[Bug]: File versioning does not work

[Nolonar]

⚠️ This issue respects the following points: ⚠️

• This is a bug, not a question or a configuration/webserver/proxy issue.
• This issue is not already reported on Github OR Nextcloud Community Forum (I've searched it).
• Nextcloud Server is up to date. See Maintenance and Release Schedule for supported versions.
• I agree to follow Nextcloud's Code of Conduct.

Bug description

I needed to restore a previous version of a file, but found only the most recent version. I've been editing that file every day, so there should have been at least 1 version per day. The "Versions" app in enabled, and my config.php file says: 'versions_retention_obligation' => 'auto, 30', which according to ChatGPT is the normal recommended configuration. I also have over 13 TB of free storage out of 21 TB. There should be more than enough storage to keep versions for a measly 11 kB file. I'm not using encryption either. The file was uploaded automatically using the official Nextcloud Desktop client.

I'm honestly confused. Is there something I need to do for this file versioning feature to actually work? I'm pretty sure it used to work in the past.

Steps to reproduce

1. create a file and wait for Nextcloud Desktop client to upload it
2. edit the file (after maybe a day or so) and wait for Nextcloud Desktop client to upload it
3. try to restore the previous version on the Web UI
4. notice the "Versions" tab only lists a single version, which is the latest version

Expected behavior

There should be more than just the latest version of a file, especially for a file that's been edited every day for the last 30 days.

Nextcloud Server version

32

Operating system

Other

PHP engine version

PHP 8.3

Web server

Apache (supported)

Database engine version

PostgreSQL

Is this bug present after an update or on a fresh install?

Upgraded to a MAJOR version (ex. 31 to 32)

Are you using the Nextcloud Server Encryption module?

Encryption is Disabled

What user-backends are you using?

• Default user-backend (database)
• LDAP/ Active Directory
• SSO - SAML
• Other

Configuration report

Warning: Failed to set memory limit to 0 bytes (Current memory usage is 2097152 bytes) in Unknown on line 0
The current PHP memory limit is below the recommended value of 512MB.
{
    "system": {
        "one-click-instance": true,
        "one-click-instance.user-limit": 100,
        "memcache.local": "\\OC\\Memcache\\APCu",
        "apps_paths": [
            {
                "path": "\/var\/www\/html\/apps",
                "url": "\/apps",
                "writable": false
            },
            {
                "path": "\/var\/www\/html\/custom_apps",
                "url": "\/custom_apps",
                "writable": true
            }
        ],
        "check_data_directory_permissions": false,
        "memcache.distributed": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "memcache.locking": "\\OC\\Memcache\\Redis",
        "redis": {
            "host": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
            "password": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
            "port": 6379
        },
        "overwritehost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "overwriteprotocol": "https",
        "passwordsalt": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "secret": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "trusted_domains": [
            "localhost",
            "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***"
        ],
        "datadirectory": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbtype": "pgsql",
        "version": "32.0.8.2",
        "overwrite.cli.url": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbname": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbhost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbport": "",
        "dbtableprefix": "oc_",
        "dbuser": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "dbpassword": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "installed": true,
        "instanceid": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "maintenance": false,
        "updatechecker": false,
        "loglevel": 3,
        "log_type": "file",
        "logfile": "\/var\/www\/html\/data\/nextcloud.log",
        "log_rotate_size": 10485760,
        "log.condition": {
            "apps": [
                "admin_audit"
            ]
        },
        "preview_max_x": 2048,
        "preview_max_y": 2048,
        "jpeg_quality": 60,
        "enabledPreviewProviders": {
            "1": "OC\\Preview\\Image",
            "2": "OC\\Preview\\MarkDown",
            "3": "OC\\Preview\\MP3",
            "4": "OC\\Preview\\TXT",
            "5": "OC\\Preview\\OpenDocument",
            "6": "OC\\Preview\\Movie",
            "7": "OC\\Preview\\Krita",
            "0": "OC\\Preview\\Imaginary",
            "23": "OC\\Preview\\ImaginaryPDF"
        },
        "enable_previews": true,
        "upgrade.disable-web": true,
        "mail_smtpmode": "smtp",
        "trashbin_retention_obligation": "auto, 30",
        "versions_retention_obligation": "auto, 30",
        "activity_expire_days": 30,
        "simpleSignUpLink.shown": false,
        "share_folder": "\/Shared",
        "one-click-instance.link": "https:\/\/nextcloud.com\/all-in-one\/",
        "upgrade.cli-upgrade-link": "https:\/\/github.com\/nextcloud\/all-in-one\/discussions\/2726",
        "updatedirectory": "\/nc-updater",
        "maintenance_window_start": 100,
        "allow_local_remote_servers": true,
        "davstorage.request_timeout": 3600,
        "documentation_url.server_logs": "https:\/\/github.com\/nextcloud\/all-in-one\/discussions\/5425",
        "htaccess.RewriteBase": "\/",
        "dbpersistent": false,
        "auth.bruteforce.protection.enabled": true,
        "ratelimit.protection.enabled": true,
        "files_external_allow_create_new_local": true,
        "trusted_proxies": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "preview_imaginary_url": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "preview_imaginary_key": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_from_address": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_sendmailmode": "smtp",
        "mail_domain": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtphost": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtpport": "587",
        "mail_smtpauth": true,
        "mail_smtpname": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "mail_smtppassword": "***REMOVED SENSITIVE VALUE***",
        "default_phone_region": "CH",
        "defaultapp": "files"
    }
}

List of activated Apps

Warning: Failed to set memory limit to 0 bytes (Current memory usage is 2097152 bytes) in Unknown on line 0
The current PHP memory limit is below the recommended value of 512MB.
Enabled:
  - activity: 5.0.0
  - admin_audit: 1.22.0
  - bruteforcesettings: 5.0.0
  - circles: 32.0.0
  - cloud_federation_api: 1.16.0
  - comments: 1.22.0
  - contactsinteraction: 1.13.1
  - dashboard: 7.12.0
  - dav: 1.34.2
  - federatedfilesharing: 1.22.0
  - federation: 1.22.0
  - files: 2.4.0
  - files_downloadlimit: 5.0.0
  - files_external: 1.24.1
  - files_pdfviewer: 5.0.0
  - files_reminders: 1.5.0
  - files_sharing: 1.24.1
  - files_trashbin: 1.22.0
  - files_versions: 1.25.0
  - firstrunwizard: 5.0.0
  - logreader: 5.0.0
  - lookup_server_connector: 1.20.0
  - nextcloud-aio: 0.8.0
  - nextcloud_announcements: 4.0.0
  - notifications: 5.0.0
  - notify_push: 1.3.1
  - oauth2: 1.20.0
  - password_policy: 4.0.0
  - photos: 5.0.0
  - previewgenerator: 5.13.0
  - privacy: 4.0.0
  - profile: 1.1.0
  - provisioning_api: 1.22.0
  - recommendations: 5.0.0
  - related_resources: 3.0.0
  - serverinfo: 4.0.0
  - settings: 1.15.1
  - sharebymail: 1.22.0
  - support: 4.0.0
  - survey_client: 4.0.0
  - systemtags: 1.22.0
  - text: 6.0.1
  - theming: 2.7.0
  - twofactor_backupcodes: 1.21.0
  - twofactor_totp: 14.0.0
  - updatenotification: 1.22.0
  - user_status: 1.12.0
  - viewer: 5.0.0
  - weather_status: 1.12.0
  - webhook_listeners: 1.3.0
  - workflowengine: 2.14.0
Disabled:
  - app_api: 32.0.0 (installed 5.0.2)
  - encryption: 2.20.0
  - maps: 1.6.0 (installed 1.6.0)
  - suspicious_login: 10.0.0
  - twofactor_nextcloud_notification: 6.0.0
  - user_ldap: 1.23.0

Nextcloud Signing status

No errors have been found.

Nextcloud Logs

N/A

Additional info

I'm using Nextcloud-AIO running on a Synology NAS (Linux 4.4.302+ x86_64).

PS: I don't know why I'm getting the PHP memory limit warnings. According to Administration > System > PHP the memory limit is 1024 MB, which is greater than 512MB.

[joshtrichards]

Does the same thing occur if you edit via the web UI?

edit the file (after maybe a day or so) and wait for Nextcloud Desktop client to upload it

Edit with what? I ask because some applications have been known delete the original then save a new file that just happens to have the same name.

[Nolonar]

Does the same thing occur if you edit via the web UI?

I just tested it by editing a .txt file in the web UI. This file now has multiple versions. So file versioning appears to work with the web UI.

Edit with what? I ask because some applications have been known delete the original then save a new file that just happens to have the same name.

The first time I noticed I had no versions, I had edited a .png. I saved the file on some local folder instead of directly inside the Nextcloud folder. I've had images get corrupted when saving them directly to a cloud folder before. I then dragged and dropped the image file into the Nextcloud folder to replace the old one.

This time, I've been editing an .xlsx file every day using Excel (Windows). I then edited that same file with Numbers on macOS. I didn't like how Numbers broke my file, so I wanted to revert the change made on macOS. Sadly, this file had no versions at all. Neither from Excel, nor from Numbers.

PS: Thanks to the above test, I figured Nextcloud treated replaced files as deleted, so I checked my recycle bin and found the previous version of my file there.

This is suboptimal, as the recycle bin only keeps a single copy of the same file, but at least I managed to restore my file to the previous version. I still think this needs to be improved, but at least we can now remove the bug label.