This guide will focus on how to install Nextcloud on Debian 10 (Buster) / Debian 11 (Bullseye). Nextcloud is an open-source, self-hosted file sharing server forked from ownCloud project. It enables you to store documents, pictures, Videos, Movies and any other media content in a centralized location, much like Dropbox features.
You can share stored files with your friends, teammates, or with your customers/clients. It is designed with security in mind to ensure your sensitive data never gets to wrong hands. With the sync feature, you can keep your files, contacts, calendars and more synchronized amongst your devices.
Nextcloud has a number of dependencies that must be installed beforehand. To give you a better experience, we will cover the installation of all the dependencies. Let’s now begin our installation of Nextcloud on Debian 10/11.
Step 1: Install MariaDB database server
A database server is an essential component of NextCloud. Install it on Debian using the commands below.
sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install mariadb-server mariadb-clientSecure your database installation by setting root password, disable remote root login and removing test databases.
$ sudo mysql_secure_installation
NOTE: RUNNING ALL PARTS OF THIS SCRIPT IS RECOMMENDED FOR ALL MariaDB
SERVERS IN PRODUCTION USE! PLEASE READ EACH STEP CAREFULLY!
In order to log into MariaDB to secure it, we'll need the current
password for the root user. If you've just installed MariaDB, and
you haven't set the root password yet, the password will be blank,
so you should just press enter here.
Enter current password for root (enter for none):
OK, successfully used password, moving on...
Setting the root password ensures that nobody can log into the MariaDB
root user without the proper authorisation.
Set root password? [Y/n] y
New password:
Re-enter new password:
Password updated successfully!
Reloading privilege tables..
... Success!
By default, a MariaDB installation has an anonymous user, allowing anyone
to log into MariaDB without having to have a user account created for
them. This is intended only for testing, and to make the installation
go a bit smoother. You should remove them before moving into a
production environment.
Remove anonymous users? [Y/n] y
... Success!
Normally, root should only be allowed to connect from 'localhost'. This
ensures that someone cannot guess at the root password from the network.
Disallow root login remotely? [Y/n] y
... Success!
By default, MariaDB comes with a database named 'test' that anyone can
access. This is also intended only for testing, and should be removed
before moving into a production environment.
Remove test database and access to it? [Y/n] y
- Dropping test database...
... Success!
- Removing privileges on test database...
... Success!
Reloading the privilege tables will ensure that all changes made so far
will take effect immediately.
Reload privilege tables now? [Y/n] y
... Success!
Cleaning up...
All done! If you've completed all of the above steps, your MariaDB
installation should now be secure.
Thanks for using MariaDB!
Create Nextcloud database and user:
$ sudo mysql -u root -p
CREATE USER 'nextcloud'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongDBP@SSwo$d';
CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nextcloud'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
QUITStep 2: Install PHP and Apache web server
We also need PHP and Apache webserver to run Nextcloud. Run the commands below to ensure these dependencies are installed.
# Remove old PHP
sudo apt -y remove php php-{cli,xml,zip,curl,gd,cgi,mysql,mbstring}
# Install PHP 8.2
sudo apt update
sudo apt install lsb-release apt-transport-https ca-certificates software-properties-common
sudo wget -O /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/php.gpg https://packages.sury.org/php/apt.gpg
sudo sh -c 'echo "deb https://packages.sury.org/php/ $(lsb_release -sc) main" > /etc/apt/sources.list.d/php.list'
sudo apt update
sudo apt install php8.2
sudo apt install vim php8.2-{bcmath,xml,fpm,mysql,zip,intl,ldap,gd,cli,bz2,curl,mbstring,pgsql,opcache,soap,cgi}
sudo apt install apache2 libapache2-mod-php8.2
Set PHP variables to suit your use.
$ sudo vim /etc/php/*/apache2/php.ini
date.timezone = Africa/Nairobi
memory_limit = 512M
upload_max_filesize = 500M
post_max_size = 500M
max_execution_time = 300Restart apache2 service:
sudo systemctl restart apache2Step 3: Download Nextcloud archive
With all dependencies installed, we can proceed to download the latest Nextcloud archive to our local system. Visit Nextcloud releases page to check the latest release.
sudo apt -y install wget curl unzip
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip
unzip latest.zip
rm -f latest.zip
Unzip the archive and move to Apache web folder and set correct ownership and permissions.
sudo mv nextcloud /var/www/html/
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/nextcloud
sudo sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/nextcloudDisable default Apache server configuration
sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf
sudo rm /var/www/html/index.html
sudo systemctl restart apache2Step 4: Run Nextcloud Web Installer
For the next step, we’ll do it on the web console. Open your favorite browser and URL http://{serverip|hostname]/nextcloud
Create an admin account by providing a username and password.
Set data directory – This is usually a separate partition from the system.
Also provide correct database credentials.
There are the details during database creation:
Database name: nextcloud
Database password: nextcloud
Database user: StrongDBP@SSwo$d
Click the “Finish setup” button to complete the installation of Nextcloud on Debian 10 / Debian 11.
You will then be directed to Nextcloud admin dashboard where you can create users, groups, set Two-Factor Authentication, Email server and install additional plugins you see fit.
Step 5: Configure Apache proxy
Install apache2 package
sudo apt install apache2 Create
sudo vim /etc/apache2/sites-available/nextcloud.confEdit the template to suit your use case:
Without SSL
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/nextcloud/
ServerName cloud.example.net
<Directory /var/www/html/nextcloud/>
Require all granted
AllowOverride All
Options FollowSymLinks MultiViews
<IfModule mod_dav.c>
Dav off
</IfModule>
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>With SSL
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName cloud.example.net
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule ^/?(.*) https://%{SERVER_NAME}/$1 [R=301,L]
</virtualhost>
<VirtualHost *:443>
ServerAdmin [email protected]
DocumentRoot /var/www/html/nextcloud/
ServerName cloud.example.net
<Directory /var/www/html/nextcloud/>
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks MultiViews
AllowOverride All
Require all granted
SetEnv HOME /var/www/html/nextcloud
SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/html/nextcloud
</Directory>
ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/nextcloud-error.log
CustomLog /var/log/apache2/nextcloud-access.log combined
SSLEngine on
SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/nextcloud/fullchain.pem
SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/nextcloud/privkey.pem
</VirtualHost>Enable required apache modules
# Enable ssl and mod_rewrite
a2enmod rewrite
a2enmod ssl
# Additional recommended modules are mod_headers, mod_env, mod_dir and mod_mime:
a2enmod headers
a2enmod env
a2enmod dir
a2enmod mimeVerify configuration syntax:
$ sudo apachectl -t
Syntax OKRestart apache service
sudo systemctl restart apache2More guides will be done on Nextcloud storage sync solution. Stay connected.
Similar guides:
- Install and Configure Syncthing on CentOS 8 / CentOS 7
- NextCloud vs ownCloud vs Seafile vs Syncthing
- Install and use Syncthing on Ubuntu
