How to install OwnCloud 9 server on CentOS/RHEL 7 and 6

OwnCloud is a Dropbox-like solution for self-hosted file sharing and syncing. Installing OwnCloud 9 on CentOS/RHEL 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 OwnCloud? Is it like a “cloud”?

If you stumbled here by chance and don’t know what OwnCloud is, here is an article explaining its principal features and advantages/disadvantages. To tell you the truth, OwnCloud 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).

Step 1: Add the repositories

The first step is to add the repositories to your system. You will need root access during this procedure. The following procedure will install apache as webserver. Input the commands one by one to avoid errors!

# rpm --import https://download.owncloud.org/download/repositories/stable/CentOS_7/repodata/repomd.xml.key
# curl http://download.owncloud.org/download/repositories/stable/CentOS_7/ce:stable.repo | tee /etc/yum.repos.d/owncloud_CE:stable.repo
# yum install owncloud

# rpm --import https://download.owncloud.org/download/repositories/stable/CentOS_6_SCL_PHP54/repodata/repomd.xml.key
# curl http://download.owncloud.org/download/repositories/stable/CentOS_6_SCL_PHP54/ce:stable.repo | tee /etc/yum.repos.d/owncloud_CE:stable.repo
# yum install owncloud

# rpm --import https://download.owncloud.org/download/repositories/stable/RHEL_7/repodata/repomd.xml.key
# curl http://download.owncloud.org/download/repositories/stable/RHEL_7/ce:stable.repo | tee /etc/yum.repos.d/owncloud_CE:stable.repo
# yum install owncloud

# rpm --import https://download.owncloud.org/download/repositories/stable/RHEL_6/repodata/repomd.xml.key
# curl http://download.owncloud.org/download/repositories/stable/RHEL_6/ce:stable.repo | tee /etc/yum.repos.d/owncloud_CE:stable.repo
# yum install owncloud

These commands will add the repositories that contain the software and install it on your machine.

Step 2: Database selection

Now that you got the OwnCloud software, all that is left is 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 OwnCloud 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 OwnCloud (except if you use SQLite), so pick whatever you know best. If you’re unsure pick MariaDB/MySQL.

# yum install mariadb-server php-mysql
# mysql_secure_installation

# systemctl start mariadb
# systemctl enable mariadb

# service mariadb start
# chkconfig mariadb on

$ mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE owncloud;

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

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON owncloud.* TO 'oc_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

# yum install postgresql postgresql-server php-pgsql

# postgresql-setup initdb
# systemctl start postgresql
# systemctl enable postgresql

# service postgresql initdb
# service postgresql start
# chkconfig postgresql on

$ sudo -u postgres psql

CREATE DATABASE owncloud;

CREATE USER oc_user WITH PASSWORD 'YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE';

GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE owncloud to oc_user;

# 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

# systemctl restart postgresql

# service postgresql restart

Step 3: 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 OwnCloud:

# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/data(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/config(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/apps(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/assets(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/.htaccess'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/.user.ini'
# restorecon -Rv '/var/www/html/owncloud/'

# setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect_db 1

# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/data(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/config(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/apps(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/assets(/.*)?'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/.htaccess'
# semanage fcontext -a -t httpd_sys_rw_content_t '/var/www/html/owncloud/.user.ini'
# restorecon -Rv '/var/www/html/owncloud/'

# setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect_db 1

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

# systemctl start httpd
# systemctl enable httpd

# service httpd start
# chkconfig httpd on

Step 4: Configuring firewall

This step is essential when your firewall is enabled. If your firewall is enabled you won’t be able to access your OwnCloud 9 instance; on the other hand if it isn’t enabled you shouldn’t have any problems and you can simply skip this step. 

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 OwnCloud 9 follow these steps:

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

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

Step 5: Install

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

OwnCloud 9 Installation

Select an administrator username and password, then 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 click on “Storage & Database” to select the database you chose during step 2. Fill everything and if you’ve followed all the steps correctly you should be seeing the Files app:

OwnCloud 9 Files app

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The IT guy with a slight look of boredom in his eyes. Freelancer. Current interests: Kubernetes, Tensorflow, shiny new things.

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