs your web space. Your file and directory access is limited to files and directories inside your own web space. As /dev/urandom is a path outside your web space, you do not have permission to access that path. This limit exists in old web space accounts that have been created before April 2017. In all newer account, access to /dev/urandom is enabled by default.

Solution

For smooth Owncloud operations /dev/urandom is not needed. You can ignore the warning, Owncloud will run without /dev/urandom, too, and generate random numbers using a different approach.

In all web space accounts created from April 2017 /dev/urandom is activated by default. It can be activated in older accounts for free on request. Please send an e-mail to our support.

Owncloud was developed for virtual private servers (VPS) and dedicated servers. Operating it in shared web space accounts is possible, but is subject to a few (normally negligible) limits.

Overview of frequently asked questions