NextCloud – step by step

/ household, SprUng, KEEPERS, CODE-NOW-NOW-NOW, CODING, WEBSITES / 1 minute of reading

Nextcloud Step by Step

ReworkingRound 1more ...

Reworking


# Wipe Disk
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=1M status=progress

#Parted
parted /dev/sdx (replace x with correct drive)

#Set partition table
mklabel gpt

# Create and format partitions (assuming disk is /dev/sdX, adjust accordingly)
parted /dev/sdX mklabel gpt
parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary fat32 1MiB 513MiB
parted /dev/sdX set 1 boot on
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdX1

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary ext4 513MiB 2GiB
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX2

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary ext4 2GiB 100%
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX3

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary linux-swap 100% 116GiB
mkswap /dev/sdX4
swapon /dev/sdX4

# Mount partitions
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/boot/efi

mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt/boot

mount /dev/sdX3 /mnt

Install AlmaLinux

  • Boot into the AlmaLinux installer and ensure the partitions and mount points match exactly.

1. Remove Existing Installations

  • Your command list for cleanup is comprehensive. Run these to completely remove the old setup:
sudo systemctl stop mariadb httpd
sudo dnf remove -y mariadb-server httpd php*
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/mysql /var/www/html/nextcloud /var/www/html/dbtest.php
sudo rm -rf /etc/my.cnf /etc/my.cnf.d
  • Verify Clean State:
ls -ld /var/lib/mysql /var/www/html

2. SELinux and /tmp

  • Since SELinux is already disabled, verify it remains disabled before proceeding:
sestatus

# if still enabled
#sudo setenforce 0
#sudo nano /etc/selinux/config
#SELINUX=disabled
#then REBOOT!!!
  • Ensure /tmp permissions:
ls -ld /tmp
sudo chmod 1777 /tmp
sudo chown root:root /tmp

3. Install Essential Packages

Install the base system packages and PHP modules. Install these before configuring anything:

sudo dnf install -y mariadb-server httpd php \
php-ctype php-curl php-dom php-fileinfo php-filter php-gd php-hash php-json php-libxml \
php-mbstring php-openssl php-posix php-session php-simplexml php-xmlreader php-xmlwriter \
php-zip php-zlib php-pdo php-pdo_mysql
  1. After Base System Setup: Once you’ve installed the base packages (like mariadb-server, httpd), confirm the base system is functional and updated:

4. Update PHP

Set the PHP version before starting Apache or MariaDB:

sudo dnf install -y epel-release
sudo dnf install -y https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-9.rpm
sudo dnf module reset php -y
sudo dnf module enable php:8.1 -y
sudo systemctl restart httpd

Verify PHP setup:

php -v
php -m
  1. Update Base Installation: 
sudo dnf update -y
  1. Install the compatible PHP version and extensions: before touching MariaDB or downloading Nextcloud, :
sudo dnf install -y epel-release
sudo dnf install -y https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-9.rpm
sudo dnf module reset php -y
sudo dnf module enable php:8.1 -y
sudo dnf install -y php php-mysqlnd php-gd php-mbstring php-intl php-xml php-zip
sudo systemctl restart httpd

  1. . Install Recommended Modules**

For enhanced performance and compatibility:


sudo dnf install -y php php-mysqlnd php-gd php-mbstring php-intl php-xml php-zip
sudo dnf install -y php-intl php-sodium php-ldap php-smbclient php-ftp php-imap php-bcmath php-gmp php-exif
sudo dnf install -y php-apcu php-memcached php-redis
sudo dnf install -y php-imagick ffmpeg php-pcntl php-phar

If there are issues with PDF previews:

Adjust the ImageMagick policy file:

sudo nano /etc/ImageMagick-*/policy.xml

Find and comment out or adjust:

<policy domain="coder" rights="none" pattern="PDF" />

12. Update php.ini for Optimal Settings

Edit the PHP configuration file(s):

sudo nano /etc/php.ini

Ensure these settings are updated:

memory_limit = 512M
max_execution_time = 3600
opcache.enable = 1
opcache.interned_strings_buffer = 16
opcache.max_accelerated_files = 10000
opcache.memory_consumption = 128
opcache.save_comments = 1
opcache.revalidate_freq = 1
upload_tmp_dir = /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/tmp

13. Validate Installed Modules

Run the following command to confirm all required modules are installed:

php -m | grep -E 'ctype|curl|dom|fileinfo|filter|gd|hash|json|libxml|mbstring|openssl|posix|session|simplexml|xmlreader|xmlwriter|zip|zlib|pdo|pdo_mysql|intl|sodium'

This ensures all modules Nextcloud needs are available.

 

  1. Test PHP Configuration: Create a PHP info file to confirm the correct version and required extensions:
echo "<?php phpinfo(); ?>" | sudo tee /var/www/html/info.php

Open the file in a browser (e.g., http://<server-ip>/info.php) and check the PHP version and loaded extensions.

  1. Verify
php -v
php -m

  1. make the new directories

    
sudo mkdir /var/www/html/nextcloud/data
sudo mkdir /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/tmp 

#upload_tmp_dir = /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/tmp - this is in the config file but would not exist yet?
# do permission only if asked to
#sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud/data
#sudo chmod 750 /var/www/html/nextcloud/data

     

  2. I WANT TO CHECK on what the permissions are for our prblems 

    ls -ld /var/www/html
ls -ld /var/www/html/nextcloud
ls -ld /var/www/html/nextcloud
ls -ld /var/lib/mysql
ls -ld /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/tmp

     

5. Set Up MariaDB**

Initialize MariaDB with secure settings:


sudo mysql_secure_installation

Log in as root:

mysql -u root -p

Create a new database and user:

CREATE DATABASE nxtclouddb2 CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER 'nxtcldusr2'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'H0m02smp3fag';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nxtclouddb2.* TO 'nxtcldusr2'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

Test access:

mysql -u nxtcldusr2 -p
USE nxtclouddb2;
SHOW TABLES;

Unpack and move nextcloud

cd /tmp
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.tar.bz2
tar -xjf latest.tar.bz2 -C /var/www/html/

#permissions only if asked
#sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud
#sudo chmod -R 750 /var/www/html/nextcloud

this is the nextcloud/config/config

$CONFIG = array (
  'passwordsalt' => 'IBBzJ7Go086CPa41aS+YtGtICaQcu3',
  'secret' => 'QP/z7OgA577Z9F8lpImyHqCPCz1FK9urlekwKG6L7UYnSkrp',
  'trusted_domains' =>
  array (
    0 => 'localhost',
  ),
  'datadirectory' => '/var/www/html/nextcloud/data',
  'dbtype' => 'mysql',
  'version' => '30.0.4.1',
  'overwrite.cli.url' => 'http://localhost',
  'dbname' => 'nxtclouddb2',
  'dbhost' => 'localhost',
  'dbport' => '',
  'dbtableprefix' => 'oc_',
);

Run the installer:

sudo -u apache php /var/www/html/nextcloud/occ maintenance:install \
  --database "mysql" \
  --database-name "nxtclouddb2" \
  --database-user "nxtcldusr2" \
  --database-pass "H0m02smp3fag" \
  --admin-user "spiffy" \
  --admin-pass "H0m0-smp-fag"

re-check the nextcloud/config/config

sudo nano /var/www/html/nextcloud/config/config?.whatever

 

 

7. Logs and Troubleshooting

  • Monitor these logs closely:

    • Apache Logs: /var/log/httpd/error_log
    • MariaDB Logs: /var/log/mariadb/mariadb.log
    • Nextcloud Logs: /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/nextcloud.log

Use tail for live monitoring:

sudo tail -f /var/log/httpd/error_log
sudo tail -f /var/www/html/nextcloud/data/nextcloud.log

Notes:

  1. Firewall Rules: Only apply them once everything else works.
  2. Testing PHP: Ensure no missing modules before touching the Nextcloud installer.
  3. Data Directory: Verify /var/www/html/nextcloud/data exists after extraction.

Partitioning and Filesystem Setup


# Wipe Disk
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=1M status=progress

#Parted
parted /dev/sdx (replace x with correct drive)

#Set partition table
mklabel gpt

# Create and format partitions (assuming disk is /dev/sdX, adjust accordingly)
parted /dev/sdX mklabel gpt
parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary fat32 1MiB 513MiB
parted /dev/sdX set 1 boot on
mkfs.fat -F32 /dev/sdX1

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary ext4 513MiB 2GiB
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX2

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary ext4 2GiB 100%
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX3

parted /dev/sdX mkpart primary linux-swap 100% 116GiB
mkswap /dev/sdX4
swapon /dev/sdX4

# Mount partitions
mkdir -p /mnt/boot/efi
mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/boot/efi

mkdir -p /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sdX2 /mnt/boot

mount /dev/sdX3 /mnt

Install AlmaLinux

  • Boot into the AlmaLinux installer and ensure the partitions and mount points match exactly.

Post-Installation Updates


# Update and install essential packages
sudo dnf update -y
sudo dnf install -y vim nano wget curl git htop net-tools epel-release
sudo dnf install httpd mariadb-server php php-mysqlnd php-dom php-gd php-intl php-mbstring php-xml php-zip unzip -y

# Enable and start services
sudo systemctl enable --now httpd mariadb
sudo systemctl start httpd mariadb

# Configure firewall
sudo systemctl enable firewalld
sudo systemctl start firewalld
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=http --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --add-service=https --permanent
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Add a user
sudo adduser yourusername
sudo passwd yourusername
sudo usermod -aG wheel yourusername

Nextcloud Installation


# Download and extract Nextcloud
wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.tar.bz2
tar -xjf latest.tar.bz2 -C /var/www/html/

# Set permissions
sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/nextcloud

# Restart Apache
sudo systemctl restart httpd

MariaDB Configuration


# Secure MariaDB installation
sudo mysql_secure_installation

# Create Nextcloud database and user
sudo mysql -u root -p
CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;
CREATE USER 'nxtcloudspiffy'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nxtcloudspiffy'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

Testing Nextcloud

  1. Access Nextcloud in the browser (http://your-ip/nextcloud).

  2. Enter the database credentials:

    • Database User: nxtcloudspiffy
    • Database Password: password
    • Database Name: nextcloud
    • Host: localhost

     

 

image-20250104220151996

  1. NEXT PostInstallUpdates

    1. sudo dnf update -y

    2. sudo dnf install -y vim nano wget curl git htop net-tools epel-release

    3. sudo dnf install httpd mariadb-server php php-mysqlnd php-dom php-gd php-intl php-mbstring php-xml php-zip unzip -y

    4. sudo systemctl enable –now httpd

    5. sudo dnf install php php-mysqlnd php-dom php-gd php-intl php-mbstring php-xml php-zip php-cli php-json php-pdo -y

    6. sudo dnf install tar bzip2 unzip -y

    7. sudo dnf groupinstall -y "Development Tools"

    8. ip addr show

    9. sudo systemctl enable firewalld sudo systemctl start firewalld sudo firewall-cmd –add-service=http –permanent sudo firewall-cmd –add-service=https –permanent sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-service=ssh sudo firewall-cmd –reload

      check rules: sudo firewall-cmd –list-all ssh specific port: sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-port=2222/tcp

    10. sudo adduser yourusername sudo passwd yourusername sudo usermod -aG wheel yourusername

    11. sudo swapon /dev/sdX

    12. swapon –show

    13. sudo dnf install openssh-server -y

    14. sudo systemctl status sshd

    15. sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –add-service=ssh sudo firewall-cmd –reload

    16. Download and Configure Nextcloud:

    17. Download: wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.tar.bz2

      • Extract: tar -xjf latest.tar.bz2 -C /var/www/html/
      • Set Permissions:sudo chown -R apache:apache /var/www/html/nextcloud sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/html/nextcloud
      • Enable Apache modules:sudo systemctl enable –now httpd sudo systemctl restart httpd

       

      DISABLE SELIUX:sudo nano /etc/selinux/config

      SELINUX=disabled

       

  1. What else does ti need to start?

 

  1. no keys for ssh
  2. no failtoban
  3. no automatic updates
  4. no disable root access
  5. no
more
Scroll to Top