Setting Up Nextcloud on a VPS with Apache or Nginx

Nextcloud is a powerful self-hosted cloud storage solution that allows you to store files, share documents, and manage various services. This tutorial will guide you through the installation of Nextcloud on a Virtual Private Server (VPS) using either Apache or Nginx as your web server.

Prerequisites

• A VPS running a supported Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu, Debian, CentOS).
• Root or sudo privileges to install software.
• Apache or Nginx installed on your server.
• MySQL or MariaDB installed for database management.
• PHP 7.4 or higher with required extensions.

1. Preparing Your VPS

First, update your package list and upgrade any installed packages:

sudo apt update
sudo apt upgrade -y

Then, install the necessary packages for both Apache (or Nginx) and PHP:

sudo apt install apache2 php libapache2-mod-php php-mysql php-curl php-xml php-mbstring php-gd php-zip php-intl -y

2. Installing Nextcloud

You can download the latest version of Nextcloud from their official website. To do this, navigate to the /var/www directory:

cd /var/www
sudo wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-.zip

Replace <latest_version> with the current version number from the Nextcloud downloads page. Then, unzip the package:

sudo apt install unzip
sudo unzip nextcloud-.zip

Next, change the ownership of the Nextcloud directory:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/nextcloud

3. Creating a Database for Nextcloud

Log in to your MySQL or MariaDB server to create a database:

sudo mysql -u root -p

Once logged in, create a database and user:

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;
CREATE USER 'nextclouduser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nextclouduser'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Replace 'password' with a strong password of your choosing.

4. Configuring Apache for Nextcloud

If you are using Apache, create a new configuration file for Nextcloud:

sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/nextcloud.conf

Add the following configuration:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName your_domain_or_IP
    DocumentRoot /var/www/nextcloud
    <Directory /var/www/nextcloud/>
        Options +FollowSymlinks
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Enable the new configuration and the rewrite module:

sudo a2ensite nextcloud
sudo a2enmod rewrite

Then restart Apache:

sudo systemctl restart apache2

5. Configuring Nginx for Nextcloud

If using Nginx, create a new configuration file:

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/nextcloud

Add the following config:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name your_domain_or_IP;
    location / {
        root /var/www/nextcloud;
        index index.php index.html index.htm;
        rewrite ^/remote/(.*)$ /remote.php?$1 last;
        rewrite ^/public/(.*)$ /public.php?$1 last;
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
    }
    location ~ \.php$ {
        include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
    }
}

Then enable the Nginx configuration:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/nextcloud /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/

And restart Nginx:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

6. Completing the Nextcloud Setup

Now, open your web browser and navigate to your server’s IP address or domain name. You should see the Nextcloud setup page. Enter your desired Nextcloud admin username and password, and database details:

• Database user: nextclouduser
• Database name: nextcloud
• Database password: (the password you set)

Click on Finish Setup to complete the installation.

7. Securing Nextcloud with SSL

It’s strongly recommended to use SSL to secure your Nextcloud instance. You can obtain a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt:

sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache    # For Apache
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx     # For Nginx

Then run the following command to obtain and install the SSL certificate:

sudo certbot --apache    # For Apache
sudo certbot --nginx     # For Nginx

Follow the prompts to complete the SSL setup process.

8. Conclusion

By following this tutorial, you have successfully set up and configured Nextcloud on your VPS with Apache or Nginx. You now have a self-hosted cloud file storage solution that you can expand and customize to fit your needs.

About the Author

Dorian Kane

Author

View All Posts