The wizard gives you one all-powerful admin account - set its password, email and two-factor properly, and never live in it.
Installing ownCloud takes minutes. Owning it safely starts with one account - the admin the wizard creates. Most home-cloud disasters are not hackers; they are a default password left in place, an admin account used for everything, and a forgotten password with no recovery email. All three are prevented in the first ten minutes, in the browser, with the steps below.
Both install routes end with you creating - or being handed - the admin account. That account can see settings, add and delete users, and change how sharing works. Treat it like the master key to the building, because it is one.
The most common beginner mistake is using admin as the everyday account. One stolen daily login then means a stolen everything.
This one habit costs nothing and removes the worst accident in home cloud computing: a casual mistake made with total power.
A forgotten admin password with no recovery email is the one lockout the visual route cannot always talk its way out of. In the admin settings, add a real email address for the admin account. Be honest with yourself about mail though: if your install cannot send mail (common on a home appliance with no mail setup), the reset link may never arrive - one more reason the password goes in a password manager on day one, not in your memory.
Classic ownCloud offers two-factor sign-in through its security settings and apps. Turn it on for the admin account at least: a stolen admin password alone then still cannot get in. One honest consequence to know now, not later - with two-factor on, the desktop and phone apps cannot use your normal password for direct connections and will need an app password, which you create in your personal security settings. That is normal, documented behaviour, not a fault.
The video covers the install itself - this page is the ten-minute security routine to run right after it.
Watch Full VideoNot always - if you set an admin email address and your install can send mail, the login page reset link will rescue you. Without that, recovery on classic ownCloud usually leads to the command line, which is exactly the situation this page exists to prevent. Set the email and store the password on day one.
Because the admin account can delete users and change every setting. If your daily login is ever stolen or you make one careless click, the damage stays small when the daily account is a normal user. Admin should be a hat you put on for five minutes, not the clothes you live in.
An app password is a special password you generate in your personal security settings for one app or device. When two-factor sign-in is on, ownCloud desktop and mobile clients use an app password instead of your main password, because they cannot answer the two-factor prompt.