FAQ

Technical Questions

How much bandwidth does Wuala consume?

You can configure the maximum amount of bandwidth Wuala will use in the Settings under "Connection". For best performance, we recommend to set the upload and download bandwidth to about 10% below the bandwidth of your internet connection. This allows for high throughput without causing high latency.

What is filesystem integration?

Filesystem integration allows application to directly access files stored in Wuala. If this is enabled and working, music and video files can be watched before they have been completely downloaded. If it is disabled, Wuala will download and copy the files to a temporary directory first when you double-click on them and then open them from there. You can manually enable or disable this feature in the Settings

How does the filesystem integration work?

With filesystem integration enabled, Wuala creates a virtual harddisk drive to which your operating system can connect. On Mac OS X, this is done using OSX Fuse, on Linux with FUSE and on Windows we are using CBFS.

How do I know if the filesystem integration works?

You can check this is your Settings.

Can other computers access my files on the wuala drive?

No, Wuala's filesystem integration is configured to only serve files to your computer. It does not accept external connections.

How can I limit the amount of memory Wuala uses?

Under Linux, you can set a memory limit by adapting the startup script. The following command limits Wuala's memory usage to e.g. 128 MB: java -Xmx128M -jar ...

Under Windows, you can set the memory limit by editing the Wuala.vmoptions file, which can be found in the installation directory.

The more memory Wuala gets, the less likely it is that it crashes when downloading large files or scaling large images.

How do I know if I'm online or not?

If look at the bottom left of the Wuala window you will see a green, red or yellow circle. Green means online, red means offline. Yellow means that there is an internet connection, but Wuala was unable to connect with the network.

Are there any Linux packages?

We have a package repository for Debian based systems: See our download page.

I found a bug in Wuala! Where do I report it?

Please submit the bug in our bugtracker. A short description how to submit the bug can be found here.

Which temporary directory does Wuala use? Can I change this?

Wuala uses the temporary directory of your operating system. Currently you cannot change this. This temporary directory is used when Wuala is not yet installed on your computer. As soon as Wuala has been installed, Wuala uses the data directory (e.g. C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\Luzius\Anwendungsdaten\Wuala) for most data.

How do I uninstall Wuala?

Windows XP:

If you used the installer to install Wuala:

1. Exit Wuala with the context menu in the tray.
2. Open the Control Panel and click on "Add or Remove Programs".
3. Select "Wuala" in the list of installed software.
4. Click on "Remove" and follow the instructions of the uninstaller.
5. If you have installed the Wuala Disk Drive (CBFS) repeat steps 3 and 4 for the entry "Wuala CBFS" in the list of installed software.

If you did not use the installer to install Wuala:

Just delete the Wuala folder and remove the program menu entry. The Wuala folder can be found at %APPDATA%Wuala (that could for example be C:Documents and SettingsLuziusApplication DataWuala).

Windows Vista and Windows 7:

If you used the installer to install Wuala:

1. Exit Wuala with the context menu in the tray.
2. Open the Control Panel and select "Uninstall a program".
3. Select "Wuala" in the list of installed software.
4. Click on "Uninstall" and follow the instructions of the uninstaller.
5. If you have installed the Wuala Disk Drive (CBFS) repeat steps 3 and 4 for the entry "Wuala CBFS" in the list of installed software.

If you did not use the installer to install Wuala:

Just delete the Wuala folder and remove the program menu entry. The Wuala folder can be found at %APPDATA%..LocalWuala (that could for example be C:UsersLuziusAppDataLocalWuala). Furthermore, you might also want to remove %APPDATA%Wuala which stores login information.

On OS X:

Just delete ~/Library/Application Support/Wuala and remove Wuala from your applications.

On Linux:

Just delete the folder where you have installed Wuala. By default, that's ~/wuala. Warning: Do not delete the folder while wuala is running as this might result in all your wuala files being deleted if you have enabled direct access and rm tries to delete the folders in the mapped folder (e.g. ~/wuala/direct).

Wuala and 64bit Gentoo Linux

To run Wuala on a 64bit Gentoo Linux, you have to install a 32bit Java Virtual Machine (JVM):

• install 32bit Java
  emerge -av emul-linux-x86-java
• show available JVMs
  java-config -L
• choose the 32bit version
  java-config -S emul-linux-x86-java-1.6
• start Wuala
  ./wuala
• You can switch back to the 64bit JVM with 'java-config -S ..'.

What is the compatibility mode?

With compatibility mode set, all up- and download traffic is led to our servers and you will not use the Wuala-Network. This enables you to use Wuala when you cannot connect via UDP or having problems while using Wuala due to a bad internet connection. You can activate the compatibility mode in your preferences: Tools > Options > Connection (Win/Linux) or Wuala > Preferences > Connection (Mac).

I'm behind a proxy. Can I use Wuala?

Yes, with some restrictions. The proxy server must allow SSL connections (technically: it must support the CONNECT method). It may use basic authentication (username/password). NTLM authentication is not supported yet.

The proxy settings can be entered in Tools > Options > Connection (Win/Linux) or Wuala > Preferences > Connection (Mac) and then 'Proxy settings'. Username and password can be left empty if the proxy does not require authentication. Proxy support does not work if you start Wuala directly from our website. You have to download the Wuala client and install it.

What is the 'Allow Lan access' setting for?

Wuala generates a status page on your system which can be accessed with your webbrowser at localhost:33333. When you activate the setting to allow access via LAN, this statuspage can be shown on any computer in your local network by using the local IP of your computer, for example 192.168.0.2:33333. Wuala will show you the correct adress for your computer when you activate the setting.

How do I change the drive letter on Windows?

You can find the options at: Tools > Options > General

How do I reinstall Wuala?

In order to reinstall Wuala, please deinstall Wuala first. After having deinstalled Wuala, download Wuala again and log in with your user name and password. Please do not forget to reactivate your automatic backups and sync.

What is CBFS?

CBFS (Callback File System) is a Windows file system driver. CBFS allows you to integrate your data into Windows as a regular hard disk drive.

The CBFS Integration doesn't work

• Make sure you don't already have a drive with the Wuala drive letter mounted. Try changing the drive letter Wuala is using in "Tools" - "Options" - "General" in Wuala .
• There have been cases where CBFS could not be properly installed. To reinstall CBFS, you can remove CBFS the control panel. You now need to restart your computer and start Wuala again. When you restart Wuala, you should be prompted to install Wuala again.
• In case want to install CBFS manually, you can get the installer program here

Does Wuala support root access?

Currently there are no plans to support root access for the Wuala drive. We thought it might get you in trouble with different problems (timeouts, security, etc.). Therefor we decided not to support such an option.

What is the Windows Explorer Integration?

The Windows Explorer Integration allows Wuala to better integrate with your system. It enables you to see the status of your backup and synchronization folders in the Windows Explorer. A small icon on your files and folder shows you whether your data is save in the cloud or needs to be uploaded or synchronized.

• This icon indicates that the file or folder is synchronized or backed up.


• This icon indicates that the file or folder is not yet synchronized or not in the latest backup.


• This icon marks files and folders which are currently in progress.

How can I install the the Windows Explorer Integration manually?

You can get the installer program here

Does Wuala follow symbolic links?

Currently Wuala does not follow symbolic links.

Which ports are used by Wuala?

UDP: none
TCP: 80, 443, 38088

Note: It is sufficient if one port of them is open