How to install Nextcloud (Nginx + PostgreSQL)

This note was created on 2020-01-19
This note was last edited on 2023-02-01

Nextcloud offers the industry-leading, on-premises content collaboration platform. Its technology combines the convenience and ease of use of consumer-grade solutions like Dropbox and Google Drive with the security, privacy and control business needs.
Source code available at [GitHub](https://github.com/nextcloud/server).

=== Firewall configuration ===
1. Open ports 80 and 443:
   # firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=80/tcp
   # firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=443/tcp
   # firewall-cmd --reload

2. Make sure that required ports are open:
   # firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --list-ports

=== Installation ===
1. Install Nginx:
   # apt install nginx

2. Install required PHP modules:
   # apt install php7.4 php7.4-fpm php7.4-common php7.4-pgsql php7.4-cli php7.4-gd php7.4-json php7.4-curl php7.4-zip php7.4-xml php7.4-mbstring php7.4-bz2 php7.4-intl php7.4-bcmath php7.4-gmp php-imagick php7.4-opcache php7.4-readline

3. Install "certbot":
   # apt install certbot python3-certbot-nginx

4. Install PostgreSQL:
   # apt install postgresql postgresql-contrib

5. Install "unzip":
   # apt install unzip

6. Use "wget" to download Nextcloud:
   $ wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-20.0.5.zip

=== Main configuration ===
1. Configure PostgreSQL:
   - Connect to PostgreSQL with:
     # sudo -u postgres psql

   - Create user and database for Nextcloud:
     > CREATE USER nextcloud WITH PASSWORD 'your_password';
     > CREATE DATABASE nextcloud TEMPLATE template0 ENCODING 'UNICODE';
     > ALTER DATABASE nextcloud OWNER TO nextcloud;
     > GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON DATABASE nextcloud TO nextcloud;
     > \q
     Note: don't forget to set your own password instead "your_password".

2. Unzip archive with Nextcloud:
   # unzip nextcloud-20.0.5.zip -d /usr/share/nginx/

3. Change owner for Nextcloud directory:
   # chown www-data:www-data /usr/share/nginx/nextcloud/ -R

4. Create folder for Nextcloud data:
   # mkdir /usr/share/nginx/nextcloud-data

5. Change owner for Nextcloud data directory:
   # chown www-data:www-data /usr/share/nginx/nextcloud-data -R

6. Remove default Nginx website:
   # mv /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/default /home/$USER

7. Create Nginx configuration file for Nextcloud:
   # nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/nextcloud.conf
   You can find an example file here: https://gitlab.com/-/snippets/2063273
   Don't forget to change the domain and PHP version.

8. Check configuration file for errors:
   # nginx -t

9. Enable and start Nginx:
   # systemctl enable --now nginx

10. Enable and start php-fpm:
    # systemctl enable --now php7.4-fpm

11. Order an SSL certificate for your domain:
    # certbot --nginx --agree-tos --redirect --staple-ocsp --email your-email-address -d nextcloud.your-domain.com

12. Update Nginx configuration file ("/etc/nginx/conf.d/nextcloud.conf") by adding the following:
    ~~~
    add_header Strict-Transport-Security "max-age=31536000" always;
    listen 443 ssl http2; # managed by Certbot
    ~~~

13. Go to "nextcloud.your-domain.com" and finish the configuration.

=== Additional configuration ===
- Increase PHP memory limit by editing "/etc/php/7.4/fpm/php.ini":
  ~~~
  memory_limit = 512M
  ~~~
  Note: don't foreget to restart php-fpm by running "sudo systemctl reload php7.4-fpm".

- Increase PHP execution time by editing "/etc/php/7.4/fpm/php.ini":
  ~~~
  max execution time 256
  ~~~
  Note: don't foreget to restart php-fpm by running "sudo systemctl reload php7.4-fpm".

- Configure PHP to properly query system environment variables by adding the following line to "/etc/php/7.4/fpm/pool.d/www.conf":
  ~~~
  clear_env = no
  ~~~
  Note: don't foreget to restart php-fpm by running "sudo systemctl reload php7.4-fpm".

- Increase upload file size limit:
  1. Add or change the following line in "/etc/nginx/conf.d/nextcloud.conf":
     ~~~
     client_max_body_size 1024M;
     ~~~

  2. Change "upload_max_filesize" parameter to "1024M" in "/etc/php/7.4/fpm/php.ini".

  3. Restart Nginx and php-fpm:
     # systemctl reload nginx
     # systemctl reload php7.4-fpm

- Configure Redis:
  1. Install Redis and its PHP module:
     # apt install redis-server php-redis

  2. Add the following code to "/usr/share/nginx/nextcloud/config/config.php" above the ");" line:
     ~~~
     'memcache.distributed' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
     'memcache.local' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
     'memcache.locking' => '\OC\Memcache\Redis',
     'redis' => array(
          'host' => 'localhost',
          'port' => 6379,
          ),
     ~~~

  3. Restart Nginx and php-fpm:
     # systemctl restart nginx php7.4-fpm

- Use Cron instead of AJAX jobs:
  1. Open crontab file:
     # crontab -u www-data -e

  2. Add the following line and save the file:
     ~~~
     */5 * * * * php -f /usr/share/nginx/nextcloud/cron.php
     ~~~

- Hide Nginx version by changing the following line in "/etc/nginx/nginx.conf":
  ~~~
  server_tokens off;
  ~~~

- Hide "Get your own free account" link by adding the wollowing line to "/usr/share/nginx/nextcloud/config/config.php":
  ~~~
  'simpleSignUpLink.shown' => false,
  ~~~

=== Read more ===
Don't forget to check out the official documentation: https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/20/admin_manual/index.html