[Bug]: MacOS 26.4, desktop does not launch after migrating to M5 MB Air (from intel MB Air)

[papamoose]

⚠️ Before submitting, please verify the following: ⚠️

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

Bug description

I just migrated to an M5 MacBook Air using migration assistant and now Nextcloud files will not launch.

I've attempted manual removal and installation of the files app for MacOS 13+ (and the legacy version just in case.. though no change in behavior between them).

I then attempted launching it via the command line and found out a copy is already running but as far as I can tell that's a lie. Activity monitor only shows something called "Nextcloud FinderSync".

% /Applications/Nextcloud.app/Contents/MacOS/Nextcloud 
nextcloud.sync.configfile: Default update channel is "stable"
nextcloud.gui.application: Already running, exiting...
kdsingleapplication.localsocket: Connection timed out

Steps to reproduce

1. Be on Intel Macbook Air. macOS 14 Sonoma
2. Ensure Nextcloud files is installed
3. Use migration assistant to migrate to an M5 Macbook Air running MacOS 26.4
4. Attempt to launch Nextcloud after migration.

Expected behavior

I expect Nextcloud to launch in the upper right and start syncing my files or ask me to sign in to setup the sync again.

Which files are affected by this bug

I don't know what this means for this case... /Applications/Nextcloud.app/Contents/MacOS/Nextcloud

Operating system

macOS

Which version of the operating system you are running.

MacOS 26.4

Package

Official macOS 12+ universal pkg

Nextcloud Server version

32.0.6

Nextcloud Desktop Client version

33.0.2

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

Updated to a major version (ex. 3.16.3 to 3.17.0)

Are you using the Nextcloud Server Encryption module?

Encryption is Disabled

Are you using an external user-backend?

• Default internal user-backend
• LDAP/ Active Directory
• SSO - SAML
• Other

Nextcloud Server logs

N/A

Additional info

For the package I just went to the main nextcloud web page and downloaded the MacOS 13+ pkg installer. I have no idea what the virtual files package is. Nothing was labeled like that when I downloaded it.

https://nextcloud.com/install/#desktop-files > MacOS 13+ > https://github.com/nextcloud-releases/desktop/releases/download/v33.0.2/Nextcloud-33.0.2.pkg

[papamoose]

Ok turns out the Migration Assistant migrated things it should not have. I was able to remove every remnant of Nextcloud Desktop, install it again, and get it running.

1. There should be a "remove all of the nextcloud installation" script that does this. Please make one available if one does not exist.
2. Here are the things I did... I don't know which one of these specific things actually made it work... nor do I care to find out (that isn't my problem).
3. Give Terminal.app full disk access in Privacy and Security

$ ps aux|grep -i nextcloud
meee            1155   0.0  0.2 442310656  41088   ??  Ss   12:43PM   0:00.05 /Applications/Nextcloud.app/Contents/PlugIns/FinderSyncExt.appex/Contents/MacOS/FinderSyncExt -AppleLanguages ("en-US", "de-DE")
meee            1217   0.0  0.0 441887568   1408 s000  S+   12:45PM   0:00.01 grep -i nextcloud

kill -9 1155

rm -f ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient/Data/tmp/kdsingleapp-MEEE-Nextcloud
rm -f ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient/Data/tmp/kdsingleapp-MEEE-Nextcloud.lock

sudo rm -rf /Applications/Nextcloud.app

# Containers (the big one — has all the config/cache/lock files)
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FinderSyncExt
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderUIExt

# Application Scripts
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/com.nextcloud.desktopclient
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FinderSyncExt
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderUIExt
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Scripts/NKUJUXUJ3B.com.nextcloud.desktopclient

# HTTP Storages
rm -rf ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.nextcloud.desktopclient

# var/folders temp cache
rm -rf /var/folders/33/9n054mzs4hv1z6ht7dvp8s140000gn/C/com.nextcloud.desktopclient
rm -rf /var/folders/33/9n054mzs4hv1z6ht7dvp8s140000gn/C/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FinderSyncExt

pluginkit -r -i com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FinderSyncExt
pluginkit -r -i com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt
pluginkit -r -i com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderUIExt

# Remove each container through the proper API
/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/ContainerManagerDaemon.framework/Versions/A/Support/containermanagerd --remove com.nextcloud.desktopclient

# Remove everything INSIDE the containers (this should work)
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient/Data
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt/Data
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FinderSyncExt/Data
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderUIExt/Data

sfltool resetbtm


# Recent documents list entry
rm -f ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.sfl3

# FileProvider registration
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/FileProvider/com.nextcloud.desktopclient.FileProviderExt

# Daemon container cache (iOS/iPadOS Nextcloud app placeholder)
rm -rf ~/Library/Daemon\ Containers/04F1B89B-646E-4FFD-BBFE-D4838CBA61C6/Data/Library/Caches/Placeholders-v6.noindex/it.twsweb.Nextcloud-33.0.3

# Chronod widget entries (from the old Nextcloud widget)
find ~/Library/Group\ Containers/group.com.apple.chronod/chronod -name "*nextcloud*" -delete

4. Reboot the Mac
5. Run the 33.0.2 installer pkg again
6. Launch /Applications/Nextcloud.app

[i2h3]

Probably the client was running during the migration assistant which then possibly copied the socket file as a plain file to the new system. Its presence indicates an app instance already running which in fact was not the case on the new system. That is my guess.

For the package I just went to the main nextcloud web page and downloaded the MacOS 13+ pkg installer. I have no idea what the virtual files package is. Nothing was labeled like that when I downloaded it.

@papamoose The "virtual files" is a feature to integrate with Finder in a new way, see our user manual. Due to this problem only Apple can resolve, we used to have two different builds: the usual one and an additional one which also includes that feature. By now, we have merged both and have a simple single macOS client where users can choose which sync method they want to use.

[camilasan]

1. There should be a "remove all of the nextcloud installation" script that does this. Please make one available if one does not exist.

I hope it helps: nextcloud/documentation#14328