Nextcloud is a powerful open-source solution for hosting your files, calendars, contacts, and much more, all on your own server. Here is a step-by-step guide to installing Nextcloud on a Debian 12 machine.
Step 1: Update your system
Start by ensuring that your system is up to date:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
Step 2: Installation and Configuration of Apache
Install the Apache web server:
sudo apt install apache2 -y
Enable Apache to start automatically at boot:
sudo systemctl is-enabled apache2
Check that the service is active:
sudo systemctl status apache2
Step 3: Configure the firewall with UFW
Install UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) to secure your server:
sudo apt install ufw
Allow SSH connections and enable the firewall:
sudo ufw allow OpenSSH sudo ufw enable
Allow HTTP and HTTPS connections:
sudo ufw allow "WWW Full" sudo ufw reload
Check the status of the firewall:
sudo ufw status
Step 4: Install PHP and its required modules
Nextcloud requires PHP and several modules. Install them with a single command:
sudo apt install -y php php-curl php-cli php-mysql php-gd php-common php-xml php-json php-intl php-pear php-imagick php-dev php-mbstring php-zip php-soap php-bz2 php-bcmath php-gmp php-apcu libmagickcore-dev php-redis php-memcached
Check the PHP version and the installed modules:
php --version php -m
Step 5: Configure PHP
Edit the PHP configuration file to optimize performance and adjust the necessary limits for Nextcloud:
sudo nano /etc/php/8.2/apache2/php.ini
Modify the following settings:
date.timezone = Europe/Zurich memory_limit = 4096M upload_max_filesize = 100000M post_max_size = 100000M max_execution_time = 3600 file_uploads = On allow_url_fopen = On display_errors = Off output_buffering = Off zend_extension=opcache opcache.enable = 1 opcache.interned_strings_buffer = 64 opcache.max_accelerated_files = 10000 opcache.memory_consumption = 128 opcache.save_comments = 1 opcache.revalidate_freq = 1
Restart Apache to apply the changes:
sudo systemctl restart apache2
Step 6: Install and configure MariaDB
Install MariaDB:
sudo apt install mariadb-server -y
Make sure it is enabled:
sudo systemctl is-enabled mariadb
Check its status:
sudo systemctl status mariadb
Configure MariaDB with the security assistant:
sudo mariadb-secure-installation
Create a database and a user for Nextcloud:
sudo mariadb -u root -p CREATE DATABASE nextcloud_db; CREATE USER 'nextclouduser'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'StrongPassword'; GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud_db.* TO 'nextclouduser'@'localhost'; FLUSH PRIVILEGES; SHOW GRANTS FOR 'nextclouduser'@'localhost'; quit
Step 7: Download and configure Nextcloud
Install the necessary tools:
sudo apt install curl unzip -y
Download and unzip Nextcloud:
cd /var/www/ curl -o nextcloud.zip https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip unzip nextcloud.zip
Make sure that the permissions are correctly set:
sudo chown -R www-data:www-data nextcloud
Step 8: Configure Apache for Nextcloud
Create a configuration file for the Nextcloud site:
sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/nextcloud.conf
Add the following content, adjusting the details such as the domain name:
<VirtualHost *:80> ServerName cloud.ait.hosting DocumentRoot /var/www/nextcloud/ ErrorLog /var/log/apache2/files.cloud.ait.hosting-error.log CustomLog /var/log/apache2/files.cloud.ait.hosting-access.log combined <Directory /var/www/nextcloud/> Options +FollowSymlinks AllowOverride All <IfModule mod_dav.c> Dav off </IfModule> SetEnv HOME /var/www/nextcloud SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/nextcloud </Directory> </VirtualHost>
Activate the site and restart Apache:
sudo a2ensite nextcloud.conf sudo apachectl configtest sudo systemctl restart apache2
Step 9: Secure with Certbot
Install Certbot to generate an SSL certificate:
sudo apt install certbot python3-certbot-apache
Run Certbot to configure HTTPS:
sudo certbot --apache --agree-tos --redirect --hsts --staple-ocsp --email admin@ait.hosting -d cloud.ait.hosting
Conclusion
Your Nextcloud installation on Debian 12 is now complete. Access your server via the browser using the configured URL (for example, https://cloud.ait.hosting), and follow the on-screen instructions to finalize the setup. 🎉
Cron job
Create a new crontab that will be used to run the Nextcloud crontab script
sudo crontab -u www-data -e
Add the following configuration to the crontab file
*/5 * * * * php --define apc.enable_cli=1 -f /var/www/nextcloud/cron.php
Save and exit the file
Bonus
Open the Nextcloud configuration file /var/www/nextcloud/config/config.php
sudo nano /var/www/nextcloud/config/config.php
and add these commands
'memcache.local' => '\OC\Memcache\APCu',
'default_phone_region' => 'ch',
'maintenance_window_start' => 1,
Save the changes and close the file when you are done
OCC Commandes
May be useful
/var/www/nextcloud$ sudo -u www-data php --define apc.enable_cli=1 /var/www/nextcloud/occ maintenance:repair --include-expensive
sudo -u www-data php --define apc.enable_cli=1 /var/www/nextcloud/occ db:add-missing-indices
sudo -u www-data php --define apc.enable_cli=1 /var/www/nextcloud/occ db:add-missing-columns
sudo -u www-data php --define apc.enable_cli=1 /var/www/nextcloud/occ db:add-missing-primary-keys
