Marksei

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How to install NextCloud 20 server on CentOS 8.x and 7.x

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NextCloud CentOS Logo

NextCloud is a Dropbox-like solution for self-hosted file sharing and syncing. Installing NextCloud 20 on CentOS is quite simple. Whether you want to backup, have file-syncing or just have a Google Calendar alternative, this guide is for you.

What is NextCloud? Is it like a “cloud”?

cloud computing

If you stumbled here by chance and don’t know what NextCloud is, here is an article explaining its principal features and advantages/disadvantages. In this other article you can find NextCloud 20 new features. To tell you the truth, NextCloud is a SaaS cloud, if you want to know more about cloud types you can read this article.

In this article we will cover the installation of the server (not the client).

What’s the newest version?

The newest version of this tutorial is the following:

Looking for an earlier version of this tutorial?

Step1: Install software

Important
I take NO responsibility of what you do with your machine; use this tutorial as a guide and remember you can possibly cause data loss if you touch things carelessly.

The first step in order to install NextCloud 20 is to install a web server and PHP.

CentOS 7CentOS 8

Since CentOS 7 ships with PHP 5.4 by default but NextCloud 20 requires at least PHP 7.2 we’ll also be installing PHP 7 from a third-party repository. The following procedure will install apache as webserver and will use the latest PHP version available and compatible with NextCloud 20 as of the time of writing this guide. Input the commands one by one to avoid errors!

If you want an updated guide for whatever available version of PHP on CentOS 7, you can follow this tutorial: how to install PHP 7 on CentOS 7.

Open a terminal and input the following commands, if you want to change the PHP version simply change the number in “remi-php74” (for example for version 7.3 use “remi-php73”): 

# yum install epel-release yum-utils
# rpm -Uvh https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-7.rpm
# yum-config-manager --enable remi-php74
# yum install httpd php php-dom php-mbstring php-gd php-pdo php-json php-xml php-zip php-curl php-pear php-intl php-bcmath php-gmp setroubleshoot-server bzip2 php-pecl-imagick
Info
This guide won’t help you install ImageMagick. NextCloud needs ImageMagick to generate image previews (it should still work, albeit not for SVGs). In CentOS 8 ImageMagick has been replaced by GraphicMagick, a fork of the former. Unfortunately, NextCloud is unable to use GraphicMagick and still needs ImageMagick. I have tried different ways to make it work and the only reliable way is to compile ImageMagick from source and install the pecl extension. Since I found it to be a cumbersome process that will someday be obsolete I have decided not to include it in this guide.

Open a terminal and input the following commands: 

# yum install epel-release
# yum install https://rpms.remirepo.net/enterprise/remi-release-8.rpm
# yum module install php:remi-7.4
# yum install httpd php php-dom php-mbstring php-gd php-pdo php-json php-xml php-zip php-curl php-pear php-intl php-bcmath php-gmp setroubleshoot-server bzip2 php-pecl-imagick

Step 2: Database selection

Now that you got the software, you need to choose a database that will support the installation. You have three choices:

  • SQLite: is a single-file database. It is suggested only for small installations since it will slow NextCloud down sensibly.
  • MariaDB/MySQL: are popular open source databases especially amongst web developers. It is the suggested choice.
  • PostgreSQL: a popular enterprise-class database. More complicated than MySQL/MariaDB.

Now, this choice won’t really alter the functionality of NextCloud (except if you use SQLite), so pick whatever you know best. If you’re unsure pick MariaDB/MySQL.

SQLiteCentOS 7 MySQL/MariaDBCentOS 8 MySQL/MariaDBCentOS 7 PostgreSQL

No additional steps are required if you choose SQLite.

Install the software: 

# yum install mariadb-server php-mysql

Start (and enable at boot) the service: 

# systemctl start mariadb
# systemctl enable mariadb

Next step is to configure the database management system. During the configuration you will be prompted to choose a root password, pick a strong one. 

# mysql_secure_installation

Next you need to enable 4-byte support (for emoji): 

# echo -e "[mysqld]\ninnodb_large_prefix=true\ninnodb_file_format=barracuda\ninnodb_file_per_table=1" >> /etc/my.cnf.d/00-innodb.cnf

Now you need to enter the database (you will be asked the password you just set): 

$ mysql -u root -p

In order to enable 4-byte support you must also set the default file format for InnoDB to Barracuda: 

SET GLOBAL innodb_file_format=Barracuda;

Now that you are in create a database: 

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;

Now you need to create the user that will be used to connect to the database: 

CREATE USER 'nc_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE';

The last step is to grant the privileges to the new user: 

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nc_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

When you’re done type Ctrl-D to exit.

Install the software: 

# yum install mariadb-server php-mysqlnd

Start (and enable at boot) the service: 

# systemctl enable --now mariadb

Next step is to configure the database management system. During the configuration you will be prompted to choose a root password, pick a strong one. 

# mysql_secure_installation

Next you need to enable 4-byte support (for emoji): 

# echo -e "[mysqld]\ninnodb_large_prefix=true\ninnodb_file_format=barracuda\ninnodb_file_per_table=1" >> /etc/my.cnf.d/00-innodb.cnf

Restart the database server: 

# systemctl restart mariadb

Now you need to enter the database (you will be asked the password you just set): 

$ mysql -u root -p

Now that you are in create a database: 

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;

Now you need to create the user that will be used to connect to the database: 

CREATE USER 'nc_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE';

The last step is to grant the privileges to the new user: 

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud.* TO 'nc_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

When you’re done type Ctrl-D to exit.

Install the software: 

# yum install postgresql postgresql-server php-pgsql

Run the setup: 

# postgresql-setup initdb

Start (and enable at boot) the service: 

# systemctl start postgresql
# systemctl enable postgresql

Now you need to enter the database: 

$ sudo -u postgres psql

Now that you are in create a database: 

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud;

Now you need to create the user that will be used to connect to the database: 

CREATE USER nc_user WITH PASSWORD 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE';

The last step is to grant the privileges to the new user: 

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE nextcloud to nc_user;

When you’re done type \q and press enter to exit.

Warning!
You may experience difficulties in authenticating NextCloud with PostgreSQL since the local authentication method is set to ident by default. If you want to change it keep reading.

The configuration file for PostgreSQL is a file located in /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf . Open it with your favourite editor and look for the marked line (line 5): 

# TYPE  DATABASE        USER            ADDRESS                 METHOD
# "local" is for Unix domain socket connections only
local   all             all                                     peer
# IPv4 local connections:
host    all             all             127.0.0.1/32            ident
# IPv6 local connections:
host    all             all             ::1/128                 ident
# Allow replication connections from localhost, by a user with the
# replication privilege.
#local   replication     postgres                                peer
#host    replication     postgres        127.0.0.1/32            ident
#host    replication     postgres        ::1/128                 ident

Replace ident with md5 on that line and restart PostgreSQL: 

# systemctl restart postgresql

Step 3: Install NextCloud

This step involves getting the software and configure Apache to run it.

CentOS 7/8

With these step we download the software and extract it: 

# cd /var/www/html
# curl -o nextcloud-20-latest.tar.bz2 https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest-20.tar.bz2
# tar -xvjf nextcloud-20-latest.tar.bz2
# mkdir nextcloud/data
# chown -R apache:apache nextcloud
# rm nextcloud-20-latest.tar.bz2

Now we need to create a new file in /etc/httpd/conf.d/nextcloud.conf . Feel free to use whatever editor you feel comfortable with and add the following lines: 

Alias /nextcloud "/var/www/html/nextcloud/"

<Directory /var/www/html/nextcloud/>
  Options +FollowSymlinks
  AllowOverride All

 <IfModule mod_dav.c>
  Dav off
 </IfModule>

 SetEnv HOME /var/www/html/nextcloud
 SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/html/nextcloud

</Directory>

Step 4: Setting Apache and SELinux

In this step we’ll start (and enable) the webserver and we’ll set SELinux up. Now, many tutorials will tell you to disable SELinux (because it is a difficult component to manage). Instead, I suggest you to keep it on and add the rules for NextCloud:

CentOS 7/8
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/nextcloud/data(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/nextcloud/config(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/nextcloud/apps(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/nextcloud/3rdparty/aws/aws-sdk-php/src/data/logs(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/nextcloud/.htaccess'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/nextcloud/.user.ini'
# restorecon -Rv '/var/www/html/nextcloud/'

If you decided to use a Mariadb/MySQL/PostgreSQL, you also need to allow apache to access it: 

# setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect_db 1

In case you chose PostgreSQL you also need to enable httpd_execmem (I’m still investigating why this is needed): 

# setsebool -P httpd_execmem 1

Another important thing to do is to raise PHP’s memory limit: 

# sed -i '/^memory_limit =/s/=.*/= 512M/' /etc/php.ini

Now that you’ve configured SELinux let’s start and enable Apache: 

# systemctl start httpd
# systemctl enable httpd

Step 5: Configuring firewall

This step is essential when your firewall is enabled. If your firewall is enabled you won’t be able to access your NextCloud 20 instance; on the other hand if it isn’t enabled you shouldn’t have any problems and you can simply skip this step. 

Tip!
Keep in mind having a firewall enabled is a good security practice and you should already have one enabled.

In order for the firewall to work, it must be enabled. This guide will not include this part. When you enable a firewall many things can go wrong, e.g. you’re using SSH, you enable the firewall and your connection is cut and can’t connect otherwise, hence you should carefully review the documentation from your distribution.

To open the ports needed by NextCloud 20 follow these steps:

FirewallDIPtables

FirewallD is a newer firewall used to simplify firewall management. If you’re using it you can simply do: 

# firewall-cmd --add-service http --permanent
# firewall-cmd --add-service https --permanent
# firewall-cmd --reload

IPtables is an older firewall (still widely used), if you have disabled firewallD you can use IPtables directly. 

# iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 80 -j ACCEPT
# iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 443 -j ACCEPT

Step 6: Install

For CentOS 8 and PostgreSQL!
For some reason, using PostgreSQL on CentOS 8 configuration results in httpd trying to write NextCloud root directory, SELinux prevents this and causes the installation to fail partway and return a gateway timeout. The installation will be completed, however many apps won’t be installed. In order to avoid this you can set httpd in “unified mode”: setsebool httpd_unified 1 . When you have completed the installation you can turn off (setsebool httpd_unified 0) the feature.

Once you’re done, it’s time to install everything. Head to http://YOUR_IP_ADDRESS/nextcloud/ and you will be facing the following screen:

A screen showing the Nextcloud installation parameters needed to initialize the setup
NextCloud 20 Installation

Select an administrator username and password. Then click on “Storage & Database“, here you can select the data folder, but if you don’t know what you’re doing it’s best if you leave it with the default value. Then select the database you chose during step 2. Fill everything and if you’ve followed all the steps correctly you should be seeing the following screen, after a short while you will be redirected to the second screen:

A screen showing NextCloud during apps installation
NextCloud 20 installing apps
A screen showing the NextCloud welcome wizard
NextCloud 20 welcome screen

Step 7: Enable Caching (suggested)

NextCloud is good but it can be very slow if you don’t configure a caching solution. There are two caching solutions covered in this guide:

  • PHP OPcache: a PHP inbuilt cache solution that speeds up scripts execution.
  • Redis server: a fast in-memory key-value store that speeds up everything in NextCloud.

Enabling OPcache

CentOS 7/8

Open a terminal and input the following commands: 

# yum install php-opcache

Now you need to edit a file located at /etc/php.d/10-opcache.ini . With your favorite editor, edit the file and make it look like this: 

; Enable Zend OPcache extension module
zend_extension=opcache
opcache.enable=1
opcache.enable_cli=1
opcache.interned_strings_buffer=8
opcache.max_accelerated_files=10000
opcache.memory_consumption=128
opcache.save_comments=1
opcache.revalidate_freq=1

These values are suggested by NextCloud, but you’re free to tweak them to suit your needs. Once you’re done you can restart apache: 

# systemctl restart httpd

Installing and configuring Redis

CentOS 7CentOS 8

Open a terminal and input the following commands: 

# yum install redis php-pecl-redis

Now you must configure NextCloud to use Redis. To do so you need to edit the NextCloud configuration file located at /var/www/html/nextcloud/config/config.php . The file will look like this, add the highlighted lines: 

<?php
$CONFIG = array (
  'instanceid' => '',
  'passwordsalt' => '',
  'secret' => '',
  'trusted_domains' =>
  array (
    0 => 'YOUR_IP',
  ),
  'datadirectory' => '/var/www/html/nextcloud/data',
  'dbtype' => 'mysql',
  'version' => '20.0.0.0',
  'overwrite.cli.url' => 'http://YOUR_IP/nextcloud',
  'dbname' => 'nextcloud',
  'dbhost' => 'localhost',
  'dbport' => '',
  'dbtableprefix' => 'oc_',
  'dbuser' => 'nc_user',
  'dbpassword' => 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE',
  'installed' => true,
  'memcache.locking' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
  'memcache.distributed' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
  'memcache.local' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
  'redis' => [
    'host' => 'localhost',
    'port' => 6379,
    'timeout' => 3,
  ],
);

These settings will enable NextCloud to use Redis for caching and file locks. Of course these settings are just an example, you can tweak them to suit your needs.

Now you need to enable Apache to access Redis with SELinux enabled: 

# setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1

Lastly, enable and start Redis and restart the webserver: 

# systemctl start redis
# systemctl enable redis
# systemctl restart httpd

Open a terminal and input the following commands: 

# yum install redis php-pecl-redis

Now you must configure NextCloud to use Redis. To do so you need to edit the NextCloud configuration file located at /var/www/html/nextcloud/config/config.php . The file will look like this, add the highlighted lines: 

<?php
$CONFIG = array (
  'instanceid' => '',
  'passwordsalt' => '',
  'secret' => '',
  'trusted_domains' =>
  array (
    0 => 'YOUR_IP',
  ),
  'datadirectory' => '/var/www/html/nextcloud/data',
  'dbtype' => 'mysql',
  'version' => '20.0.0.0',
  'overwrite.cli.url' => 'http://YOUR_IP/nextcloud',
  'dbname' => 'nextcloud',
  'dbhost' => 'localhost',
  'dbport' => '',
  'dbtableprefix' => 'oc_',
  'dbuser' => 'nc_user',
  'dbpassword' => 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE',
  'installed' => true,
  'memcache.locking' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
  'memcache.distributed' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
  'memcache.local' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
  'redis' => [
    'host' => 'localhost',
    'port' => 6379,
    'timeout' => 3,
  ],
);

These settings will enable NextCloud to use Redis for caching and file locks. Of course these settings are just an example, you can tweak them to suit your needs.

Now you need to enable Apache to access Redis with SELinux enabled: 

# setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect 1

Lastly, enable and start Redis and restart the webserver: 

# systemctl enable --now redis
# systemctl restart httpd php-fpm

Step 8: Expose NextCloud to Internet (optional)

Important
Hosting applications available to the Internet is potentially dangerous. In order to keep your applications safe you need to be proficient in system security and to follow security best practices.

Most people will want to access their files from whatever location they are. To do so, your newly created NextCloud instance needs to be connected to the Internet.

Given that you need to take care of port-forwarding (if you’re a home user) and domain configuration (which varies according to your provider), here you can find the instructions to create a virtual host with Apache.

CentOS 7/8

Using your favorite text editor, edit the file we created previously at /etc/httpd/conf.d/nextcloud.conf . And make it look like this: 

<VirtualHost *:80>
  ServerName YOURDOMAIN.TLD
  ServerAdmin [email protected]
  DocumentRoot /var/www/html/nextcloud

  <directory /var/www/html/nextcloud>
    Require all granted
    AllowOverride All
    Options FollowSymLinks MultiViews
    SetEnv HOME /var/www/html/nextcloud
    SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/html/nextcloud
  </directory>
</VirtualHost>

It is important to set ServerName according to a domain you own and have configured correctly. Now you need to add YOURDOMAIN.TLD to the trusted domains in the NextCloud config file. You can do so with the following command: 

$ sudo -u apache php /var/www/html/nextcloud/occ config:system:set trusted_domains 2 --value=YOURDOMAIN.TLD

Once you complete this step you won’t be able to access NextCloud through http://YOUR_IP_ADDRESS/nextcloud anymore. Instead you will be able to access it through http://YOURDOMAIN.TLD (notice /nextcloud is gone).

Lastly, restart the webserver: 

# systemctl restart httpd

Step 9: Get a free SSL certificate with Let’s Encrypt! (SUGGESTED!

Now that you have your NextCloud instance up and running you’re good to go, but beware: you’re not safe. Internet is a dangerous place for your data and you will most likely need an SSL certificate to ensure your communications are encrypted. Provided you own a domain name you can get one for free using Let’s Encrypt! No catches, free forever.

Warning!
Let’s Encrypt has rate limits in place to prevent inappropriate usage of the CA. There’s a limit on the numbers of attempts you can do before getting a temporary ban. During this setup, if things go wrong, I suggest you to use the –staging option to avoid the temporary ban. The –staging option will use a testing server and will not issue valid certificates. When you have completed the procedure against the test server successfully, you can remove the –staging option to obtain the real certificate.
CentOS 7

Open a terminal and input the following commands: 

# yum install certbot certbot-apache

Now you will run the command to install a certificate, follow the procedure and you will get everything configured out of the box: 

$ sudo certbot --apache

Lastly, restart the webserver: 

# systemctl restart httpd

If you need further help you can follow my other tutorial on Let’s Encrypt on CentOS (the apache part).

Image courtesy of mark | marksei
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