Set Up Nextcloud with LAMP Stack on Ubuntu 20.04

Introduction

Nextcloud is an open-source collaborative platform with hundreds of apps for sharing documents, receiving emails, managing calendars, making video calls, and more. As a self-hosted solution, Nextcloud serves millions of users around the globe since it is a community-focused project that focuses on open standards for better interoperability.

The software is written in PHP and runs pretty well on a MySQL or a MariaDB database. Therefore, you can install it on top of your existing LAMP Stack infrastructure with just a few additional PHP extensions.

This guide takes you through the process of setting up a Nextcloud portal with a LAMP stack on your Ubuntu 20.04 server.

Prerequisites

To complete this guide, ensure you have the following:

• An Ubuntu 20.04 server.
• A domain name(e.g. example.com). To test the guide, you may use your server's public IP address.
• A non-root sudo user.
• A LAMP Stack.

1. Install PHP Extensions

SSH to your server and update the package repository index.

$ sudo apt-get update

Then, run the commands below to install the necessary PHP extensions required by Nextcloud.

$ sudo apt-get install -y libapache2-mod-php
$ sudo apt-get install -y php-{cli,json,curl,imap,gd,mysql,xml,zip,intl,imagick,mbstring}

Next, enable the Apache mod_rewrite module. This allows Nextcloud to craft human-readable URLs.

$ sudo a2enmod rewrite      

Additionally, enable the following recommended modules.

$ sudo a2enmod headers
$ sudo a2enmod env
$ sudo a2enmod dir
$ sudo a2enmod mime  

Restart the Apache webserver to load the new changes.

$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Install the unzip tool using the command below.

$ sudo apt install -y unzip

Once you've installed the required PHP extensions, Apache modules and the unzip command, create a database for Nextcloud in the next step.

2. Create a Nextcloud Database and a User

Connect to your MySQL/MariaDB server as a root user.

$ sudo mysql -u root -p

When prompted, enter your database server password and press Enter to proceed. Next, issue the commands below to create a database and a user account for the Nextcloud software. Choose the appropriate commands depending on your database server. Replace EXAMPLE_PASSWORD with a strong value.

• MySQL.

    mysql> CREATE DATABASE next_cloud;
           CREATE USER 'next_cloud_user'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED WITH mysql_native_password BY 'EXAMPLE_PASSWORD';
           GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON next_cloud.* TO 'next_cloud_user'@'localhost';           
           FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
           EXIT;

• MariaDB.

    MariaDB> CREATE DATABASE next_cloud;
             GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES on next_cloud.* TO 'next_cloud_user'@'localhost' identified by 'EXAMPLE_PASSWORD';
             EXIT;

After creating a database and setting up a user account, you'll download Nextcloud from its official repository.

3. Download NextCloud

Create a next_cloud directory under the root of your web server.

$ sudo mkdir -p /var/www/next_cloud

Next, navigate to the tmp directory.

$ cd /tmp

Then, download the latest stable version of Nextcloud.

$ wget https://download.nextcloud.com/server/releases/nextcloud-21.0.2.zip

Next, extract the zip file you've downloaded to your current directory.

$ sudo unzip -q nextcloud-21.0.2.zip

Copy the extracted files to /var/www/next_cloud. The process takes a while to complete.

$ sudo rsync -rtv nextcloud/ /var/www/next_cloud

Change the ownership of the /var/www/nextcloud to www-data.

$ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/next_cloud

Your Nextcloud files are now in place; before you complete the setup process, you'll create a virtual host file for Nextcloud in the next step.

4. Set Up a Virtual Host for Nextcloud

First, disable the default Apache virtual host configuration file using the a2dissite command.

$ sudo a2dissite 000-default.conf

Then, open a new configuration file for your Nextcloud site under /etc/apache2/sites-available.

$ sudo nano /etc/apache2/sites-available/next_cloud.conf

Enter the information below into the file and replace example.com with your server's correct domain name or public IP address.

<VirtualHost *:80>

  DocumentRoot /var/www/next_cloud
  ServerName  example.com

  Alias /nextcloud "/var/www/next_cloud/"

  <Directory /var/www/next_cloud>

    Options +FollowSymlinks
    AllowOverride All

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

    SetEnv HOME /var/www/next_cloud/
    SetEnv HTTP_HOME /var/www/next_cloud/

  </Directory>

</VirtualHost>

Save the new file by pressing Ctrl + X, then Y and Enter. Then, enable the new configuration file using the a2ensite command.

$ sudo a2ensite next_cloud.conf

Restart Apache to load the new configurations.

$ sudo systemctl restart apache2

Apache is now ready to serve your Nextcloud site. You'll finalize the installation in the next step.

5. Complete NextCloud Installation

Visit the URL below on a web browser. Remember to replace example.com with the correct domain name or IP address of your server.

• http://example.com

Create an admin account and configure the database and click Finish setup.

Once you've finalized the installation process, access the Nextcloud portal and enter your admin account details.

• http://example.com

You should now see the following dashboard.

This shows that your Nextcloud installation has been completed successfully.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you've set up a Nextcloud collaborative portal with a LAMP stack on your Ubuntu 20.04 server. Use the application to ensure: compliance, security, and flexibility of your data. Nextcloud unique communication technology suits all types of organizations, including colleges, hospitals, banks, and research institutions.