Nextcloud Setup Summary – jrowenco.info


Nextcloud Setup Summary – jrowenco.info

Full Nextcloud Setup Summary

Date: April 2025

System: Ubuntu 24.10.2 LTS

Domain: jrowenco.info (ports 80 and 443 open)

Web Server: Nginx with SSL (Let’s Encrypt)

Nextcloud Version: Latest as of April 2025 (likely 29 or higher)

TrueNAS SMB Share: zfs1 with subfolder nextcloud_storage

1. Base System Setup

Ubuntu: Fresh install of Ubuntu 24.10.2 LTS.

Updates:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Firewall:

sudo ufw allow 80
sudo ufw allow 443
sudo ufw enable

2. Nginx and PHP Setup

Install Nginx:

sudo apt install -y nginx unzip curl
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx

Install PHP and Modules (PHP 8.3):

sudo apt install -y php-fpm php-common php-mysql php-gd php-json php-curl php-mbstring php-intl php-imagick php-xml php-zip php-bz2 php-bcmath php-gmp
sudo systemctl start php8.3-fpm
sudo systemctl enable php8.3-fpm

Nginx Config (/etc/nginx/sites-available/jrowenco.info):

sudo nano /etc/nginx/sites-available/jrowenco.info

Contents:

upstream php-handler {
    server unix:/run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name jrowenco.info;

    ssl_certificate /etc/letsencrypt/live/jrowenco.info/fullchain.pem;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/letsencrypt/live/jrowenco.info/privkey.pem;
    include /etc/letsencrypt/options-ssl-nginx.conf;
    ssl_dhparam /etc/letsencrypt/ssl-dhparams.pem;

    root /var/www/jrowenco.info;
    index index.php index.html;

    proxy_read_timeout 120;
    proxy_connect_timeout 120;
    proxy_send_timeout 120;
    fastcgi_read_timeout 120;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
    }

    location ~ ^/(?:\.|data|config|db_structure\.xml|README) {
        deny all;
    }

    location ~ \.php(?:$|/) {
        fastcgi_split_path_info ^(.+?\.php)(/.*)$;
        include fastcgi_params;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_param PATH_INFO $fastcgi_path_info;
        fastcgi_pass php-handler;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
    }

    client_max_body_size 512M;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name jrowenco.info;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

Enable Config:

sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/jrowenco.info /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
sudo nginx -t
sudo systemctl reload nginx

3. Database Setup (MariaDB)

Install MariaDB:

sudo apt install -y mariadb-server
sudo mysql_secure_installation

Create Database and User:

sudo mysql -u root -p

SQL Commands:

CREATE DATABASE nextcloud_db CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_general_ci;
CREATE USER 'nextcloud_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'your_secure_password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON nextcloud_db.* TO 'nextcloud_user'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
EXIT;

– Database: nextcloud_db

– User: nextcloud_user

– Password: (your secure password)

4. Nextcloud Installation

Download and Install:

cd /var/www
sudo curl -O https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/latest.zip
sudo unzip latest.zip
sudo rm latest.zip
sudo mv nextcloud jrowenco.info

Set Permissions:

sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/jrowenco.info
sudo chmod -R 755 /var/www/jrowenco.info

Web Setup:

– URL: https://jrowenco.info

– Admin User: (your admin username, e.g., admin)

– Admin Password: (your admin password)

– Data Folder: /var/www/jrowenco.info/data (default)

– Database: MySQL/MariaDB

  • User: nextcloud_user
  • Password: (your secure password)
  • Database: nextcloud_db
  • Host: localhost

5. SSL Setup (Let’s Encrypt)

Install Certbot:

sudo apt install -y certbot python3-certbot-nginx

Generate Certificate:

sudo certbot --nginx -d jrowenco.info

– Redirect HTTP to HTTPS: Yes

6. TrueNAS SMB Share Integration

TrueNAS Share Details:

  • IP: 192.168.1.3
  • Share Name: zfs1
  • Subfolder: nextcloud_storage
  • SMB User: zfs
  • Password: i2i

Install SMB Client (for testing):

sudo apt install -y smbclient php-smbclient
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

Mount Share Locally on Ubuntu:

sudo mkdir /mnt/truenas
sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.1.3/zfs1 /mnt/truenas -o username=zfs,password=i2i,uid=www-data,gid=www-data,dir_mode=0770,file_mode=0770

Verify:

sudo -u www-data ls /mnt/truenas/nextcloud_storage

– Should see test_dir (created during testing).

Make Mount Permanent:

sudo nano /root/.smbcredentials

Contents:

username=zfs
password=i2i
sudo chmod 600 /root/.smbcredentials
sudo nano /etc/fstab

Add:

//192.168.1.3/zfs1 /mnt/truenas cifs credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,uid=www-data,gid=www-data,dir_mode=0770,file_mode=0770 0 0
sudo mount -a

Add to Nextcloud as Local Storage:

– Go to Settings > External Storage.

  • Folder Name: TrueNAS_Share
  • External Storage: Local
  • Configuration: /mnt/truenas/nextcloud_storage
  • Available for: jeffo12 (or “All people”)

– Save and verify in Files section.

Rescan Files (if adding files directly on TrueNAS):

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/jrowenco.info/occ files:scan --all

7. Security and Optimization

Trusted Domains:

sudo nano /var/www/jrowenco.info/config/config.php

Add:

'trusted_domains' => 
  array (
    0 => 'localhost',
    1 => 'jrowenco.info',
  ),

Timeouts (adjusted for normal operation):

– Nginx (/etc/nginx/sites-available/jrowenco.info):

proxy_read_timeout 120;
proxy_connect_timeout 120;
proxy_send_timeout 120;
fastcgi_read_timeout 120;

– PHP-FPM (/etc/php/8.3/fpm/php.ini):

max_execution_time = 120
max_input_time = 120

– PHP-FPM (/etc/php/8.3/fpm/pool.d/www.conf):

request_terminate_timeout = 120

Restart services:

sudo systemctl reload nginx
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

8. Backup Recommendations

Nextcloud Data:

  • Directory: /var/www/jrowenco.info/data
  • TrueNAS Share: /mnt/pool/zfs1/nextcloud_storage

Database:

sudo mysqldump -u root -p nextcloud_db > nextcloud_db_backup.sql

Config:

  • File: /var/www/jrowenco.info/config/config.php

9. Log Files for Troubleshooting

  • Nextcloud: /var/www/jrowenco.info/data/nextcloud.log
  • Nginx: /var/log/nginx/error.log
  • PHP-FPM: /var/log/php8.3-fpm.log

10. Notes

  • The SMB / CIFS option in Nextcloud didn’t work reliably (configuration kept disappearing), so we used a local mount instead.
  • The nextcloud_storage subfolder was created on TrueNAS to keep Nextcloud files separate.
  • The zfs user on TrueNAS has read/write access to zfs1/nextcloud_storage.

Overview: Mounting TrueNAS SMB Share

Date: April 2025

System: Ubuntu 24.10.2 LTS

TrueNAS Share: zfs1 (IP: 192.168.1.3)

Subfolder: nextcloud_storage

Mount Point: /mnt/truenas

Nextcloud Integration: Local storage

1. Install SMB Client (for Testing)

Installed required packages to test SMB connectivity:

sudo apt install -y smbclient php-smbclient
sudo systemctl restart php8.3-fpm

2. Test SMB Connectivity

Tested connection to TrueNAS share using the zfs user:

smbclient -L //192.168.1.3 -U zfs

– Password: i2i

– Confirmed share zfs1 exists.

Tested subfolder access and created a test directory:

smbclient //192.168.1.3/zfs1 -U zfs -c 'cd nextcloud_storage; mkdir test_dir'

– Confirmed nextcloud_storage exists and zfs has write access.

3. Create Mount Point and Mount Share

Created mount point on Ubuntu:

sudo mkdir /mnt/truenas

Mounted the TrueNAS share temporarily:

sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.1.3/zfs1 /mnt/truenas -o username=zfs,password=i2i,uid=www-data,gid=www-data,dir_mode=0770,file_mode=0770

– uid=www-data,gid=www-data: Ensures Nextcloud (running as www-data) can access the mount.

– dir_mode=0770,file_mode=0770: Sets permissions to read/write for owner and group.

Verified mount:

mount | grep /mnt/truenas

– Output: //192.168.1.3/zfs1 on /mnt/truenas type cifs ...

Verified subfolder access:

sudo -u www-data ls /mnt/truenas/nextcloud_storage

– Output: test_dir

4. Make the Mount Permanent

Created a credentials file for security:

sudo nano /root/.smbcredentials

Contents:

username=zfs
password=i2i
sudo chmod 600 /root/.smbcredentials

Added mount to /etc/fstab:

sudo nano /etc/fstab

Added:

//192.168.1.3/zfs1 /mnt/truenas cifs credentials=/root/.smbcredentials,uid=www-data,gid=www-data,dir_mode=0770,file_mode=0770 0 0

Tested:

sudo mount -a

– No errors, mount successful.

5. Integrate with Nextcloud

Added as Local storage in Nextcloud (since SMB / CIFS option was unreliable):

– Go to Settings > External Storage.

  • Folder Name: TrueNAS_Share
  • External Storage: Local
  • Configuration: /mnt/truenas/nextcloud_storage
  • Available for: jeffo12 (or “All people”)

– Saved and verified in Files section (saw test_dir).

Rescan files if adding directly on TrueNAS:

sudo -u www-data php /var/www/jrowenco.info/occ files:scan --all

6. Notes

  • The nextcloud_storage subfolder was created on TrueNAS to isolate Nextcloud files.
  • The zfs user on TrueNAS has read/write access to zfs1/nextcloud_storage.
  • Used Local storage in Nextcloud because SMB / CIFS kept failing (configuration disappeared after saving).